Tag Archives: law enforcement investigations

Backpage Shutters Adult Ads Section: What Happens Next?

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Backpage shuts down adult ad section, citing government pressure and unlawful censorship campaign.

Of course this story is making news today, especially within the anti-trafficking community. But is also raises the debate – among many passionate people within the community – on the real value of this action. (If you read the article you will see a quote from the founder of Children of the Night who considers this a loss of a valuable investigative tool – just one argument among many.)

If we want to know what will really result from this shutdown, we need only look at what happened after Craigslist shuttered their Adult Services section in 2010.

First, Backpage (just like Craigslist) shut down these ads ONLY in the United States, so the impact on trafficking (and the loss of revenue) is domestic, not global.

Next; someone, somewhere, at this very moment is desperately building a platform to replace the void from Backpage’s departure – just as Backpage filled the void when Craigslist exited. Both Federal and local law enforcement officials (who actually work HT cases) will tell you that both Craigslist and Backpage were typically very helpful to law enforcement, quickly responding to subpoenas and other requests for help. Yes, this is a little like playing with the devil, but a cooperative devil, at least.

There are several other online platforms buyers of sex can access, many of which are private and require membership to access (My Redbook was among the most infamous until they were indicted). Pushing the advertising further underground can create operational and financial challenges for many law enforcement agencies. When these companies operate off-shore, they can thumb their noses at law enforcement, which may be powerless to act against them.

Looking back to 2010, there is scant evidence that shutting down Craigslist’s Adult Services section had any real impact. We will have to wait and see what the real impact will be here.

My point is not to defend Backpage, Craigslist, or any other advertiser; it is to point out the complexity in these issues (and tactics) within the anti-trafficking community.

I addressed this issue in my book, The Essential Abolitionist: What you need to know about human trafficking & modern slavery. (See the special offer notice below.)  I’ll end here quoting the final paragraph from my answer to the question: What was the impact of shutting down the Craigslist Adult Services section?

“Not all anti-trafficking initiatives actually reduce human trafficking, or are they always intended to. Analyzing the potential consequences and looking for unforeseen consequences are both critical steps when exploring potential anti-trafficking actions. Some efforts raise public awareness; other improve the response of law enforcement or service providers. And some efforts arise from the simple moral ground that requires us to act if we oppose slavery. But, however worthy these aspirations, they do not guarantee our efforts will always have a tangible outcome.”

**January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. To help educate others about modern slavery, during January the Kindle version of The Essential Abolitionist is 50% off on Amazon. **

Human Trafficking Estimates: Local is Best, Part 2

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StatisticsIn the past weeks we have examined how trafficking estimates can be flawed, and the challenges in obtaining local or regional estimates. With this understanding, let’s focus on exactly what we need to know (and share) to answer this question: How much human trafficking is occurring in our community?

But before we begin, two caveats: First, laws (along with agency protocols) dictate what type of information can be shared with other persons and agencies. This is commonly referred to as confidentiality. Confidentiality laws also protect certain persons — for example, case managers and attorneys — from disclosing certain information in court. Do not violate confidentiality; when in doubt, do not share information. But, as we will see, we should be willing to share generalized information that helps us understand the prevalence of trafficking.

Second, we must be willing to accept that the silos of data regarding human trafficking victims and incidents are difficult to keep nice and neat; more often, we must be willing to accept (and explain to others) the complexity of trafficking. We are not professional researchers; we are just trying to collect information from a variety of anti-trafficking stakeholders from our community.

What information really needs to be shared? We do not need names, specific age, or other personally identifiable information. We need basic information regarding victims: gender; age range (5 year segments are good); type of exploitation (labor or commercial sex) and perhaps a category, such as domestic servitude, agricultural labor, forced prostitution, etc., and; nationality. If partners are willing, it is also useful to know what country the victim is from. That’s it. No additional information is needed. A specific victim cannot be identified based on this information. When we realize this is all the information we need to share–not names or other identifying information–sharing becomes much easier.

When collecting this information, steps should be taken to avoid a victim being reported more than once. For example, if a victim has received assistance from more than one service provider, the providers should ensure the victim is not reported more than once. This can be avoided in a couple of ways: The victim will usually have one case manager, so they can help avoid duplicate reporting; in addition, case managers and agency attorneys usually are protected by confidentiality laws, so the case manager and attorney can share details in private to avoid duplicate reporting.

Information regarding traffickers who have been arrested is usually public information, but for basic information to be shared in public, track the same information as for victims.

What categories should we use?

1 – Potential Victims of Trafficking: This is a good term for describing those who we believe are victims, yet we lack statements or evidence to clearly classify them as victims. For example, if police conduct an operation at a brothel, locating five persons whom they believe are working against their will, but all five are too afraid to disclose their victimization, count these as five Potential Victims. From the victim services perspective, this could be an individual who sought assistance for another reason (e.g., domestic violence or sexual assault) but whom the service provider believes is also a victim of trafficking. Yes, this is a vague category based upon our observations and perspective, but count them! Just be careful to avoid over estimating the number, and never combine this estimate with others categories, below.

2 – Identified Victims of Trafficking: This is a person who has either received services as a victim of trafficking from a service provider, or who has been identified by law enforcement as a victim of trafficking. This person has been exploited via forced labor or sexual exploitation through force, fraud, or coercion. This is the number which will be most beneficial to estimating the level of trafficking in a community.

3 – Suspected Incidents of Trafficking: This category reflects instances where law enforcement examined a situation for the elements of human trafficking, but were unable to find them because they either didn’t exist, or victims chose not to cooperate. In the above example where police investigated the brothel, this could count as one Suspected Incident of Trafficking, with five Potential Victims. Again, this is far less precise than the categories below, but is shows that law enforcement is looking for trafficking!

4 – Trafficking Suspects Arrested: This number should reflect individuals who have been arrested on the specific charge of human trafficking.

5 – Trafficking-related Suspects Arrested: The most common example to illustrate this category is a pimp/trafficker who is arrested for pimping and pandering, but not for the specific charge of human trafficking. There are many reasons a law enforcement agency would arrest on pimping charges but not human trafficking, but they are too numerous to explore now.

6 – Trafficking Charges Filed: A prosecutor has filed the specific charge of human trafficking against a suspect.

7 – Trafficking-related Charges Filed: See #5; this is the prosecution equivalent.

8 – Convictions: Again, these should also be separated by specific charges of trafficking, and trafficking-related charges. Frankly, this number can be abused. A prosecutor’s office may count convictions of pimping, pandering, and assault against the trafficking victim as three convictions of “human trafficking,” when the specific trafficking charge was never filed and, obviously, only one person was convicted.

When a community of anti-trafficking stakeholders share minimal information with each other, we all begin to see the bigger picture, and the value of combined efforts. These numbers are critical for agencies seeking grant funding. Collecting these numbers illustrate that partnerships and trust already exist and, that based on these numbers, realistic performance targets can be established. Even better, those responsible for educating the public are not forced to use estimates of questionable origin.

Wouldn’t it be great to stand before an audience and say, “Based on the efforts of all our collaborative partners, we have identified and served 173 victims. They included 143 adult women, eight adult men, and 22 victims under age 18. 57% were victims of commercial sex exploitation, 43% victims of forced labor, including domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and work in local restaurants. 22% are foreign nationals, from South America, Africa, and Asia.  We have made contact with another 332 individuals whom we believe are victims but who, for a variety of reasons, we are not able to classify as victims. 32 cases have been investigated by our law enforcement partners, with over a dozen traffickers arrested. Three have been convicted on charges of human trafficking, and two suspects are awaiting trail.”

At first, the numbers will be much smaller, but don’t worry about that! Your local numbers are best! Your community will understand the challenges of data collection if you educate them about the hurdles you face. And they will support your efforts. In any case, it is always better to have your own numbers than to tell your audience, “Ah, we just don’t really know.”

Are the partners in your collaborative efforts sharing numbers so you all have a better understanding of the level of trafficking in your community? If not, why not?

Why is Fighting Slavery So Difficult?

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Everyone opposes slavery, right?

Okay, those who are enslaving over 21 million people worldwide don’t oppose it, but assuming the vast majority of people do oppose human trafficking and modern slavery, you might think that fighting slavery would be fairly straight forward. But it isn’t. In fact, it can be quite difficult and frustrating. The United States Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) 15 years ago, making profound changes in how human trafficking is viewed and defined; how victims of trafficking are perceived, served, and assisted as they adapt from being victims of slavery to survivors; and how law enforcement agencies should respond to trafficking. Yet, those who have been involved in the fight against trafficking for years, and those new to the fight, experience frustration that so little seems to have improved since 2000. So why is fighting slavery do difficult?

First, modern slavery isn’t the slavery of old. It does not fit the traditional American view of slavery that was black and white – both in the literal sense, and in the moral sense where slavery was either accepted or reviled. The 13th Amendment may have outlawed slavery in the United States, but it did not abolish enslavement either domestically nor globally. In the modern slavery, victim and enslaver (or trafficker) more typically look alike, sound alike, and share Geo-cultural backgrounds. In addition, the slavery of old is understood by most Americans as either field labor or domestic service – images cast in school books and movies. The exploitation of today is limited only by the imagination and coercive skill of the trafficker: Once a trafficker determines how to profit from another person’s labor, they need only determine how best to make their victim perform that labor  through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. (In the commercial sex trade, engaging in sex is the labor.) In short, the whys and hows of modern slavery are far more complex than in the past.

Second, in this new paradigm of slavery, most slaves do not view themselves as slaves! (In a decade of anti-trafficking work I recall only one case in which a man walked into a police department and said, “I need help. I’m a victim of human trafficking.”) Victims engaged in forced commercial sex often do so because their “boyfriend,” who “loves them,” doesn’t have a job and the only way to eat and have a roof over their heads is by her engaging in sex several times a day.

Globally, 68% of human trafficking victims are exploited through forced labor or services, not the sex trade. Many are, more accurately, victims of debt-bondage, paying off a debt owed to their enslaver – often with unpayable interest rates – and either unable to leave for lack of better job opportunities, or afraid to leave due to threats of violence to the victim or their family. Foreign nationals trafficked within the United States often believe deportation awaits them if they come forward but, in fact, the TVPA offers protection to foreign national trafficking victims. Victims, lacking this understanding, are afraid to report their victimization for fear of law enforcement viewing them as criminals. Also, cultural norms often dictate a debt must be repaid no matter the conditions of repayment; another tool of coercion traffickers utilize. Not surprisingly, few victims of trafficking self-identify, adding another element of complexity.

The complexities of the new slavery, and how victims often perceive themselves, exponentially increase the complexity of responding to human trafficking. No single agency or professional sector (e.g., law enforcement, victim services providers, community organizations) can respond to trafficking alone and be effective in mitigating modern slavery. The “4 P Paradigm” is a model recommended for the comprehensive response to slavery and consists of Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership. The first three Ps bring their own challenges, but the fourth is most daunting of them all. Collaboration among various agencies and organizations, each involved in different Ps, requires patience and humility on the part of the individuals involved, and long-term commitment from the leadership of the various organizations involved. Effective Partnership requires both institutional commitment, as well as specific skills and traits on the part of the individuals doing the collaborative work. Often, the person chosen to engage in this collaborative work doesn’t yet possess basic knowledge on aspects of trafficking and the response critical for their success, so training is a never-ending process. And, unfortunately, institutional leadership often sees the fight against slavery as merely the latest topic of community interest to be leveraged for political gain.

The struggles of fighting slavery go beyond these three, and each of the topics addressed could merit their own book! But while it may appear to some that little has changed since passage of the TVPA, the truth is far more encouraging. A decade ago friends asked, “What’s human trafficking?” when they learned of my work with a human trafficking task force. Today,  a more likely response is, “Tell me more,” as people are familiar with the term – if not the complexities. Today, more law enforcement officers have been trained; more prosecutions occur; more victims have more agencies and shelters ready to serve them; more communities cry out to help victims within their home towns. Colleges and universities offer courses addressing human trafficking and other social justice issues. Much good work has been done!

But the work continues, and part of the work in fighting slavery includes continuing to learn how to best do the work of fighting slavery. Understanding – and embracing – the complexity is the first step, and the second, and the third… Right now, 21 million people are enslaved worldwide. And they are awaiting our response.

(Interested in learning more about Human Trafficking?   View the Kickstarter campaign supporting The Essential Abolitionist book. Also, visit The Essential Abolitionist Facebook Page.