Human Trafficking Awareness Day
January 11 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, part of the month-long Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. This important day and month are dedicated to helping educate the public, law enforcement, and industry partners to understand what human trafficking is, and how to recognize indicators of trafficking. In pursuit of that goal, we have put together some resources to help educate the community about human trafficking. We also sat down with our Victims’ Services Coordinator, Hana Abdelbaki, who helped explain how US Together serves victims of human trafficking and other crimes.
Human trafficking is often misunderstood—confused with human smuggling, or conflated with sex work. However, the more we know about this issue, the more we can do to stop it. Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. According to the DHS, “language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and/or fear of law enforcement frequently keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime.” Check out the graphics below for useful definitions and resources:
We spoke with Hana to learn more about what US Together does to serve victims of human trafficking.
What should people know about human trafficking?
It can happen to anyone, regardless of age or gender. I’ve worked with clients who are young adults, and clients who are middle-aged, of all genders and races. People should also know that human trafficking isn’t just sex trafficking. In fact, as an agency that works primarily with refugees and immigrants, we actually see a lot of labor trafficking cases. People are trafficked with the promise to find work or a better future, but end up being abused.
What do US Together and other service agencies do for a “typical” human trafficking case?
Well, there isn’t a “typical” human trafficking case. Depending on the circumstances, there can be a lot of different needs present. The first thing we do is have the client narrate their story, and we look for clues that might suggest that they were a victim of this crime. Oftentimes, victims of human trafficking are unaware that their rights have even been violated! If we determine that a client may have been a victim of human trafficking, we then report their case to Polaris, an important organization that advocates for victims. This is an important step that can help victims get an adjustment to their legal status, through something called a “T Visa,” especially if they are or were undocumented. However, this process can take many years - in fact, we have clients from 2018 still in the process. During that period, victims are sometimes ineligible for really important benefits like food stamps and cash assistance.
What other needs do victims have?
Many of our clients have medical needs related to their trafficking case. We would help them get connected with clinics that can provide mental health counseling or medical screenings for signs of trauma that can support their T Visa claim. Clients also often need legal assistance to obtain healthcare or help with their visa adjustments. More than anything, housing is the most pressing need! Because of work eligibility restrictions, undocumented victims of human trafficking often need help getting a roof over their heads.
What challenges do you face in your work?
As mentioned above, the process can be long and daunting in many of these cases. Additionally, cuts to Victims of Crime (VOCA) funding in the state mean that there is less support for the kinds of programs that help victims of human trafficking. Since our VOCA programming ended at US Together, we have been able to continue serving female victims through our Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programming, but have had to cut programming for males.
What can the average person do to be aware of and prevent human trafficking?
Stay vigilant and recognize the signs. Know the signs that trafficking may be happening. One of the most useful resources out there is the Indicator Card from the Department of Homeland Security, which explains the differences between human trafficking and human smuggling, and lists some of the key indicators of human trafficking. Everyone should also know where they can reach out if they or someone they know may be a victim of human trafficking. Here are some places to go:
Call the Polaris helpline at 1 (888) 373-7888
Text “BeFree” to 233733 for text help from Polaris
The National Human Trafficking Hotline has a live chat feature available in English and Spanish, which you can access by clicking here
The DHS “Blue Campaign” (a human trafficking national public awareness campaign) has an abundance of resources in numerous languages, including pamphlets, posters, infographics, and much more. Find this multilingual document library by clicking here