So recently I have been thinking about starting a
weekly tradition of posting a blog piece on important happenings and
developments in the field of the anti-human trafficking movement. Ideally, I would
love to do that on Mondays, but since my schedule right now is a little hectic
(welcome to DC I guess!), that might not always happen. So here is the list for
this week.
09/23/2012:
This past Monday, at the Human Trafficking Summit at the Florida State
University Center for Academic & Professional Development, Tina Frundt, a
survivor and founder of Courtney’s House, gave a speech on the particularities
of domestic minor sex trafficking by recounting her own experiences. To see the
speech, please click here.
9/25/2012:
Yesterday, President Obama offered an address at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual
Meeting and the main theme of the speech was human trafficking. The event has now
been hailed as a major and significant achievement by many organizations, but
the outcome of the new approach remain to be seen, most importantly by the
survivors. Some of the highlights of the speech include:
·
An emphasis on the shift from the
model of regarding trafficking survivors as criminals.
·
An emphasis on the U.S. Government’s
zero tolerance policy on human trafficking when it comes to government
contracts and sub-contracts, especially the federal overseas ones.
·
An
emphasis on the importance of providing the right tools, training, and guidance
to those most likely to come across a trafficking situation/case (e.g. law
enforcement, federal prosecutors, immigration judges, workforce agencies, and
educators). The goal of the training is to endow these professionals with the
skills and knowledge to detect, analyze, and properly handle trafficking cases.
·
An emphasis on the need to increase
available services to survivors of human trafficking and making access to such
services much easier. For example, one of the promises of this initiative is to
streamline the current T-visa process.
9/29/2012:
Coming up this Saturday in Washington, DC is the Stop Modern Slavery Walk. I
will be there supporting Courtney’s House and the many other organizations participating. Expect an account of that major event next week.
- Krasi