Organizations and community groups from across the country have traveled to Arlington, TX to participate in the anti-trafficking awareness events surrounding the Super Bowl.  Throughout the week, events have been held to educate the community and to reach out to potential victims of human trafficking.

Because of the clandestine nature of this crime, we must bring awareness to community members, supply them with the resources to recognize potential trafficking situations, and understand how to increase public awareness.  Significantly, 40% of the calls received at the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) last year were from community members, and 16 percent of these calls were tips.  Since December 2007, more than 4,000 potential victims have been referenced in calls to the NHTRC. [Read more →]

Last week, the Department of Justice charged 14 Gambino Crime Family Associates with multiple criminal offenses, including sex trafficking of a minor. This is among the first federal cases targeting organized crime groups with human trafficking offenses in the United States.  This particular case helps highlight two significant points in regards to efforts to combat human trafficking: it is about maximizing profits no matter who is involved in the exploitation, and it is not always a standalone crime, but often wrapped up within other crimes. [Read more →]

As a case manager and therapist at Polaris Project, I sometimes feel so focused on my day-to-day work that it becomes difficult to see, and know, the anti-trafficking movement as a whole. I connect victims here in the United States to housing, medical, and legal resources and provide trauma-focused therapy, but I know little about the face of human trafficking in other countries. At times I write a supportive T-Visa application statement for clients, but am not fully involved in current state or federal policy initiatives that will eventually help them.

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This past Monday the California Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations and the Senate Committee on Judiciary hosted a joint informational hearing entitled “Everyone’s Business: California’s Role in Combating Human Rights Violations in Product Supply Chains.” Kristin Fortin, Policy Counsel at Polaris Project, attended the hearing and presented remarks on my behalf.  Below is an excerpt from the full written statement. [Read more →]

Fifteen minutes of sexual intercourse for $30 dollars cash.

That’s the going rate for men seeking to buy commercial sex from one of the major sex trafficking networks that spans throughout the United States.  Women held in these brothels are bought by a different man every 15 minutes.  Four different men per hour, like clockwork.  Maybe upwards of 30 to 40 different men per day, for 12 hours, 7 days a week. [Read more →]

As I waited in line to make a purchase at Barnes & Noble today, I started scanning over the items in the “Gift Ideas” display. Right next to a Harry Potter wizard kit and a Hello Kitty jewelry kit, I saw “Pimp My Pumpkin” emblazoned on a small shiny box. [Read more →]

Our world struggles with modern-day slavery and most of us do not know about it. The struggle lurks in the dark and does not make for polite dinner conversations.  We want to think that we live in an idealized world that is free from pain and based upon justice. However, the existence of human trafficking tarnishes our self-image as an improving and evolving just world. [Read more →]

Manga (Japanese comics) at a bookstore

TOKYO — I cannot help but to ask one question when examining human trafficking in a country I deeply admire, Japan: What is it about some Japanese men and kids? [Read more →]

Before Polaris Project Japan opened its doors in 2005, we conducted a series of focus groups on various communities’ understandings of human trafficking. When it came to sex trafficking, I was shocked when a number of Japanese male respondents openly talked about their comfort in engaging in commercial sex with children. At first, I hoped those responses were outliers. Unfortunately, as our work began in Japan, I quickly absorbed the reality of how challenging it would be to combat child sex trafficking in a country where the broader commercial sex industry makes up 1 percent of its GNP (equaling Japan’s entire national defense budget!). [Read more →]