PAC IAI Human Trafficking

PITTSBURGH ALUMNAE CHAPTER Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

JOIN US FOR A

Forum

January 30th, 10:00 am via Zoom To Register, Scan the Below QR Code

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PITTSBURGH ALUMNAE CHAPTER Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

FACT CHECK...

We are in a Hot Spot!

Human Trafficking is a global issue, but it has been increasing in our city Part of the reason behind the increase in numbers is due to the Opioid Crisis and the close proximity to the interstate and highways.

271

In 2019 Pennsylvania was ranked as one of the TOP 10 states for high activity!

540

CASES REPORTED IN PA

VICTIMS IDENTIFIED IN PA

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

TRUE STORIES...

From Victims Around the World These

real-life

stories

of

survivors

of

human

trafficking

is

provided by the Trafficking in Person Report 20th Edition. They characterize the many—though not all—forms of human trafficking and the wide variety of places in which they occur, although each could take place almost anywhere in the world. Many are based on real experiences and the victims’ names have been changed as a

result.

Still,

they

illustrate

the

myriad

schemes

human

traffickers use and the variety of situations in which trafficking victims are exploited.

"Veronica left her indigenous community in Colombia for a domestic service position in the capital city, Bogotá. After arriving, her employer told her she would need to work for two months without a salary to repay her relocation expenses.

Later, her employer forced Veronica to work for two years without pay as punishment for breaking a decorative vase in the home. She had to work 12-hour days and her movements were constantly restricted. After she escaped and a prosecutor brought charges against Veronica’s employer, the court ruled that Veronica was a victim of domestic servitude and a survivor of human trafficking.."

COLOMBIA ~DOMESTIC SERVITUDE Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

TRUE STORIES...

From Victims Around the World Elena’s boyfriend lured her across Canada and forced her to engage in commercial sex. He abused her emotionally and physically. Elena was able to escape and is now receiving comprehensive services from a local NGO to work through the trauma of her experience and adjust to her new life. Her trafficker was sentenced to prison for human trafficking, among other crimes.

CANADA ~ SEX TRAFFICKING "When Mary was in second grade, she stopped attending school just before final exams. The school principal was worried, so he asked her teacher, Mr. Baraka, to check with Mary’s family. Mr. Baraka reported that her family did not know where she was. The principal became suspicious and asked Mary's mother to come to the school for a parent-teacher meeting, during which she reported that Mary had returned home, but she did not know where Mary had been. When Mary returned to school, the principal encouraged her to speak about her experience and Mary admitted that her teacher, Mr. Baraka, had taken her to live with his daughter, who needed someone to care for her baby and had paid Mary’s mother $9 in exchange. Mr. Baraka told Mary she had no choice but to work for his daughter’s family."

TANZANIA ~ DOMESTIC SERVITUDE Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

TRUE STORIES...

From Victims Around the World "Madhu was thrilled when recruiters arrived in his Northern Indian village offering him easy, flexible work at a factory in Bangalore. After moving, he quickly realized the factory owners had lied about what his role and work conditions would be.

Forbidden from leaving his work site, Madhu had no choice but to work 12-hour shifts packaging chemicals under hazardous conditions. While the factory owners paid Madhu a small daily salary, they physically threatened him, forced him to work when ill, and restricted all his movements for four years. When local police learned he was not allowed to return home or travel without consent from his employer, they required the factory owners to release him. Madhu returned to his village, but law enforcement have not pressed charges against the factory."

INDIA ~ FORCED LABOR

"Sofia was optimistic as she landed in Italy with her new fiancé, excited for the luxuries her rural Romanian village did not afford her. Soon after arriving, Sofia’s fiancé handed her an itemized bill for every meal, trip, and gift he had ever purchased for her. He told her she needed to reimburse him by engaging in commercial sex. He forced her to do so through threats, physical violence, and destroying her personal property. Sofia escaped back to Romania and is now receiving support at a shelter for trafficking survivors."

ROMANIA/ITALY ~ SEX TRAFFICKING Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee

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TRUE STORIES...

From Victims Around the World "When Patience’s parents passed away, she took on the burden of caring for her six younger siblings and needed to find a job. A recruiter convinced her to leave Nigeria for better opportunities in Ghana. Once she arrived in a major city in Ghana, the recruiter demanded $1,500 for the cost of transportation and turned her over to a madam who used a local fetish priest to perform a ritual that obligated her to repay the debt. The trafficker then forced Patience to engage in commercial sex to repay her so-called debt for her travel to Ghana. She was threatened and told that if she refused, the priest would place a curse on her and she would be killed."

NIGERIA/GHANA ~ SEX TRAFFICKING "As a 17-year-old orphan living on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, Huy sold lottery tickets and slept outdoors in unsanitary conditions. An older acquaintance offered him a well-paying job abroad, which he declined. Despite his refusal, the man seized and bound Huy and transported him to a windowless warehouse in China.

There men beat and tortured Huy; when he tried to escape, a guard poured boiling water over his chest and arms. After three months, Huy’s captors smuggled him to the United Kingdom and forced him to work without pay for an illegal cannabis garden. The traffickers physically abused and starved him when he did not meet his quota. Huy eventually escaped by breaking a second story window, jumping out of the house, and running until he found a train station."

VIETNAM/UNITED KINGDOM ~ FORCED LABOR Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee

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TRUE STORIES...

From Victims Around the World "Needing money to help purchase a home and start a family, Kim’s parents accepted a small loan from the owner of the brick kiln where they worked. For years thereafter, the kiln owner used the debt to coerce and manipulate Kim’s family to continue to work. When Kim was 12, she began working with her parents to help pay off the debt. Twenty years later, her family’s debt has grown to more than twice their average annual income, which has left Kim with no option but to put her own 11-year-old son to work at the kiln as well. Kim fears her family will never escape their trafficker."

CAMBODIA ~ DEBT BONDAGE "Maria felt very lucky when she was recruited from her northern island in the Philippines to an eldercare position in Southern California. After she arrived, a trafficker confiscated her passport and insisted she pay off a previously undisclosed fee of more than $10,000. The trafficker ordered Maria to work off the debt by laboring 18-hour days for only a few dollars an hour. An observant neighbor of the eldercare facility reported the situation to law enforcement after seeing that Maria worked long hours, never had a day off, and was constantly tired and disheveled. While she was initially fearful of speaking with law enforcement, officers were able to investigate the crime with Maria’s help. Maria received the medical and psychological support she needed from a nonprofit organization. She is now a survivor leader in her community."

PHILIPPINES/UNITED STATES ~ FORCED LABOR Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee

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11 FACTS...

About Child Soldiers?

1. Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by a state or non-state armed group and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes.

2. In the last 15 years, the use of child soldiers has spread to almost every region of the world and every armed conflict.

Though an exact number is impossible to define, thousands of child soldiers are illegally serving in armed conflict around the world.

3. Some children are under the age of 10 when they are forced to serve.

4. Two-thirds of states confirm that enrollment of soldiers under the age of 18 should be banned to prohibit forced child soldiers, as well as 16- and 17-year-old armed force volunteers.

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

11 FACTS...

About Child Soldiers?

5. Children who are poor, displaced from their families, have limited access to education, or live in a combat zone are more likely to be forcibly recruited.

6.

Children who are not forced to be soldiers volunteer

themselves because they feel societal pressure and are under the impression that volunteering will provide a form of income, food, or security, and willingly join the group.

7. In the last 2 years, 20 states have been reported to have child soldiers in government, government-affiliated, and non-state armed groups. Additionally, 40 states still have minimum age recruitment requirements under 18 years.

8. Girls make up an estimated 10 to 30 percent of child soldiers used for fighting and other purposes. They are especially vulnerable when it comes to sexual violence.

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11 FACTS...

About Child Soldiers?

9. A few of the countries who have reported use of child soldiers since 2011 are Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Thailand, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

10.

Despite a government agreement in the District of Chad to

demobilize the recruitment of child soldiers, there were between 7,000 and 10,000 children under 18 serving in combat and fulfilling other purposes in 2007.

11. The recruitment of child soldiers breaks several human rights laws. Children who have committed crimes as soldiers are looked upon more leniently, crimes committed voluntarily are subject to justice under the international juvenile justice standards.

REFENCES: ·

Child Soldiers International UK. "About the Issues." Child Soldiers International. Accessed March 30, 2014.· Child Soldiers International UK. "About the Issues." Child Soldiers International. Accessed March 3, 2015.· International USA. "What is a child soldier?." Plan USA. Accessed March 30, 2014.· Fund. "Factsheet: Child Soldiers ." UNICEF. Accessed March 30, 2014·

Plan

United Nations Children's

"Declaration on accession to the Optional

Protocol." UN General Assembly, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, May 25, 2005. Accessed March 30, 2014· International UK. "FAQ." Child Soldiers International. Accessed March 30, 2014·

Child Soldiers

UN Office for the Coordination

of Humanitarian Affairs. "CHAD: Children conscripted by poverty." IRIN Africa. Accessed March 30, 2014

PITTSBURGH ALUMNAE CHAPTER Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

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Human Trafficking of Athletes Article Provided by the TIP Report Many people around the world dream of becoming professional athletes, drawn by the fame, multi-million-dollar contracts, lucrative brand sponsorships, and opportunities to travel around the world. The growing number of young players aspiring to become professional athletes and the potential to sign the next greatest deal inevitably draws human traffickers looking to profit from the exploitation of players’ dreams. The often insufficient oversight by sport governing bodies and lack of government enforcement further allows unscrupulous agents to operate.

Most often, sports agents approach poor or rural families with an offer to arrange for a child to train at a street-side academy, sports club, or school, with the promise of signing the child with a professional team. Many of these families will do whatever it takes to meet the agent’s price. In cases where the agent does arrange for the children’s admittance and travel to a club or school, typically for a fee of thousands of dollars, the children often find themselves in situations that increase their vulnerability to predatory behaviors. Some unscrupulous agents immediately abandon the children while in transit or after arrival at the destination. Other agents, who are actually traffickers, have a longer-term scheme, where they vie to establish themselves within young athletes’ circle of trust and instill a sense of dependency as early as possible. If players fail to advance to the next level in the sport, the agent abandons them without means to return home. If abandoned abroad, players often remain in the country undocumented not knowing how to contact family and friends or too afraid to do so because of a strong sense of shame and self-blame. This lack of resources, guidance, and social support increases their vulnerability to traffickers.

For players offered a position on a team, the traffickers posing as agents have already established a relationship with the athlete and are well-positioned to control the course of the athlete’s career. In numerous cases, the traffickers have compelled or tricked athletes into signing exploitative contracts with major kickback schemes that bind the athletes to the agent. These agents often maintain control of athletes’ travel and identity documents to prevent them from leaving, or they exploit a debt amassed from previous fees or interest on loans to keep the athlete in a state of debt-based coercion. For the athletes who have dedicated their lives to sign a contract, the fear of losing the opportunity by questioning the terms of that contract or their so-called agent can be insurmountable. Once the contract is signed, the trafficker finally has the control needed to extort as much as possible from the athlete. Even after becoming more established, athletes may feel it is too risky to challenge the terms of a contract or seek other representation out of fear their situation would cause shame, ruin their reputation, or jeopardize their future.

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While traffickers tend to target children and youth, they also approach young adults. In these instances, traffickers follow the same plan of signing an exploitative contract if the player

is

selected

or

abandonment

upon

failure.

In

either

scenario,

the

player

is

at

heightened risk of human trafficking. When legal migration avenues to countries with premier leagues are difficult or do not exist, the draw of a trafficker’s promise of success is even more compelling.

A number of human trafficking cases in sports have been reported by news outlets and in documentaries. Within Europe’s soccer industry alone, it is estimated there are 15,000 human

trafficking

victims

each

year.

The

migration

patterns

vary

by

sport,

but

the

exploitative scheme of recruiting, building trust and dependency, and taking control upon a job offer is universal. The confluence of athletes’ desire to play, their families’ hopes of escaping poverty, agents’ desire to profit, leagues’ interest in marketing competitive players and games, and teams’ eagerness to find young talent all create an environment that, if left unregulated, could be ripe for traffickers to exploit.

Yet neither governments nor international sports federations or national sports leagues have successfully

addressed

the

growing

incidence

of

human

trafficking

of

athletes.

As

professional sports leagues have become increasingly globalized, multilateral and regional bodies

have

started

anticorruption

incorporating

initiatives;

however,

protection government

of

athletes

and

in

industry

sports

efforts

integrity to

regulate

and an

expanding web of migration and recruitment routes have proven insufficient. Though some national sports associations and individual government officials have taken interest in addressing

the

exploitation

of

athletes,

the

global

nature

of

the

sports

industry

and

decentralized structure of many associations and leagues calls for a more systematic and standardized approach. Greater pressure on teams and their scouts is needed to conduct more due diligence on the agents they work with to ensure their talent acquisition is free of exploitation. While sports federations have precautions and safeguards in place against unwarranted interference from external parties, governments should acknowledge when their national sport leagues or associations in their country are not adequately protecting athletes and investigate cases where agents violate anti-trafficking and labor statutes.

Governments could consider: increasing coordination between their youth or child services programs and their sports programs; training consular officers on common indicators or schemes traffickers use within student or sports visas programs; and pursuing partnerships or dialogues with sports agencies and leagues to begin to address this form of human trafficking, such as through nationwide public awareness initiatives.

Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee

PITTSBURGH ALUMNAE CHAPTER Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

DO YOU KNOW...

Stages of Grooming!

First Step: TARGETING A VICTIM Traffickers target victims who have some noticeable vulnerability: emotional neediness, low self-confidence, or economic stress Second Step: GAINING TRUST & INFORMATION Obtaining information about the victim is key. This can be done through casual conversations with the victim or with parents. Traffickers often mix well with other adults Third Step: FILLING A NEED The information gained allows the traffickers to fill a need in the victim’s life, making the victim dependent on them in some way: buying gifts, being a friend, beginning a love relationship or buying soft drugs and alcohol Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee

PITTSBURGH ALUMNAE CHAPTER Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

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TAKEN! JANUARY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH

DO YOU KNOW...

Stages of Grooming!

Fourth Step: ISOLATION The trafficker creates times to be alone with the victim. The trafficker will also begin to have a major role in the victim’s life and attempt to distance the victim from friends and family Fifth Step: ABUSE BEGINS The trafficker begins claiming that a service must be repaid whether money spent on cigarettes or drugs, car rides or mobile phones. In most cases, the trafficker demands sex as payment for such services Last Step: MAINTAIN CONTROL In many cases, the trafficker maintains control of the victim through threats, violence, fear or blackmail Sponsored by The International Awareness and Involvement Committee