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Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking By PAM BONDI, Florida Attorney General
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uman trafficking is modern-day slavery. It is also a multibillion dollar criminal industry exploiting people of all races, genders and walks of Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General life. It is prevalent in Asia, Africa and South America. However, it is also thriving in Florida and throughout our country. According to Polaris, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending this global atrocity, more than 20 million people worldwide are being trafficked. Many are young women and girls forced into the sex trade — being raped repeatedly to profit their captors. Victims are also being kidnapped and forced into involuntary servitude requiring them to perform back-breaking labor in grueling conditions. The role of FRLA is critical as we work to put an end to forced labor, domestic servitude and sex trafficking in Florida. We need your help to stop bad actors. It is imperative that hotels, motels and restaurants in our state join us in this fight. Victims of human trafficking are beaten, raped or forced to take drugs against their will. Many are branded by their captors. Women who become pregnant as a result of their captivity, are forced to have abortions. Victims who attempt to escape are tortured or even killed. In Mexico, with other attorneys general, I met survivors rescued after years of sex trafficking. These brave women were tortured and raped — often more than a dozen times in a single day. I visited a safe house hidden deep in the Mexican countryside to protect survivors as they received
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treatment and counseling. I met a young girl who was being sold every day for labor and domestic servitude by her mother. While in Morocco, I met with government officials in an effort to strengthen the working relationship between our countries and bolster efforts to combat human trafficking and other transnational crimes. I met a survivor who was kidnapped from Morocco at the age of 10 and not rescued until she was an adult. Her two brothers were also kidnapped and trafficked in different countries. Today, this remarkable survivor is a human rights advocate, working to stop human trafficking and save lives. Sadly, there are also plenty of stories of human trafficking right here in the United States. There are also every day heroes, like the Uber driver in California who saved a life when he noticed a teen passenger under the control of an adult companion. The driver overheard the adult giving the teen what sounded like prostitution instructions. They were headed to a hotel. As soon as the driver dropped off the passengers, he called police. The teen was rescued and the trafficker arrested. A brave flight attendant also took swift action. On a flight, she spotted a teenage girl sitting with an old-
er man who did not appear to be a relative. When she approached them, the man reportedly became defensive. The flight attendant left a note and a pen in the bathroom, then whispered to the girl to go to the bathroom. The girl replied to the note asking for help. The flight attendant notified the police, who were waiting for the man when the plane landed. We need more heroes likes these to help us as we work to make Florida a zero-tolerance state for human trafficking. We appreciate the involvement of the FRLA and its members. FRLA President and CEO Carol Dover has been instrumental in this effort. My Office of Statewide Prosecution works tirelessly to capture and prosecute traffickers, as do each of our 20 state attorneys and the three U.S. attorneys in Florida — but we cannot win this fight without you. You are our eyes and ears on the ground. That is why I launched the website, YouCanStopHT.com — so citizens can learn how to spot a trafficking victim and how to report the crime. Awareness is a powerful tool. Through awareness, if we can empower even one person to get involved, that person can save a life and improve our world.
F LO R I DA R ESTAU R A N T & LO D G I N G A S SO CI AT I O N