Sadly, the scope of abuse and exploitation of women and girls seems to have no bounds. Many are compelled to drink or take drugs with clients at sleazy strip clubs and then forced to perform sexual services. They are forced to work in filthy, dangerous conditions or for bone-crushing long hours in debt peonage to try to discharge loans taken out by relatives for their “safe” passage to America. Default on the debt, which is somehow never paid off, is unthinkable because gangs watch and control the victim’s every move. And even if the victim could somehow escape, those same multinational gangs would order the death of her relatives back in her home country. Strip clubs and sweatshops are not the only settings for modern-day slavery. A woman or girl brought here by a wealthy foreign family can be at that family’s beck and call 24 hours a day as their nanny or servant, forbidden to leave the household, denied compensation, and relegated to a boiler room floor for sleep and table scraps for food. Or a woman may be brought to Houston to join an American fiancé, only to realize that he intended to enrich himself by confiscating all her money and pay, or worse, that he intended her merely to be his maid and personal prostitute, even “lending” her to his friends. I have supervised the representation of dozens of trafficking survivors. The vast majority has suffered horrendous forms of violence to ensure their servitude—from a slave being beaten viciously by her master for bringing back insufficient tips, to a mother forced to watch a video of her 13-yearold daughter being sexually molested and threatened by worse if the mother did not comply with the traffickers’ demands. The cruel common thread in these cases is that the abusers and traffickers—many of whom are actually American citizens or legal permanent
factory workers, restaurant workers, residents—use their victims’ lack of sales clerks or models. To distinguish a legal status, or the fact that the victims victim of “trafficking in persons” from are dependent on the perpetrator for a prostitute or a worker subject to abulegal status, as a control mechanism, a sive labor practices, Congress instructkind of “trump card” that keeps their ed judges, federal immigration officials victims silent and compliant. They and law enforcement to analyze wheththreaten to turn victims over to the poer force, fraud or coercion was used to lice, or report them to the Department subject an individual to involuntary of Homeland Security, or to withdraw servitude, peonage, debt bondage or or withhold filing the sponsorship paslavery. Congress defined “trafficker” pers that are needed to keep the victim broadly to include all those involved in legal status. Abusers and traffickin the recruitment, harboring, transers also keep victims isolated and deportation, provision or pendent. Victims are “Abusers and traffickers obtaining such servicoften unfamiliar with es. The TVPA enlisted American laws and take advantage of immigrant victims to come from countries and exploit the fear help prosecute their where the authorities traffickers. Victims are feared rather than and ignorance of their who are in the United trusted. Abusers and victims, so much so that States as a result of a traffickers take advansevere form of trafficktage of and exploit the even empty threats have ing in persons, who fear and ignorance of real coercive power would suffer extreme their victims, so much hardship (for example, so that even empty over their victims.” retaliation and re-trafthreats have real coerficking) if deported, and who coopercive power over their victims. ate with law enforcement investigaDespite such horrific evil, we can tions, are eligible for “T” visas. This take some comfort that this nation lifesaving legal protection gives vicis fighting back against this scourge. tims the safety and security they need Twelve years ago, Congress passed to recover from their trauma, and gives the Trafficking Victims Protection Act law enforcement the help they need to (TVPA), finding trafficking in persons put traffickers away. to be the “modern form of slavery” and Another legal mechanism avail“the largest manifestation of slavery able to victims of exploitation is the today,” and estimating that 700,000 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). persons annually are trafficked within With the 1994 passage and subsequent or across international borders. Subsere-authorizations of VAWA, Congress quent estimates from the Department established protections intended to of State have figured that up to 17,000 encourage immigrant victims without women and children are trafficked into legal status, or who depend on their the United States alone each year. abusers or the perpetrators of the The TVPA strengthened law enforcecrimes against them for legal status, to ment tools and established legal protecescape violence, report crimes, and cotions for immigrant victims to enable operate with the police without fearing law enforcement to successfully prosthat they will face automatic deportaecute those that lure women and girls tion. away from their home communities to These protections for VAWA victims unfamiliar destinations and into their include the “U” visa for non-citizen networks through false promises of victims who have suffered “substantial decent working conditions at relatively injury” as a result of certain particulargood pay as nannies, maids, dancers, thehoustonlawyer.com
September/October 2012
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