Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking

(click on image to download)

Media coverage

The following are examples of media coverage of the December 4 release of Human Trafficking in California, the Final Report of the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery Task Force:
"California a top destination for human traffickers, report finds," San Francisco Chronicle.
"Human trafficking more common in California," KGO, Channel 7 (ABC), San Francisco
"California prime market for human trafficking," Channel 10 (ABC), Sacramento
"California seen as destination spot for traffickers," Channel 11 (NBC), San Jose.

border Governors conference highlights human trafficking

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver highlight human trafficking at 2008 Border Governors Conference. 

National Human trafficking Public Awareness Campaign released

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has released a public awareness campaign to call attention to human trafficking.  "Hidden in plain sight" is the theme of displays in San Diego and six other cities.  July 2008.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day - january 11, 2008

January 11, 2008, commemorates Human Trafficking Awareness Day both nationally and in California.  Assembly Concurrent Resolution 28 (Assemblywoman Fiona Ma) established this day of awareness in California.  On June 22, 2007, the U.S. Senate approved a resolution to establish a National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness to be observed on January 11 of every year.

THE PROBLEM

Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Victims are young children, teenagers, men and women.  For more information, please read Facts on Human Trafficking.

After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest growing.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked against their will across international borders. Of those, 14,500 to 17,500 are trafficked into the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice also notes that traffickers use various techniques to instill fear in their victims and keep them enslaved:

• Debt bondage - financial obligations, honor-bound to satisfy debt
• Isolation from the public - limiting contact with outsiders and making sure that any contact is monitored or superficial in nature
• Isolation from family members and members of their ethnic and religious community
• Confiscation of passports, visas and/or identification documents
• Use or threat of violence toward victims and/or families of victims
• The threat of shaming victims by exposing circumstances to family
• Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they contact authorities
• Control of the victims' money, e.g., holding their money for "safe-keeping"

Because of the human trafficking phenomena, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) made human trafficking a Federal crime. It was enacted to prevent human trafficking overseas, to protect victims and help them rebuild their lives in the United States and to prosecute traffickers of humans under Federal penalties. Prior to 2000, no comprehensive Federal law existed to protect victims of trafficking or to prosecute their traffickers.

SIGNS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Tips provided identifying the crime of human trafficking for law enforcement, health providers, social service organizations and the public are available from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Information on identifying victims of human trafficking is also available from the Coalition Against Trafficking & Slavery in Los Angeles.  Being able to identify victims of human trafficking is the first step in providing the support they need to escape to freedom and to reporting this crime to law enforcement authorities.  

CALIFORNIA LEADERSHIP ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING

California is a leader in addressing the issues surrounding human trafficking.  In February 2005 a report, Freedom Denied:  Forced Labor in California, was published by the Human Rights Center at University of California Berkeley.  This report focused specifically on the issues of human trafficking in California.  In 2005, Assembly Bill 22 (Lieber) and Senate Bill 180 (Kuehl) were enacted and became law January 1, 2006.  These bills incorporated the recommendations of the U.C. Berkeley report. 

AB 22 added Section 236.1 to the California Penal Code, which establishes human trafficking for forced labor or services as a felony crime punishable by a sentence of 3, 4 or 5 years in state prison and a sentence of 4, 6 or 8 years for trafficking of a minor. The legislation also provides for mandatory restitution and allows trafficking victims to bring a civil action against his or her trafficker.  Strict guidelines and timetables are created for the issuance of Law Enforcement Agency Endorsements for trafficking victims. The bill also establishes a statewide task force, the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery (CA ACTS), to be chaired and administered by the California Attorney General.

CA ACTS Task Force (Member rOster)

Meetings and Agendas (March 2006 - July 2007)

Legislation that created the Task Force

Click here to read the full text of AB 22.
Click here to read the full text of SB 180.

SB 1569 -- TEMPORARY "BRIDGE" SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

In September 2006, Senate Bill 1569 (Kuehl) was enacted and becomes law on January 1, 2007.  SB 1569 provides access to critical services for immigrant survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence and other serious crimes, while they are waiting for processing from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Some victims in critical need do not have access to the services that protect their health and safety, due to bureaucratic delays and other barriers faced by these survivors.  Therefore, SB 1569 serves as a bridge for these victims by ensuring that they have access to a state-funded equivalent of the federal refugee cash, refugee medical and refugee social service programs on a  temporary basis.

SB 1534 -- LOCAL AND HOSPITAL DISTRICT AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE PUBLIC BENEFITS

SB 1534 (Ortiz), enacted in September 2006, authorizes any city, county, city and county or hospital district to provide aid, including health care, to persons who meet eligibility requirements.  Federal legislation enacted in 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, provided that certain persons are not eligible for defined state and local public benefits unless a state law is enacted subsequent to the effective date of the act, August 22, 1996.  SB 1534 affirms the ability of counties, cities and hospital districts to provide health care and other services to all residents, if any of these entities has decided to do so at its own discretion.

FEDERAL LAW - PROTECT Act Fact Sheet

The “PROTECT Act of 2003” comprehensively strengthens law enforcement’s ability to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish violent crimes committed against children.  The act allows law enforcement to use existing legal tools for the full range of sexual crimes against children.  Under prior law, wiretaps are authorized for a range of crimes, but not for many of the various crimes associated with using the internet to lure children for purposes of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.  For a copy of the legislation, please go here for a PDF of the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act of 2003, Pub.L. No. 108-21, 117 Stat. 650 (2003).

FEDERAL GRANTS TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Five law enforcement jurisdictions in California received federal grants from the U.S. Department of Justice to combat human trafficking.  These grants require strong working relationships between law enforcement and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) who provide direct services to victims of trafficking. Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose Police Departments as well as the San Diego County Sheriff's Department received funding that will also allow them to provide training to other law enforcement jurisdictions and conduct human trafficking investigations.

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

There are several organizations throughout California that provide direct services to victims of human trafficking. YThe following is a sampling of these organizations:

• Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) in Los Angeles, www.castla.org
• Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition in San Diego,  www.bsccoalition.org
• Asian Pacific Islander Outreach in San Francisco, www.apilegaloutreach.org/trafficking.html
• The Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) Project in San Francisco, www.sagesf.org
• The Salvation Army in San Francisco, www.salvationarmy.org/usw/www_usw_gstate.nsf

RESOURCES

See our Research page.