HUMAN TRAFFICKING GENERAL ORDER
This order consists of the following:
1. Purpose
2. Policy
3. Definitions
4. Procedures
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline procedures for recognizing, responding to, and conducting an investigation of possible incidents of Human Trafficking. Additionally, it will provide information on Federal immigration and information on obtaining a visa.
Policy
A. It is the policy of this agency to ensure that all individuals within this jurisdiction are protected in the exercise of rights and privileges under the laws of this State and the United States of America.
B. This agency shall take an active role in conjunction with the agencies of the Federal Government to ensure a complete and thorough investigation
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In addition to the above criteria, the federal TVPA now makes provisions allowing domestic (non-immigrant) citizens to be classified as trafficking victims.
Procedures
A. Criteria for Reporting an Actual or Suspected Case of Human Trafficking
1. If an officer responds to the scene of an actual or suspected incident of Human Trafficking, the officer shall notify his supervisor of the details surrounding the incident. There is a great likelihood that the officer will be responding to another crime such as, robbery, fraud, sexual battery, prostitution, assault, kidnapping/false imprisonment, extortion, or battery. Should this be the case, the responding officer will follow the current agency written directives for the particular crime involved.
Upon the completion of the responding officer’s initial investigation, he/she shall notify the on-call human trafficking investigator (HTI) of the actual or suspected incident of Human Trafficking. This notification shall be made prior to the officer leaving the scene of the incident. The HTI will determine if any follow-up investigation is needed.
B. Investigative
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Victims may lack the following:
1. Personal items/possessions (All their belongings are in one backpack, for example);
2. Private space (Multiple individuals sharing a small space, such as mattresses on the floor, or only a sheet for a divider);
3. Cell phones, calling cards, passports or identification (as often the suspect will hold these as a means of controlling the victim);
4. Financial records;
5. Knowledge about how to get around in the community.
c. Personal Physical Indicators:
1. Injuries from beatings or weapons;
2. Signs of torture;
3. Fearful and/or reluctant to speak to police about who they are or any other personal details.
C. A victim of Human Trafficking does not have to be an immigrant. Although the majority of victims will not be U.S. citizens, the TVPA recognizes domestic trafficking victims, as well. This may include transients, homeless individuals, or teenage runaways.
1. Other Indicators: a. Someone else has possession of legal/ travel documents;
b. Existing debt issues;
c. Third party who insists on interpreting (this may be the violator);
d. Security intended to keep victims confined. 2. Difference between Human Trafficking and Smuggling:
TRAFFICKING
The Council crafted the following operational definition to guide policy development on trafficking in persons: Trafficking is all acts involved in the recruitment, abduction, transfer, harboring, auction or acceptance of a person or persons; within national or across global limits. These types of recruitments are done through force, fraud or trickery; to place persons in a circumstance of slavery or slavery-like conditions, forced labor or services, such as prostitution or sexual services, domestic servitude, bonded sweatshop labor or other debt bondage (E.M. Gozdziak, 2005)
However, the truth is that majority of the victims of human trafficking are American citizens. In fact, it is estimated that the vulnerable
who sell sex to survive, are considered trafficking victims by default under many federal and
Victims of sex trafficking can be U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, women, men, children, and LGBT individuals. Vulnerable populations are frequently targeted by traffickers, including runaway and homeless youth, as well as victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and more. Sex trafficking occurs in a range of venues including fake massage businesses, via online
With an estimated 17,500 individuals trafficked into the U.S. annually, 1,000 individuals received certification within six years following the laws that were set up to stop human trafficking.(Wolf-Branigin, 2010, pp. 424-436) .Certification makes victims of trafficking eligible to receive services from federally funded or administered programs. Even after significant funding for services to support victims of trafficking at the federal level, these resources appear insufficient to meet the demand (Wolf-Branigin, 2010, pp.
In fact, the criminals who are responsible for all the abductions and putting these victims into slavery should not be solely reliable for this heinous crime. Instead, society should be held accountable for letting our passions and desires take superiority over the freedom of an individual. Many would agree that those who fall victim to sex trafficking tends to be foreign immigrants which is seen to be a common misconception. The idea that foreign nationals are the only ones who are primary targets to sex trafficking is nothing more than a myth. Today’s society has become so oblivious to those who are being targeted. According to Doung (2012), Within the sex trafficking business, the victims tend to be both citizens of the United States and those of the foreign nationality which are protected within the statutes of federal
In accordance with this research, the TVPA attempts to address these complexities by creating specific definitions related to trafficking. The TVPA allows for victims of trafficking to be treated as victims versus criminals, and allows for legal immigration status under certain criteria (United States Department of Justice, 2004).
Today, many people say that slavery has ended many years ago, however, there is a hidden population that were being exploited in exchanged for financial and economic gains of others. The victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act(TVPA) of 2000 defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, harboring, transporting, provision or obtaining of person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.” (Hachey and Phillippi, 2017, page 31) Sexual trafficking and labor trafficking are two types of human trafficking. With sexual trafficking, an individual is utilized for commercial sex acts; with labor trafficking, an individual is utilized for
The policy this paper will address is the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) and its many Reauthorization Acts. It was passed in 2000, and was reauthorized in 2003, 2005, and 2008. The main purpose of this policy is to address the needs of individuals who have been trafficked and is the policy around which all human trafficking legislation is based. The act “established several methods of prosecuting traffickers, preventing human trafficking, and protecting victims and survivors of trafficking” (Current Federal Laws 2016). Overall, it really attempts to combat any type of human trafficking and support victims and punish the perpetrators of this awful crime.
In order for a crime to qualify as human trafficking, transportation is “not a required element of the trafficking definition” (NHTRC). There also does not have to be physical abuse although this is true in a large percentage of cases. Victims can be threatened or coerced, especially minors, and this can be just as effective as physical abuse. These are just some of the many common misconceptions of human trafficking. For those that don’t believe sex trafficking is prominent in the U.S., “more than 100,000 children are victims of sex trafficking in America” (Goldberg). One reason that people are unaware of this is because the victims are often targeted
Human Trafficking has become one of the fastest growing businesses in the world, yet it is a subject that continues to be widely misunderstood. Law enforcement personnel (N=121) will be asked to participate in a survey relating to the knowledge of human trafficking and the safety responses they provide for victims. A survey will help to determine whether the knowledge that law enforcement has on the subject of human trafficking effects how they respond to victims. It is anticipated that the less knowledge an officer has on human trafficking, the more likely they will be to sanction rather than help victims. Case file reviews will also be used to look at previous roles of law enforcement and their decisions in human trafficking cases. This research hopes to gather information on the knowledge that law enforcement agents have on human trafficking, along with the way they respond to victims. Specifically whether the safety response that officers give to victims of human trafficking is detaining the victims, placing victims in witness protection or not having any involvement in a safety plan at all.
Every year, thousands of immigrants are victims of criminal activity. Significant factors that contribute to this violence, never to be reported are language barrier, fear of deportation, cultural differences, and fears of the unfamiliar. In 2000 the Congress passed a law known as the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act. (Victims of criminal activity, n.d.). The U.S. Congress created this law as a form of immigration relief that is available aliens who are victims. The Congress wanted to aid law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting human trafficking by providing a way for alien victims to remain in the U.S. to assist in an investigation. Through the whole process the victim is working very closely with an officer. Victims
According to the FBI website, “human trafficking is believed to be the third-largest criminal activity in the world” (FBI). Human trafficking is the sale and trade of people for the purpose of forced labor and sexual slavery. Victims can be U.S. citizens and foreigners alike, and has no demographic restrictions. The victims are from different races, ethnicities, men, women, and include adults and children. Human trafficking could also include providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, or used for forced surrogacy. Victims are often vulnerable; they can be a missing person or teenager who has run away or been lured by someone they believe is a friend. The perpetrators can be almost anyone: family
Upon receiving a human trafficking tip or investigative assistance/expertise request, sworn agents from the FID HTS will:
Similar to social workers our local police department must be equipped and trained to handle sensitive issues of human trafficking. Most trafficked women are sex slaves and confused as prostitutes, so instead of feeling like they have been saved victims they are dehumanized and arrested. The importance of educating law enforcement is to get rid of the stigma that all women willfully participate in prostitution, which is not true at all. If these officers have training they would be able to better identify victims. In the quantitative study conducted the participants were asked Q3: How does police understanding of human trafficking influence the ways the police identify and investigate these crimes? According to A. Farrell et al, he found that