The Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center
Most trafficking victims in the United States do not have access to justice. In 2003, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which gave trafficking victims the right to sue their traffickers for damages. But in the 10 years since the law was passed, fewer than 100 civil cases have been filed under the civil human trafficking statute. Trafficked persons have significant rights under U.S. law, but they cannot exercise these rights without competent legal counsel....
Read MoreThe Freedom Network
The Freedom Network is a national alliance of advocates and organizations that take a comprehensive and holistic approach to combating human trafficking. The breadth and depth of their work is evident in factsheets that recognize the “poverty and economic injustice, racism, gender-based discrimination, and political strife” that underlie human trafficking. Established in 2001 by people hailing from an array of backgrounds—immigration, children and victim rights, social services, farm...
Read MoreForced Into Prostitution — and Denied a Lifeline, by Florrie Burke
This article was cross-posted from the Huffington Post. I’m an advocate for victims of human trafficking, and I’ve witnessed a lot of pain and suffering. But I’ll never forget the day I met two teenage girls at a District Attorney’s office the day after they escaped a brothel. As the girls sat there clutching the teddy bears that are usually given to children, they told me they had been forced to have sex with multiple men without condoms. One of the girls described a...
Read MoreCall for Papers: Following the Money: Spending on Anti-Trafficking, Anti-Trafficking Review, Special Issue
Issue 3 to be published in 2014 Deadline for Submission: 15 December 2013 Anti-trafficking funding and work has mushroomed since the 1990s. Lacking is analysis of those anti-trafficking funds – where they come from, who they go to, what they are meant to do, what they actually achieve, and indeed whether they are needed. Donors, organisations and trafficked persons’ priorities are not always aligned when it comes to how to spend money. In a first indication of a global mismatch...
Read MoreVisas, Inc. by Global Workers Justice Alliance
By Ashwini Sukthankar Preface: Visas, Inc. goes behind the scenes of the ad hoc set of visas that are sometimes referred to collectively as the “guestworker program.” It has become a lucrative business for employers, but with high costs for U.S. society as well as foreign and American workers. Employers are driving a system that lacks coherence and has serious long-term consequences for the United States. Without thoughtful consideration of the future of U.S. labor needs as they were...
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