Where Do you Stand?
By Jeanne Atkinson
Two years ago, the Alliance to End Human Trafficking began educating our members about the link between migration and human trafficking and how to advocate for laws that would prevent the trafficking of immigrants, support survivors, and change systems that result in the exploitation and abuse of women, children, and men across the world and throughout our country.
Millions of people worldwide seeking better lives or safety through migration are vulnerable to exploitation, forced labor, and sexual servitude. These individuals—often fleeing poverty, persecution, conflict, or environmental disaster—find themselves vulnerable to individuals and entities that trap them in situations where their dreams of safety and opportunity transform into violence and subjugation.
Although I now work for a non-partisan nonprofit that advocates for the value of immigrants and immigration to the nation, I began my career at Catholic Charities as an attorney specializing in immigration law. I represented victims where it was readily apparent they were victims of labor trafficking, where employers took their passports, threatened them with deportation, physically abused them, forced them to work unconscionably long hours, and/or isolated them from neighbors here and family back home. I also represented Betty, a detained woman in deportation proceedings, where it was less clear. I learned at her hearing -at the same time the judge learned—that Betty engaged in prostitution. That day, he ordered her deported. As I look back, I wonder what circumstances led her to, or forced her into, prostitution. Her deportation occurred before a visa providing legal status existed for victims of trafficking. If her case were being considered today, perhaps Betty would have had the opportunity to build a healthy and safe life in America.
Although we have taken some positive steps since I started my career in 1992, our country has also eliminated or curtailed programs, including foreign aid and refugee protections, that will increase vulnerabilities of men, women, and children around the world to trafficking as they are forced to relocate, too often falling into the hands of traffickers. With more than 120 million displaced people worldwide, the need seems overwhelming, and our ability to act is severely limited.
But we must act. Human trafficking will only end when we collectively stand with survivors and stand against the systems and policies that allow this scourge to flourish. We can each do one small thing.
If you are interested in the intersection of migration and trafficking, the Alliance offers resources you can use to educate yourself and information about bills in Congress for which you can advocate. One call. One email. One letter. It makes a difference. If you would prefer to engage in other ways, take the time to learn to recognize signs of trafficking in your community and report suspicions. Learn how to consume ethically by buying from businesses with supply chains that are free from forced labor. Support the Alliance or programs in your community that help survivors.
Where will you stand to help make a world in which every person is free?
