By Carlin Lozinsky, clinic student
It has been an exciting month at the Clinic. After sending our “shadow report” to the UN Human Rights committee we began preparing for our panel event on human trafficking in the Bay area. The event was part of the U.S. Human Rights Network’s National Day of Action to spread awareness of the rights protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the U.S. ratified in 1992.
On September 23, 2013, the International Human Rights Clinic hosted a panel discussion with local anti-trafficking experts. Our panel included Professors Lynette Parker and Ruth Silver-Taube from the Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC), Kavitha Sreeharsha from Global Freedom Center (GFC), Perla Flores from Community Solutions, and Sergeant Kyle Oki from the San José Police Department Human Trafficking Task Force. These experts generously shared their experiences and insight on anti-trafficking efforts in the Bay Area with a large audience, including Dean Lisa Kloppenberg.
The event was a tremendous success. The expert panel provided the audience with plenty to think about, and offered many ways for us all to get involved in the fight against human trafficking in our community and worldwide.
Kavitha Sreeharsha discussed the “real faces” of trafficking, to inform the room that trafficking victims are everywhere, and that we might be sitting next to a trafficking victim and not even know it. Unlike media portrayals, not all victims are easily identifiable sex trafficking victims or slaves behind barbed wire. Kavitha told the story of “Mala,” a victim of domestic servitude, trapped inside the house of her traffickers. In two years, the only contact she had outside of the house was with a doctor, and if he had been able to recognize the signs of trafficking, she might have been rescued much sooner.
Sergeant Oki explained how labor trafficking is the hidden crime. He described sex trafficking cases as easier to find, because victims are advertised by their traffickers, whereas victims of labor trafficking are hidden from the public eye. He also explained that although San Jose is lucky to have a federally-funded anti-trafficking task force, it is difficult for him to be the only officer that the San Jose Police Department can dedicate to human trafficking, because there is no one to take up this important work when he is out sick or on vacation.
Perla Flores explained that for anti-trafficking work to succeed and for victims to get help, it is critical for the various involved sectors (primarily law enforcement, legal aid, and victim services providers) to collaborate. As an example, she described the important efforts of the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking to bring together the different members of these sectors in our community to work together and provide support and resources to victims. Her organization, Community Solutions, advocates for an approach based on the four important aspects of anti-trafficking work, called the 4 P’s: Protecting, Prosecuting, Preventing and Partnership.
Professor Ruth Silver-Taube emphasized the importance of civil litigation for victim empowerment, because in a civil case, the victim makes the decisions, whereas in a criminal case, this power lies with the prosecutor. She pointed out that this is an important role for pro bono legal assistance to trafficking victims.
Professor Lynette Parker spoke about the work done by the Katharine and GeorgeAlexanderLawCenter on human trafficking. Since the immigration clinic began working on trafficking cases, the law students that work at the KGACLC have submitted close to 80 visa applications on behalf of human trafficking victims, with a very high success rate.
What you can do
Get involved! All of the speakers agreed the most important thing is becoming informed about trafficking. Take classes, participate in advocacy events, and join a clinic. The immigration clinic enables students to represent human trafficking victims in T visa or U visa applications, and students in the Workers’ Rights clinic can also help trafficking victims sue their traffickers for unpaid wages.
What’s Next…
Stay posted to hear about our trip to Geneva!
As part of our goal to raise awareness and encourage the U.S. government to take action on human trafficking, we will be taking our report to Geneva, where the Human Rights Committee is meeting right now. As we mentioned in our last blog post on this project, this year the U.S. is under review by the Human Rights Committee for the first time since 2006. The U.S. government was scheduled to appear before the Human Rights Committee this past week, but due to the government shutdown, the public meeting was postponed until March 2014. However, despite this change, the Clinic forged ahead and spent a productive week in Geneva discussing our report with Human Rights Committee members, as well as with other relevant UN agencies. We will post a full trip report soon!
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