New Trends in Human Trafficking as a Consequence of the War in Ukraine

This week I gave the first lecture in my Current Issues in the Post-Soviet Region Lecture Series on "New Trends in Human Trafficking as a Consequence of the War in Ukraine." This lecture was given as part of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, which was established in 2007, when the U.S. Senate designated January 11th as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. The month seeks to raise awareness to human trafficking and culminates in the annual celebration of National Freedom Day on February 1st. 

My color coordinated lecture complete with a Ukrainian rushnyk!

The lecture I gave discussed the consequences of the war in Ukraine on human trafficking in that country based on fieldwork and interviews I conducted in 2012-2013 and again in 2015. As a result of the conflict, anecdotal evidence has been reported of the use of child soldiers by the rebel forces in combat  as well as forced recruitment/kidnapping of men and boys for exploitation in the armed conflict. There have also been reports of kidnapping of women and girls for the “purposes of sex and labor trafficking” by the anti-government forces. Child begging is also still a problem. There has been a shift in labor trafficking from male victims to female victims since the crisis started. War, displacement, and the economic crisis in Ukraine have led to an increase in the number of people vulnerable to human trafficking. While some of the displaced have fled to Russia, it is no longer the preferred destination for Ukrainian labor migrants as most now prefer Poland or Germany. The at-risk population has increased and the post-conflict situation has fueled the push factors enticing people to leave Ukraine. The IDP crisis has taken the emphasis off of human trafficking in the Ministry of Social Policy. Bureaucrats inside the ministries have changed and the institutional knowledge of trafficking is lacking. New working groups meet more often and are better coordinated. The economic recession has placed a strain on government resources.

Getting to use all of my post-Soviet tableware! Any good post-Soviet lecture must serve tea and cookies!

Human Trafficking Knowledge Portal

I like to keep tabs on new human trafficking resources to see if they would be useful in the future for my research purposes. I have known about the University Michigan's Human Trafficking Law Project (HTLP) database since it was established in 2011. I have not used the database since I don't track legal proceedings or sentencing data for traffickers in the United States at this point in my research. This past week I learned about a new database sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime called the Human Trafficking Knowledge Portal. According the website, it is is an "initiative to facilitate the dissemination of information regarding the implementation of the Palermo Protocol." Examining the implementation of the protocol and how states choose to conform with the protocol is precisely the topic of my current research. So I was really excited to learn about this new portal which includes a case law database for international case law on human trafficking and a database for legislation. The database is called SHERLOC (Sharing Electronic Resources and Law On Crime). According to the website, most of the "legislation included in this database has been enacted specifically to counter trafficking in persons." Looking over the different laws, the database focuses on the criminalization statutes and some national laws but not any other types of laws or policies related to victims services. Despite the incomprehensiveness of the database, I think it is a good start and includes laws and policies from 95 different countries. Hopefully more laws and policies will be added in the future and then it will be a useful and informational database.

Current Issues in the Post-Soviet Region Lecture Series

This semester I received a small grant from the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Alumni Development Fund from American Councils and the U.S. Department of State to organize a lecture series on the current issues in the post-Soviet region. As part of the lecture series I am giving a talk on the "New Trends in Human Trafficking as a Consequence of the War in Ukraine: In Recognition of Human Trafficking Awareness Month." I am looking forward to sharing my research from this past summer and educating people at Clayton State about the war in Ukraine and its consequences as part of human trafficking awareness month.

My Resolution...

It has been a little over a year since I posted on my human trafficking research and travel blog! It is not because I haven't been doing wonderful things over the past year related to human trafficking. In fact, it is most likely because I was busy doing so many things as part of my advocacy work that I simply did not have time to write. However, a colleague of mine made it his New Year's Resolution this year to write once a week on his blog, so even though I do not like resolutions, I am going to make it a goal for myself this year to try and write once a week on this blog. Since I am doing so many things related to human trafficking in Atlanta, I figured I should document them, my perspectives, and my research more than just a simple post on facebook. So here goes nothing! This year 2016, I resolve to reflect on the things I did last year and also document all of the activities and advocacy work I will do this year!

This is one of my favorite events from last year the the Red Sand Project at the Center for Civil and Human Rights which invites people to find sidewalk cracks and fill them with red sand to help raise awareness of the vulnerabilities that lead to exploitation and human trafficking!

Human Trafficking Taskforce E-Guide

One thing I have learned over the years studying human trafficking is just how effective the government and organizations on the ground can be when they work together. I have seen human trafficking taskforces transform anti-trafficking activities in a country because they brought together all of the agencies and ministries in the government working on this issue with organizations working in the community. It's amazing how much can be accomplished when all the government agencies come together and cooperate and when they also combine the anti-trafficking activities of organizations, they are able to coordinate more effectively and stop the overlap in services and programs and focus their efforts. I think every country in the world needs a working group or taskforce on this issue, which is why I was so excited to see the Human Trafficking Taskforce E-Guide published this week by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime. This e-guide can help existing taskforces and also provides guidelines for those looking to start their own. According to the website the e-guide's "purpose is to assist in the development and day to day operations of an anti-human trafficking task force and to provide fundamental guidance for effective task force operations." The guide provides basic information on human trafficking, a how to guide on forming a taskforce, how to operate one, support victims, and build strong cases. While this e-guide is geared at taskforces in the United States with explanations of US trafficking laws, it could be used in other advanced industrial democratic societies. Expanding its application beyond that would be difficult because countries in the post-Soviet region, my area of expertise do not have the infrastructure to develop many of the recommendations. Still the taskforce models component is an interesting look at different taskforce and working group entities which can vary dependent on the demographics factors and participants. Also according to the website "The Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) maintains a consultant database of subject matter experts who are available to provide consultation, training, and technical assistance to task forces, law enforcement, and victim service agencies." Thus, in addition to this e-guide there is help out there for anyone looking to start a taskforce in their city or state by contacting the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC).

National Human Trafficking Resource Center Website

The Polaris Project unveiled the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) webpage this week http://traffickingresourcecenter.org/. This website is meant to be the new hub for the NHTRC the national, 24-hour, toll-free hotline for the human trafficking. The NHTRC is operated by the Polaris Project it is supported by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division in the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to a Polaris project newsletter release the website "provides information about the NHTRC and human trafficking in the United States, national and state-specific hotline statistics and events, as well as an extensive Resource Library that includes assessment tools, online trainings, statistics, reports and other materials." The website seems easier to navigate than the Polaris site since you do not have to negotiate all of the additional information about the organization. They also unveiled a public online version of their referral directory "with information on 3,000 service providers, law enforcement agencies, coalitions, and advocates covering the entire United States and U.S. territories." Similar to the Global Modern Slavery Directory I wrote about a few weeks ago, it is missing some organizations but it is a great starting off point for locating victim service and advocacy organizations. Now that their directory is online I wonder if the number of calls to the national hotline will go down. The hotline statistics are something Polaris Project discusses in most of their promotional materials so I can see why they would want to keep this information all to themselves. So it is great news that everyone has access to it now and I believe this website will be a great resource for people looking for more information on trafficking or organizations in their area.

The quotes were drawn from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center bi-monthly newsletter. For more information, please call the NHTRC at 1-888-373-7888 or visit the NHTRC at traffickingresourcecenter.org.

Support Marta Resource Centre for Women!

When I lived in Latvia as a Fulbrighter in 2007-2008 I was able to volunteer for a year at Marta Resource Center for Women, a non-governmental organization working for gender equality and against gender violence located in Riga. They were kind enough to welcome me into their organization when I had no real world experience with the issue of trafficking. I learned a lot from my time there and my experiences there have forever shaped my view on anti-trafficking NGOs. You can read more about my work there on my previous blog Adventures in Latvia. Every time I go back to Latvia I always try and stop by to see how everyone is doing and hear about the issues and projects they are working on. Last time I stopped by on my birthday for the open house in their new office located closer to the city center. They sang me Daudz baltu dieniņu, the Latvian birthday song and even made me take pictures with the staff and the US Ambassador to Latvia Mark Pekala since I used to work there. Here is the picture

This organization has done so much to demand equality in Latvia and I am always very impressed at the work that they do for that country. They have been fighting for many European issues such as the abolition of prostitution and LGBT equality before many other organizations were willing to even discuss them. While Latvia is a socially conservative country Marta Centre has championed a number of issues related to equality and constantly keeps the Latvian government on its toes! They are looking for support so I wanted to write a post asking my readers to think about donating to this wonderful organization that stands up for equality and fights for what is right even though sometimes it makes them unpopular in the small country of Latvia. Here is a link where you can make your tax deductible donation and support Marta Resource Centre for Women.