Podcasts about human trafficking legal center

Jenn speaks to current professor of medical anthropology at the University of La Verne and founder of Ehtheon and author of “Book of Queens: The True Story of the Middle Eastern Horsewomen Who Fought the War on Terror”, Pardis Mahdavi. Born in Minnesota to Iranian immigrants, Pardis grew up bridging her Iranian and American immigrant identity in her early diplomacy work at the UN. Her curiosity for cultures, people and being a bridge that connects us together has led her to a career in academics, publishing books and most recently creating a wellness tourism company. Through her own experiences, Pardis shares with us how the courage to cross the bridges we build is essentially the foundation in discovering our inner self and in the process understanding the world we live in! (Recorded on July 16, 2024)About Pardis:Pardis Mahdavi, PhD is a professor of medical anthropology and founder of Entheon Journeys. Prior to this role, she served as President at the University of La Verne, Provost and Executive Vice President at the University of Montana, as well as Dean at Arizona State University and the University of Denver after serving in multiple roles at Pomona College. Her research interests include gendered labor, human trafficking, migration, human rights, and public health in the context of changing global and political structures. She has published seven single authored books and two edited volumes in addition to numerous journal and news articles. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Young President's Organization and has been a fellow at the Social Sciences Research Council, the American Council on Learned Societies, Google Ideas, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She serves as a board member for the Lumina Foundation and the Human Trafficking Legal Center.Episode Resources:Website IG Entheon

A 2022 report from the International Labor Organization estimated that 50 million people were trapped in modern slavery with 28 million engaged in forced labor. Some of the most well-documented and egregious cases include Uighurs detained in Chinese work camps, and, North Korean prisoners. But forced labor is a global epidemic present even in the US, Europe, and Australia. In this episode, I speak with attorney Martina E. Vandenberg founder and President of The Human Trafficking Legal Center. Martina has testified before senators and worked with Human Rights Watch in a 20-year career that has taken her to Bosnia, Ukraine, and elsewhere as she has worked to tackle the scourge of enforced labor and human trafficking.    Guest: Martina E Vandenburg Human Trafficking Legal Center Music: Pixabay   维吾尔族集中营。 북한 강제 수용소 김정은 뚱뚱하다    

In this latest FAST podcast episode, FAST's government and multilateral organizations lead, Andy Shen sat down with Caleb Thole from Global Hope Mobilization, a Malawi-based civil society organization, Martina Vandenberg from the Human Trafficking Legal Center, a US-based civil society organization, Sheri Levine-Shea from Barclays, Hennie Verbeek from the Netherlands Financial Intelligence Unit, and Brian Hoxie from the Forced Labour Division of US Customs and Border Protection, to discuss issues of asset recovery and compensation for victims and survivors. In this episode we will hear insights on, the significance of compensation to victims, what can be done to increase this compensation, inter-agency cooperation in support of cooperation; a case example of exploited workers receiving restitution; and FAST's recommendation that States should criminalize financially benefiting from forced labour, if they have not already done so, and make it a predicate offense to money laundering.

Martina Vandenberg is the president and founder of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, a non-profit organization that connects victims of human trafficking and forced labor with pro bono legal representation. She explains the importance of expanding worldwide access to justice, discusses the consequences of forced labor goods entering developed markets, and proposes compelling economic and legislative solutions.

For decades, Cuba has sent thousands of health workers to other countries on medical missions, responding to disasters and other situations. The humanitarian efforts mask a program that relies on forced labor and that has earned Cuba billions of dollars, according to Maria Werlau, executive director of the US nonprofit Cuba Archive.“Many people allege that these doctors go voluntarily, without recognizing that these doctors are a captive labor force.”Maria Werlau, executive director, Cuba Archive“Many people allege that these doctors go voluntarily, without recognizing that these doctors are a captive labor force,” she said. “A lot of them don't even make enough to feed their families.” Related: 'Global ring' involved in smuggling 39 found dead in truck, court toldThe US has deemed these medical missions “human trafficking” before. But a report released by the State Department on Thursday may use the strongest language yet. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke directly to the issue: “They send doctors and other medical personnel abroad, fail to inform them of the terms of their contracts, confiscate their documents and salaries, threaten them and their family members when they try to leave,” he said.Cuban officials reacted vehemently, accusing the US of lying, defaming and slandering their country. And they're not the only ones expressing outrage since the Trafficking in Persons Report — or TIP report — was released. But the report is also being hailed for speaking more stridently and directly to some issues than ever before.“This report is important because it acknowledges problems that have long existed, but that the TIP report has rarely embraced,” said Martina E. Vandenberg, founder and president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center in DC.The report says many countries failed to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis, allowing a dramatic increase in the number of people trafficked or at risk of falling into modern slavery. And while anti-trafficking organizations faltered, traffickers thrived, in part by drastically increasing online sex trafficking. “Traffickers ... adapt their tactics, they take advantage of new risks and new vulnerabilities that emerge ..."Kari Johnstone, acting director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons“Traffickers adapt,” said Kari Johnstone, acting director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, at a press conference. “They adapt their tactics, they take advantage of new risks and new vulnerabilities that emerge. It is incumbent upon governments, and all of us who care about human trafficking, to similarly adapt and respond to prevent trafficking, prosecute the traffickers and protect the victims.”Related: South Korea reels from latest high-tech, online sex trafficking caseThis year's TIP report includes a new section that focuses specifically on LGBTQ people. Another part added this year draws a connection from modern-day trafficking to systemic racism and the legacies of colonization, Indigenous dispossession, and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. “I think that is a step forward. Denying these intersections and these root causes of trafficking allows us to continue — as a government, as a country — to continue perpetuating these harms."Jean Bruggerman, executive director, Freedom Network USA, Washington, DC“I think that is a step forward. Denying these intersections and these root causes of trafficking allows us to continue — as a government, as a country — to continue perpetuating these harms. So, I think first we have to acknowledge it,” said Jean Bruggeman, executive director of Freedom Network USA in DC.“But, of course, then, the real test is, are we going to do anything about it?”For the first time, the TIP report placed a NATO member — Turkey — on the congressionally mandated list of countries that use child soldiers. The Turkish foreign ministry blasted the US, calling the accusations unfounded — and unacceptable. It added that the report is, quote, "the most striking example of hypocrisy” and “double standards."Related: US human trafficking report is misleading, advocates sayThe Thai foreign ministry also angrily dismissed the report as unfair, after it downgraded and placed Thailand on a watchlist for catching and charging fewer suspects. Thailand's inaction contributed to a stunning overall drop in the apprehension of traffickers worldwide last year. Prosecutions fell below 10,000 for the first time since at least 2013. Convictions were down from the previous year by almost half, to barely more than 5,000.“It's clear that COVID opened the door to the largest wage theft in history, and so walking COVID back — walking the abuse of workers back — is going to be incredibly difficult ... We need much more than rhetoric. We need real structural changes.”Martina E. Vandenberg, founder and president, Human Trafficking Legal Center, Washington, DC“It's clear that COVID opened the door to the largest wage theft in history, and so walking COVID back — walking the abuse of workers back — is going to be incredibly difficult,” Vandenberg said. “We need much more than rhetoric. We need real structural changes.”At least one country reacted positively to the report's findings: Malaysia. It was downgraded to the worst ranking, because of the alleged exploitation of migrant workers there. The Malaysian Human Resources Ministry says it takes those concerns seriously, and has vowed to conduct a review. 

In Episode 4, we consider how the financial sector can empower survivors of modern slavery. The episode first looks at why a lack of access to financial services can lead to greater vulnerability to modern slavery and human trafficking, how traffickers exploit victims financially through fraudulent financial identities, and the lasting impacts that this can have.The episode then turns to ask what can be done to try to solve or mitigate these issues, discussing the importance of having financial independence and what economic empowerment can look like for survivors. The episode concludes with a discussion of the FAST Survivor Inclusion Initiative, how it works, and the resources it provides to its members.This episode is hosted by Alexandra Cerquone, External Relations Manager at FAST and guests include Sara Crowe, Director of the Strategic Initiative on Financial Systems at Polaris; Timea Nagy, survivor leader, author and global anti-trafficking activist; Martina Vandenberg, Founder and President of the Human Trafficking Legal Center; Larissa Maxwell, Director of Illuminate, a project by the Salvation Army, Canada; Sarah Byrne, Attorney at Moore & van Allen; Megan Lundstrom, Founder of the Avery Center; Professor Barry Koch, Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and independent consultant in the field of anti-money laundering compliance and risk management; and Professor James Cockayne, Head of the FAST Secretariat.For more information on this topic, please visit:FAST Survivor Inclusion InitiativeThe Survivor AllianceToolkit for Building Survivor-Informed Organizations

For many people, terms like “piracy,” “stowaway,” and “kidnapped” conjure up romantic visions influenced by the literature of Robert Louis Stevenson or C.S. Forester. But as this episode’s guests tell us, these terms actually have deadly serious meanings without much romance and with a great deal of grim reality to them.   Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with Ian Urbina, investigative reporter for the New York Times and author of, The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier, and Martina Vandenberg, president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, to discuss issues related to piracy, kidnapping, and stowaways on the high seas.

When survivors have lawyers, survivors have rights: This is the mission of the Human Trafficking Legal Center located in Washington, DC. The Legal Center has a database of every federal civil and criminal human trafficking case in the U.S. since 2009. They use this information to study trends in human trafficking, identify gaps, and advocate for change. In this episode, Deputy Director Sara Bessell, discusses some of the most critical trends occurring in the U.S. including the targeting by traffickers of those with disabilities, domestic violence and trafficking, and arresting victims in order to compel their testimony. The Legal Center is at your service to share the civil database, to pull criminal cases for you, or to potentially answer the questions you have.

This year marks 20 years since the US first made a historic commitment to ending modern slavery.“We’ve accomplished so much in the last 20 years,” said John Richmond, US ambassador-at-large of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, during the June 25 release of the 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report.Related: 'American exceptionalism': EU travel bans show US is abdicating global leadership, former CDC head says“Our engagement on this has made a difference. This report and the US have made a positive difference.”Every year, the US issues an annual report that ranks countries by their progress fighting human trafficking. Countries in the lowest category are restricted from receiving US aid.The 2020 report lists 22 countries receiving improved rankings for their work on the issue over the past year.“The department put this out on time without any delays in the midst of a global pandemic and that itself serves to show the priority this administration and the secretary has placed on this issue,” Richmond said, reminding the audience that President Donald Trump had also hosted a summit on human trafficking, and issued an executive order to combat online child exploitation.But advocates across the globe warn that with the pandemic and economic downturn, there’s an urgent risk that more people will fall prey to human traffickers. They say the report is poorly timed, and counterproductive.“At this moment, at the 20th anniversary, the State Department wants to tell a story of success and progress. And that's just not the story that the data tell.”Martina Vandenberg, The Human Trafficking Legal Center“At this moment, at the 20th anniversary, the State Department wants to tell a story of success and progress,” said Martina Vandenberg, the founder and president of The Human Trafficking Legal Center. “And that's just not the story that the data tell.”Especially because right now, she says, the global pandemic is making more people vulnerable to human trafficking.Related: As Lebanon’s financial crisis worsens, migrant workers are being dumped on the streets like ‘trash’“So, what we're seeing around the globe is people going into greater debt. People now trapped in countries to which they have migrated, but completely unemployed,” she said. “And the likelihood is that those people will be more vulnerable to indentured servitude and more vulnerable to forced labor when the world begins to open up again.”Vandenburg also takes issue with the US giving itself the highest possible ranking. Many advocates felt that the US deserved to be downgraded this year.Jean Bruggeman is the executive director of Freedom Network USA. She says many of the president’s border and immigration policies increase wait times and denials, putting more people at risk for trafficking, including vulnerable populations, like LGBTQI people.“I do not think that the United States is engaged in sustained efforts. And I think the report tells you that when they say that, you know, they maintained prosecution efforts, at best, they reduced efforts to provide protection. And the only prevention work they do is federal agency training, which is not actually prevention. It’s not actually changing the circumstances, which puts people at risk.”Related: Options dwindle for Venezuelan migrants across Latin America during the pandemicNeha Misra, a specialist at the Solidarity Center, a nongovernmental organization, says the report’s rankings have always been somewhat politicized, but this year’s takes it to another level. She questions, for example, the upgraded ranking of Saudi Arabia, and says it may lead that country to do less to combat trafficking.“Even countries that don't get US aid, reputationally, it meant a lot. It was embarrassing to be on [the] tier-three or the tier-two watchlist. And if the tier rankings don't mean anything, then that reputational pressure is gone.”Neha Misra, Solidarity Center“Even countries that don't get US aid, reputationally, it meant a lot. It was embarrassing to be on [the] tier-three or the tier-two watchlist. And if the tier rankings don't mean anything, then that reputational pressure is gone.”For survivors who are now in the fight against human trafficking, the report is disheartening, says Suamhirs Piraino-Guzman. He was kidnapped in Honduras as a child and smuggled into the United States by human traffickers.Related: In Ciudad Juárez, a new 'filter hotel' offers migrants a safe space to quarantinePiraino-Guzman was appointed by President Barack Obama to the US Advisory Council on Human Trafficking in 2015.“I’ll be honest with you. I think we need to stop pretending that we're moving forward.”If the US isn’t honest about the reality of human trafficking, he said, it’s not really serving the people who need help the most. 

Martina Vandenberg, Founder and President of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, describes patterns of trafficked labor in supply chains, recent cases and how her organization is holding traffickers accountable through civil litigation and criminal restitution. HT Legal leverages pro bono support from law firms to gain compensation for survivors.

The New Yorker contributor Jenna Krajeski recently met with a woman who calls herself Esperanza. In her home country, Esperanza was coerced and threatened into prostitution, and later was trafficked into the United States, where she was subjected to appalling conditions. Esperanza eventually obtained legal help, and applied for something called a T visa. The T visa contains unusual provisions that recognize the unique circumstances of human-trafficking victims in seeking legal status. It has also been a crucial tool to obtaining victims’ coöperation in prosecuting traffickers. The Trump Administration claims to want to fight the problem of human trafficking, but Krajeski notes that its policies have done the opposite: T-visa applicants can now be deported if their applications are rejected. This dramatic change in policy sharply reduced the number of applications from victims seeking help. “If what [the Administration] cares about is putting traffickers in prison, which is what they say they care about, their prosecutions are going down and will go down further,” Martina Vandenberg, the president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, says. “Trafficking victims under the circumstances can’t actually coöperate.”  

The New Yorker contributor Jenna Krajeski recently met with a woman who calls herself Esperanza. In her home country, Esperanza was coerced and threatened into prostitution, and later was trafficked into the United States, where she was subjected to appalling conditions. Esperanza eventually obtained legal help, and applied for something called a T visa. The T visa contains unusual provisions that recognize the unique circumstances of human-trafficking victims in seeking legal status. It has also been a crucial tool to obtaining victims’ coöperation in prosecuting traffickers. The Trump Administration claims to want to fight the problem of human trafficking, but Krajeski notes that its policies have done the opposite: T-visa applicants can now be deported if their applications are rejected. This dramatic change in policy sharply reduced the number of applications from victims seeking help. “If what [the Administration] cares about is putting traffickers in prison, which is what they say they care about, their prosecutions are going down and will go down further,” Martina Vandenberg, the president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, says. “Trafficking victims under the circumstances can’t actually coöperate.”

The Prevalence of Human Trafficking in the United States and the Legal Framework for Bringing Justice to Human Trafficking Survivors.Discussion with Martina Vandenberg on the work of the Human Trafficking Legal Center and the prevalence and characteristics of human trafficking in the United States. We discuss the international and legal framework, whether the United States is meeting its international obligations and consider particular issues relating to diplomatic immunity when human trafficking is committed by diplomats in the United States. We also discuss prosecutions under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the application of its mandatory restitution provisions. Additionally, we discuss U.S. government awareness programs such as the Blue Campaign and their effectiveness and the best legislative and litigation strategies for eliminating this egregious crime.For More Info:http://www.htlegalcenter.org/https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?http://law.slu.edu/sites/default/files/Journals/alexandra_levy-martina_vandenberg-article.pdfhttp://www.htlegalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/FF_SL_AW02_WEB.pdfhttp://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htmhttps://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/https://www.americanbar.org/groups/domestic_violence/survivor-reentry-project.htmlhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons.aspxhttps://www.globalslaveryindex.org/https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/awareness-traininghttps://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/blue-campaignhttps://www.state.gov/j/tip/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s2308