THE LAWS AND CHALLENGES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING Presenter: Summer Stephan, Chief Deputy District Attorney

Transcription

1 THE LAWS AND CHALLENGES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING Presenter: Summer Stephan, Chief Deputy District Attorney Overview Of the State of Human Trafficking in the San Diego County Region 1 Why Should We Take Interest in Human Trafficking? It s the greatest civil rights violation known to humanity It s the deprivation of human dignity - buying and selling people Domestic trafficking of US women and children is on the rise due to profit margin, and difficulty to detect along with internet factors 2 1

2 Scope of Problem Worldwide According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest growing. Approximately 27 million people held in slavery worldwide according to the United Nations 3 Scope of Problem United States U.S. Department of Justice estimates: 200, ,000 U.S. children are at high risk to falling prey to the sex trade industry Cases have been investigated in ALL 50 states San Diego County Sex Trafficking: Children/teens from different backgrounds are being trafficked in the sex industry Labor Trafficking: Prevalent and even harder to detect 4 2

3 What is the Scope & Nature of the Problem in San Diego In 2003, the FBI identified the San Diego region as a High Intensity Child Prostitution Area Channel 10 reported 2,500 runaways in San Diego at any given time all vulnerable to sexual exploitation (Channel 10 May 19, 2009) 1 in 3 runaway youth surveyed had been sexually exploited (Sample of 200, SANDAG, 2007) 1 in 5 runaway youth surveyed were approached to engage in acts of prostitution (Sample of 200, SANDAG, 2007) 5 High Intensity Child Prostitution Areas (HICPA) Chicago Dallas Detroit Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis New York San Diego San Francisco Bay Area St. Louis Tampa Washington, D.C. 6 3

4 One in every five youth will runaway from home by the age of 18, 50% will run away multiple times Urban Institute/Pergamit, 2010 In 1999, over 1.6 million children were thrown out of their homes or ran away NISMART, What are we doing about it in the United States? 2000 Congress passed Trafficking Victims Protection Act Victim centered law that defined severe forms of human trafficking and provided effective punishment and rights for victims 2005 Congress passed more funding and laws aimed at combating trafficking and encouraged local law enforcement agencies to work with federal agencies 8 4

5 What are we doing about it in California? 2006 California enacted a Human Trafficking law that was also victim centered Proposition 35 recently made CA State laws more similar to the Federal Laws Provided criminal and civil penalties Increased punishment if victims were under the age of 18 9 Recent Research on Scope of Human Trafficking in San Diego Study on Sexual Exploitation Study on Labor Trafficking 10 5

6 CA State Human Trafficking Laws P.C Human Trafficking: deprived or violated the personal liberty of another; with intent to effect/maintain a felony violation of 266 (entice minor into prostitution) 266h (pimping) 266i (pandering) 267 (abduction of minor for prostitution) (use minor to create obscene material) 518 (extortion) or to obtain forced labor or services 11 Unlawful deprivation or violation of the personal liberty of another substantial & sustained restriction of another's liberty accomplished through fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to victim or another person, under circumstances where person receiving the threat reasonably believes that it is likely that the person making the threat would carry it out. 12 6

7 Human Trafficking of Minors No deprivation of liberty needed If pimped or pandered, then trafficked PC236.1 (c) Any person who causes a minor to engage in a commercial sex act with the intent to effect a violation of PC266, PC266h, PC266i is guilty of human trafficking 13 Minors Continued Consent is NOT a defense Mistake of fact as to V s age NOT a defense In determining whether a minor was caused to engage in a commercial sex act, the totality of the circumstances, including age, relationship and disability shall be considered 14 7

8 Who are the Perpetrators? Friends and family Organized crime Local gangs Smugglers Pimps Madams Boyfriends Employers Basically ANYONE 15 Who s Luring Teens? Intra-familial sexual exploitation mom, dad, step-dad Extra-familial pimps, sex traffickers, child pornographers, madams Peer recruiter other youth used or coerced by pimps tennis shoe pimps, scouts, prostituted girls Top girl of the pimp Gang members Source: Dr. Sharon Cooper, NCMEC Training, July

9 Child Victim Profile Between 12 and 14 Unstable living environment Victim of abuse/domestic violence Runaway Academic issues Have been indoctrinated Substance abuse Mental health issues 17 CSEC Factors Promoting Exploitation High runaway youth population Child Abuse/domestic violence/foster care Lack of education about risks Pop culture/objectification of females Academic issues (truancy, learning disabilities) Emotional and mental health issues Substance abuse Money and fame attraction (unsupervised social media use) 18 9

10 Physical Indicators of Sexual Exploitation Medical neglect Physical bruises/signs of torture Branding Sexually transmitted diseases New items gifts w/ no means of support Skimpy clothing Controlling boyfriend 19 Behavioral Indicators of Exploitation Running away from home Sudden withdrawal from peers/family Truancy/unexplained absences Drug or alcohol abuse Sexualized (acting out) Anger/aggression (acting out) 20 10

11 How Victims are Located Prostitution stings Robbery, assault, disturbance, domestic violence, sex assault calls/reports Confidential sources - Hotlines Parents/church Schools Law enforcement gang units Wire taps Jail calls Public health 21 DA s Office Sex Crimes and Human Trafficking Unit aka: (SVU Law and Order Special Victims Unit) Established in 2003 by DA with specialized prosecutors and team Sex Crimes including sexually based homicides and late report child molestation Sex Offender Registration - SAFE Sexually Violent Predators (SVP) Human Trafficking and related crimes of Pimping and Pandering 22 11

12 What are we doing about it in San Diego County? San Diego County DA s Office was the first to prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking under CA Human Trafficking Law, Penal Code Section (January 2006) Added tracking of cases and tracking of gang activity Targeted the pimps that profit from child and teen prostitution Increased law enforcement training in this area Increased collaboration essential to fight this crime 23 Number of Cases Prosecuted Have Tripled # of Cases Prosecuted

13 HT and CSEC Advisory Council Sheriff/DA/Supervisor Jacobs authorized HT and CSEC Advisory Council: Prosecution/Law Enforcement; Victim Services, Education, HHSA, Community Increased collaboration essential to fight this crime example: NCHT task force Increased training by law enforcement and all partners Hosted 200 plus multi-disciplinary best practices Summit 25 Implementation of Posting Law SB1193 codified in Civil Code section 52.6 required certain businesses, airports, hospitals to post certain information m-services.html (go to Human Trafficking Resources tab and find posters in different third language) County required posting establishments are continuing to be notified 26 13

14 COMBAT PLAN Education Detection Prosecution Prevention 27 Knowledge is Power 28 14

15 The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. Edmund Burke, English Philosopher Copyright 2006 ACTION Network. All Rights Reserved