[In a Chester voice] Good afternoon First Colonial.

My name is Charles Tamayo, and I

explored the issue of human sex trafficking in the United States.
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Here is my thesis. In simplest terms, human trafficking is not fought against in a serious
manner as it should be when taking into consideration how victims suffer both while
being trafficked and afterwards, how it is actually combatted, and when looking
comparatively to other developed countries.
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As defined by the United Nations, human trafficking is the transferring and harbouring of
persons by force or coercions for the purpose of exploitation.
It is estimated that there are 1.5 million people who are trafficked in the United States,
300,000 of whom are children. There are two types of human trafficking, labor and sex.
As sex trafficking is more prevalent in the United States and in the local community, that
was the focus of the research.
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In order to first engage in human trafficking, the perpetrators must first obtain
their victims. Traffickers often groom victims by showering them in expensive gifts,
alcohol, and illegal narcotics to gain their trust. Traffickers have begun to use social
media to “catfish” their victims, especially younger ones, due to increased vulnerability
of their self-image.
Many of the perpetrators are members of organized criminal gangs. There has
been a shift in gang activity to incorporate human trafficking into their operations, due to
the ability to sell a victims multiple occasions. That is quite different from selling a
narcotic or an illegal firearm only once. The participation by these criminal enterprises
has led to human trafficking becoming the third-largest criminal activity in the world.
Transnational Trafficking has also grown to become an issue, where it is
estimated that anywhere from 14.5 k to 17.5k victims are trafficked into the US every
year, most of whom come across our Southern border. When these victims are freed,
they are often times deported due to their illegal presence in this country. There are
special T visas are given to victims of sex trafficking, but less than 700 are awarded
every year.
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When looking at the Background it can be easily determined that
● Most victims are women
● Almost ⅓ are children
● These Children often come from the foster system, poor economic backgrounds,
or are runaways
It is disheartening to see the Prosecution of Victims
● 22/50 states have safe harbour laws to protect minors from prosecution
● Federal government has a policy of not prosecuting minors
 ● Adults are still prosecuted, so is a factor in why many victims don’t come forward
● 30 year-old Cyntoia Brown
○ Was convicted as a minor for a crime she committed in self-defense while
she was being sex trafficked
○ Was initially scheduled to be in jail till 60 years old
○ Granted clemency by TN Gov Bill Haslam after 15 years
○ Scheduled for release in August and w/10 year supervised parole
● Victims are also scrutinized during trials due to their lack of reliability and they
are forced to relive the horrors of their time being trafficked
● Furthermore there is very little healthcare support (gov funding)
● Lots of healthcare needed (20 times more attention than domestic violence)
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TVPA of 2000 - first fed law, no more trafficking, its not cool, nat concern, led to more
laws
Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act - take action against websites that are used, Cragislist
removed their personals section, Backpage.com
VA Code 18.2-346 states that prostitution is a misdemeanor, felony w/kid
VA Code 18.2-357.1 criminalized the facilitation of sex trafficking
US v. Evans (2007) was an 11th circuit Court of Appeals case that declared that feds
can prosecute human trafficking even if only happens in one state b/c contributes to
national issue, and interstate commerce is affected if hotels, cell phones, products from
outside state, such as condoms, are used
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Look at Trends
● Less investigations
● More Prosecutions and convictions
● Mixed progress federal level
Comparatively w/UK, pretty good
● More cases in US, but at lower rates (US has greater problem with native born
victims)
● If Brexit happens, UK will have a greater problem due to a lack of EU’s protection
laws
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Questions?
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Here are some of the references I used in my presentation
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And here are the rest I used [END]
Notes on Lauren
● Emergency needs
● Legal assistance
● Differences in services
● Clearing records

Quick Reference to Notes

During Trial
● First interaction w/police
● Intimidation
● Too few interviews not comfortable, too many and look at changes, discredit
Medical Problems
● Broken bones, STDs, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, drug addictions, insomnia
Local Org
● Samaritan House, VBJI
US vs. UK
● 136k victims in UK, 800 British citizens (about 16% of identified victims)
● UK currently doesn’t have a lot of laws, uses EU regulations
● Don’t provide adequate training (TIP Report)
● 66 million population in UK vs. 325 million population US (5x more)
Things to be done
● Like Northam signing a law denying trafficking suspects from bail
● More T Visas (Trump put more restrictions/qualifications) (672 issued 2017, 100
less than 2016)
● Victim Service Funding
● Law Enforcement Training (only 18% have training, 9% have protocols, 7% have
investigated cases)
●

References
Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017, H.R. 1865, 115th Cong. (Apr. 11, 2018). Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ164/PLAW-115publ164.pdf
Ark of Hope for Children. (2017, July 31). Child trafficking statistics. Retrieved November 19, 2018, from Ark of Hope for Children website: https://arkofhopeforchildren.org/child-trafficking/child-trafficking-statistics
Batchelor, T. (2017, May 9). Road to brexit: Leaving EU could make it 'impossible' to tackle human trafficking, warn campaigners. Retrieved December 20, 2018, from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-human-trafficking-impossible-eu-police-not-protect-slavery-people-abuse-victims-court-justice-a7689766.html
Dovydaitis, T., RN, WHCNP. (2010). Human trafficking: The role of the health care provider. Journal of Midwifery & Women's He alth, 55(5), 462-467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmwh.2009.12.017
Department of State. (2018, June). Trafficking in persons report. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/282798.pdf
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Human trafficking/involuntaryservitude. Retrieved November 16, 2018, from Federal Bureau of Investigation website: https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/human-trafficking
National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2016, February). National human trafficking resource center data breakdown. Retrieved fr om Polaris Project website: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/resources/2015-nhtrc-annual-report
Romero, J. D. (2014, December 4). Why do we treat child sex-trafficking victims like criminals? Retrieved November 26, 2018, from The New Republic website: https://newrepublic.com/arti cle/120418/underage-sex-trafficking-victims-are-treated-criminals-us
Raphelson, S. (2017, December 1). Cyntoia brown case highlights how child sex trafficking victims are prosecuted. Retrieved December 18, 2018, from https://www.npr.org/2017/12/01/567789605/cyntoia-brown-case-highlights-how-child-sex-trafficking-victims-are-prosecuted
Sabyan, C., Smith, E., & Tanneeru, M. (2011, June 17). Trafficking and the U.S. Retrieved November 16, 2018, from The CNN Freedom Project: Ending Modern Day Slavery website: http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/17/ trafficking-and-the-u-s/
Stelter, L. (2016, January 27). More gangs are running sex trafficking rings. Retrieved November 26, 2018, from In Public Safety website: https://inpublicsafety.com/2016/01/more-gangs-are-running-sex-trafficking-rings/
UNODC. (n.d.). Human trafficking. Retrieved November 16, 2018, from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime website: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, H.R. 3244, 106th Cong. (Oct. 28, 2000). Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/106/plaws/publ386/PLAW-106publ386.pdf
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-346 (2014). Retrieved from https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter8/section18.2-346/
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-357.1 (2015). Retrieved from https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter8/section18.2-357.1/
WCET. (2015, July 27). Sex traffickers using social media to recruit victims. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from WCET News 6 website: http://www.wect.com/story/29382593/sex-traffickers-using-social-media-to-recruit-victims/