Human Trafficking in Florida: The Role of Applied Anthropology in Addressing the Problem and Response

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-28
Author(s):  
Karen Dyer ◽  
Nathaniel Dickey ◽  
Sarah Smith ◽  
Hannah Helmy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Applied Anthropology ◽  
United States Congress ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Labor Trafficking ◽  
Exact Data

Human trafficking is a pervasive issue in the United States (Florida State 2003:16). While an estimated 18,000-20,000 persons are trafficked across the nation's borders each year, this may be a dramatic underestimation of actual occurrence due to the hidden nature of human trafficking crimes and the fact that this number does not include domestic trafficking incidents (Florida State 2003:16). Federal anti-trafficking legislation defines "trafficking in persons" to mean those compelled into commercial sex acts (sex trafficking) or labor and services (labor trafficking) through force, fraud or coercion (United States Congress 2000). Although exact data regarding the incidence of human trafficking in Florida are currently unavailable, it is considered a lucrative trafficking hub—often being cited as one of the top three states in which the crime occurs. This is principally because of its agriculture- and tourism-based economy, two industries in which trafficking can thrive with relatively little resistance (Florida State 2003:27). Indeed, Miami International Airport has ranked among the "top points of entry for trafficking" since as early as 1999 (Florida State 2003:28). The lack of comprehensive data also precludes a clear picture of the demographics and nationalities of all trafficked persons in Florida, but figures from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops provide a snapshot of certified victims of trafficking who are receiving federal benefits. In a four-year period ending August 2010, 274 trafficked persons received federal benefits; of these individuals, 127 were female, 147 were male, and the top five nationalities were those from Haiti (81), the Phillipines (65), Mexico (42), Guatemala (13), and Honduras (12) (Florida State 2010:39-40).

scholarly journals Using Global Migration Law to Prevent Human Trafficking

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 147-152
Author(s):  
Janie A. Chuang
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Labor Trafficking ◽  
Global Migration ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
International Laws ◽  
Migration Law

Our understanding of human trafficking has changed significantly since 2000, when the international community adopted the first modern antitrafficking treaty—the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Trafficking Protocol). Policy attention has expanded beyond a near-exclusive focus on sex trafficking to bring long-overdue attention to nonsexual labor trafficking. That attention has helped surface how the lack of international laws and institutions pertaining to labor migration can enable—if not encourage—the exploitation of migrant workers. Many migrant workers throughout the world labor under conditions that do not qualify as trafficking yet suffer significant rights violations for which access to protection and redress is limited. Failing to attend to these “lesser” abuses creates and sustains vulnerability to trafficking.

The Celebritization of Human Trafficking

2014 ◽  
Vol 653 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Francesca Haynes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Dominant Discourse ◽  
The Media

Human trafficking, and especially sex trafficking, is not only susceptible to alluring and sensational narratives, it also plays into the celebrity-as-rescuer ideal that receives considerable attention from the media, the public, and policy-makers. While some celebrities develop enough expertise to speak with authority on the topic, many others are neither knowledgeable nor accurate in their efforts to champion antitrafficking causes. Prominent policy-makers allow celebrity activists to influence their opinions and even consult with them for advice regarding public policies. Emblematic of larger, fundamental problems with the dominant discourse, funding allocations, and legislation in current antitrafficking initiatives in the United States and elsewhere, celebrity activism is not significantly advancing the eradication of human trafficking and may even be doing harm by diverting attention from aspects of the problem and solution that sorely require attention.

scholarly journals Child Labor Trafficking in the United States: A Hidden Crime

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Kaufka Walts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Labor Trafficking ◽  
Domestic Servants ◽  
International Laws ◽  
Trafficking Victims ◽  
Sexual Services

Emerging research brings more attention to labor trafficking in the United States. However, very few efforts have been made to better understand or respond to labor trafficking of minors. Cases of children forced to work as domestic servants, in factories, restaurants, peddling candy or other goods, or on farms may not automatically elicit suspicion from an outside observer as compared to a child providing sexual services for money. In contrast to sex trafficking, labor trafficking is often tied to formal economies and industries, which often makes it more difficult to distinguish from "legitimate" work, including among adolescents. This article seeks to provide examples of documented cases of child labor trafficking in the United States, and to provide an overview of systemic gaps in law, policy, data collection, research, and practice. These areas are currently overwhelmingly focused on sex trafficking, which undermines the policy intentions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (2000), the seminal statute criminalizing sex and labor trafficking in the United States, its subsequent reauthorizations, and international laws and protocols addressing human trafficking.

Human Trafficking 1: Epidemiology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Macias-Konstantopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Forced Labor ◽  
Commercial Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Debt Bondage ◽  
Domestic Servitude

Trafficking in persons, or human trafficking, is the obtaining of persons by force, fraud, coercion, or other improper means, with the intention of exploiting them for financial gain. According to the US Department of State, the more prominent global forms of human trafficking include forced labor, bonded labor (or debt bondage), forced commercial sexual exploitation (or sex trafficking), involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labor, child sex trafficking, child soldiering, and organ trafficking. In the United States, the forced exploitation of persons in the labor industry (i.e., labor trafficking) and in the commercial sex industry (i.e., sex trafficking) account for the majority of human trafficking cases recognized, reported, investigated, and prosecuted. Women and girls account for 55% (11.4 million) of the global trafficked population, whereas men and boys comprise the difference. Three quarters of trafficked persons are adults, whereas children younger than 18 years represent 26% (5.5 million) of victims. Risk factors that have been associated with increased risk of human trafficking include but are not limited to a childhood history of abuse and neglect; financial insecurity; housing instability associated with homelessness, running away, or being thrown out of the home; kinship placements with distant family members, foster care, and other residential placements; intellectual and learning disabilities; identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ); racial and ethnic minority status; status as an immigrant, migrant worker, and refugee; and involvement in gangs or illicit substance use. Due to the inherently abusive and violent nature of this crime, human trafficking has profound negative implications for the health and well-being of affected persons. This review contains 2 figures, 4 tables and 53 references Key words: commercial sexual exploitation, debt bondage, domestic servitude, forced labor, forced substance use, HIV, modern-day slavery, posttraumatic stress disorder, trafficking in persons 

scholarly journals Ideological Boundaries of Status Advantages: Legislative Effectiveness in the United States House of Representatives

2020 ◽  
pp. 017084062090720
Author(s):  
Francois Collet ◽  
Gianluca Carnabuci ◽  
Gokhan Ertug ◽  
Tengjian Zou
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Status ◽  
United States Congress ◽  
Organizational Influence ◽  
The Status ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Legislative Effectiveness

Prior research assumes that high-status actors have greater organizational influence than lower-status ones, that is, it is easier for the former to get their ideas and initiatives adopted by the organization than it is for the latter. Drawing from the literature on ideology, we posit that the status–influence link is contingent on actors’ ideological position. Specifically, status confers organizational influence to the degree that the focal actor is ideologically mainstream. The more an actor’s ideology deviates from the mainstream the less will her status translate into increased organizational influence. We find support for this hypothesis using data on the work of legislators in the House of Representatives in the United States Congress. By illuminating how and under what conditions status leads to increased influence, this study qualifies and extends current understandings of the role of status in organizations.

scholarly journals Safe Harbor Legislation for Juvenile Victims of Sex Trafficking: A Myopic View of Improvements in Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Count Data ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Safe Harbor

Current social and political realties have focused attention on human trafficking in the United States. Although new mechanisms for criminalizing offenders and protecting victims are increasingly funded and implemented across the country, empirical exploration into the efficacy of these interventions is lacking. This article uses yearly count data on juvenile prostitution arrests aggregated at the state level to explore the criminalization of commercial sexually exploited children post safe harbor policy implementation. Preliminary data from four states suggests that the passage of safe harbor laws may not reduce the number of juveniles arrested for prostitution crimes. Implications for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals From the Trenches: A Global Survey of Anti-TIP NGOs and their Views of US Efforts

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Heiss ◽  
Judith G. Kelley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nongovernmental Organizations ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Global Survey ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Relationship

Amid the academic and policy critiques of the United States’ 15-year push to eliminate human trafficking, the perspective of the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working with anti-trafficking advocacy and services has been largely ignored. This article presents the results of a global survey of nearly 500 anti-trafficking NGOs in working in 133 countries, and is the first NGO-focused survey of its kind. Based on the results of the survey, we provide an overview of the anti-trafficking NGO sector as a whole, detail the relationship between anti-trafficking NGOs and the US, and account for some of the variation in NGO opinions of US efforts. Notably, we find that NGOs are remarkably satisfied with US-led efforts—despite their acknowledged flaws—and that NGOs believe that American anti-TIP policies are important and, on balance, helpful. These results also provide a warning for the future of the United States’ anti-trafficking advocacy, suggesting that the US avoid politicizing its annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION. Abdul Karim Bangura and Martin C. Muo. Bern: Peter Lang, 2001. Pp. 159. $24.95 paper.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-463
Author(s):  
Gustavo González
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Congress ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Bilingual Education Act

The purpose of this book is to “fill a gap in the literature of the politics of bilingual education in the United States: the role of the legislature in the passage of the 1968 Bilingual Education Act and its aftermath” (p. xi). The authors use Easton's “framework for political analysis” to trace the passage of this legislation. Examined as part of the framework are the environment, inputs, legislative system, and outputs, each of which is covered in separate chapters.

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