1. Funding for Human Trafficking Research
Mia Martie
CJ6010

2. Good Morning Good Morning
I am here to ask for funding to help conduct research to determine what is the best why to combat the human trafficking problem in our state. This presentation will speak to obstacles within the research and problem, challenges needed to overcome and alternatives, if there are any.

3. Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking defined by the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, is the recruitment, transportation or transfer of a person/people, by ways of threating or forms of coercion, abduction, or deception. A person is exploited using some form of prostitution or sexual activity, forcing the person into services they do not want to perform. Human trafficking can also be constituted as the removal of organs, as well (Human Trafficking, 2015).

4. Why it is important to stop human trafficking?
American public has grown increasingly concerned with the problem
Fewer cases are reported due to soft laws
Not all states have the same laws when it comes to prosecution.
-Because the American public’s growing concern over human trafficking, federal and state legislatures passed laws to support the investigations of human trafficking perpetrators.
-The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act was passed by the federal government in 2000, establishing a new set of crime to include slavery, peonage and involuntary servitude.
-49 states have passed legislations criminalizing human trafficking (Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W., 2012).

5. Obstacles
Understanding what constitutes as human trafficking and the lack of awareness that is available for people.
Overcoming the bias attitudes individuals have developed about what human trafficking is.
Other obstacles included involve victims of human trafficking. Victims must identify first, they are victims of a crime and not place the problem on themselves. Understanding and identifying what a victim is, is the first obstacle to overcome. Due to transnational victims, the problems increase because the victim is typically brought into the United States illegally. There are three terms generally used to describe a victim, bonded, forced and child labor.
Bonded Labor: People who are hired to work off a repayment of debt, such as a loan. The value of the worker is higher than the actual work being done.
Forced Labor: A person is forced to work against their will under the threat of violence towards them or their family.
Child Labor: Work that is intentionally hazardous to a child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development and interfere with their education (Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W., 2012).

6. Challenges
Miscommunication with law enforcement and Non-governmental Organizations (NGO’s).
Differences in law enforcement’s awareness, training, strategies and objectives.
Changing the way law enforcement identify and help victims.
-Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, victims are entitled to benefits and service, however. These services can not come about without the support of law enforcement.
-Due to lack of funding, the issues of awareness, training, strategies and objectives became a problem. The problem is not knowing which way to go because the funding was not readily available, therefore. Deciding on rather where to spend the funds immediately (Human Trafficking Non-governmental Organizations, 2015).
-Changing the way law enforcement help identify victims.

7. Controversial Aspects
Not knowing which strategies would improve overall awareness.
Characteristics of attention local law enforcement
Factors that predict different types of adjudicatory outcomes
-With funding, strategies would be in place to determine which solution would be the ideal one to start with. Awareness, training, strategies and objectives all have a place in making human trafficking brought to the forefront, however. Choosing which one has the highest priority is key (Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W., 2012).

8. Alternatives Prostitution Immigration Defining the differences
-Having a different perspective on what the mean is behind the words prostitution and immigration. The perspective's of law enforcement needs to change in order for the solution to work. The solution is for more funding to be dumped into programs to train law enforcement, however. Without funding, departments must change the way their perspectives on the defining the difference between the two.
-Prostitution, prostitutes, walk the streets, are part of escort services, sometimes happens right in front of our eyes. What law enforcement sees is what is on the surface. Example, the bust of a massage parlor. The women are arrested due to suspicion of prostitution, however. Speaking to the women that are arrested could educate law enforcement about their history and they could possibly find a victim who was forced to be there.
-Same goes for immigration. Speaking to those who are arrest and before deporting them or charging, find out why they are there could lead to other evidence to human trafficking (Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W., 2012).

9. Research Closed cases Multi-method approach
Local and state police, prosecutors, courts investigators
Foreign country regulations
-Researching closed cases to understand characteristics possibly linking the cases together. Most cases are brought about by tips from the community.
-Mixing qualitative and quantitative data, methods the investigations were conducted and paradigms from the cases are all important to conduct vital research material.
-Find the link between all the cases would the control of the research. The challenge to this is not all cases might link together (Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W., 2012).

10. Research Dividing the cases into three categories:
States with criminalization of anti trafficking
States with criminalization, training and victim services/benefits
States without anti-trafficking crimes
After that breakdown, further breakdown into federally funded task forces and those that are not funded (Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W., 2012).

11. Opposition If not funding….
If funding is not provided, awareness of the situation is not known, therefore training is not provided. Providing funding gives the opportunity for a task force to develop a program where awareness, strategies and training are all the same throughout every law enforcement department.
A limited amount of funding can provide a task force to develop a program of awareness, strategies and training. A program with limitation, but at least an initiative will be provided to help departments look for sign of victims.
Fully funded, allows the government to conduct a well established task force to develop a one of a kind program that explains awareness of the problem, provide strategies for each scenario, if possible, and explicit training to personnel (Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W., 2012).

12. Concluion
Human trafficking cannot be combated unless there is the proper means of awareness shared and understood. The attitudes and perspectives of law enforcement must change in order for them to understand who are victims.
As you can see, funding is extremely important for enforcement of the proper training of law enforcement. Without the proper amount of funding, victims fall through the cracks and remain victims without getting out of the heinous situations they are in. Victims still remain in harms way and family go without knowing what has happened them. I thank you for your attention and hop you can provide the funding for proper training.

13. References
Farrell, A., McDevitt, J., Pfeffer, R., Fahy, S., Owens, C., Dank, M., & Adams, W. (2012, April). Identifying challenges to improve the investigation and prosecution of state and local human trafficking cases executive summary.
Human Trafficking. (2015, October). Retrieved November 27, 2015, from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime:
Human Trafficking Non-governmental Organizations. (2015, November). Retrieved November 28, 2015, from Human Trafficking: