How flight attendants fight against human trafficking | Deseret News

Source: Deseret News

By Mercedes White, Deseret News

• 
• View 2 photos »

This undated photo provided by New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s Office shows an advertisement issued by the department. The ad is part of an ongoing effort to educate law enforcement and the public about what it says is the little-known and little understood problem of modern slavery. While many associate the term with the sex trade in Asia or cross-border trafficking, Maria Sanchez-Gagne, an assistant attorney general who oversees King's program to fight human trafficking, says most cases in New Mexico involve U.S. citizens forced into prostitution or laborAnonymous, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Flying home from a conference in the Dominican Republic, Nancy Rivard
 was struck by the strange behavior of a woman traveling with a little boy 
and girl. The children were visibly distressed. The girl was sobbing.
 But the woman wasn't concerned. In fact, she didn't even appear to
 know their names.

The woman's behavior suggested something was going on, and Rivard 
was not about to let it go unnoticed. Although she was a passenger that 
day,  Rivard works as a flight attendant, and the conference she was 
returning from was the 2009 meeting of the Airline Ambassadors
 International. She had attended a workshop on human trafficking 
and learned a hotline that she could call if she saw anything suspicious.

To read the full story, go to:

ww.deseretnews.com/article/765614381/How-flight-attendants-fight-against-
human-trafficking.html

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Feds, strippers to talk sex trafficking - Alamogordo Daily News

http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_20770862/feds-strippers-talk-sex-trafficking

Source Alamogordo Daily News
By Russell Contreras, Associated Press

06/02/2012 10:25:51 PM MDT

ALBUQUERQUE -- Strippers and owners of topless clubs are scheduled to meet next week with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who hope to bring more awareness to sex trafficking, a growing problem some call "virtual slavery."

The special conference slated for Tuesday at the Elegante Hotel in Albuquerque is aimed at educating around 125 people in the adult entertainment industry about the dangers of sex trafficking and how to report it if they see it.

With the help of a female Homeland Security Investigations agent working in southern New Mexico, the arm of ICE is seeking to reach out to people who may be working alongside victims of sex trafficking without even knowing it.

ACE National, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents strip clubs and other adult entertainment establishments, is hosting the event as part of organization's nationwide push to help dancers and club owners identify sex trafficking and rescue victims.

ACE National's executive director, Angelina Spencer, said the group has trained 2,000 people nationwide, and club owners have an important interest in keeping any ties to sex trafficking out of their industry.

According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, sex trafficking involves prostitution and other adult services that are induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under 18 years old. Often victims are drawn into sex trafficking by kidnappings, promises of a better job in another country, or being sold into the trade by family members.

"This is not a strip club problem. It's a U.S. problem," Spencer said. "From farm labor to a hair salon out of New Jersey, sex trafficking is everywhere and we need to be aware of it."

But she said ACE National felt it needed to create an educational program directed toward people in the adult entertainment industry since they might be exposed to trafficking victims. The group's effort is called COAST -- Club Operators Against Sex Trafficking.

"Our clubs do not want to be associated with sex trafficking," Spencer said. "We're about entertainment and fun, not slavery and coercion."

Kevin Abar, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Mexico, said the federal agency is in a big push to educate the public about sex trafficking.

"A lot of people don't know that if you agree to a certain job involving sex and someone has to go across state lines for that job, that's sex trafficking," Abar said. "We're going to start being aggressive about going after sex traffickers, and people in this industry need to know what the laws are and how to spot trafficking."

Spencer said clubs are beginning to hang informational posters in places like dressing rooms to let performers know where they can call to report suspicions of sex trafficking.

"We don't want them to be vigilantes," she said. "We just want them to keep their eyes open."

Local seminar focuses on human trafficking - Farmington Daily Times

Staff Writer

Posted: 04/02/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

— By Brendan Giusti —
The Daily Times

FARMINGTON — An upcoming seminar has some area service providers taking a closer look at the potential local impacts of the world's second largest criminal industry: human trafficking.
Assistant Attorney General Jose Arguello will speak on the topic Wednesday, April 28 at Marriott TownePLace Suites as part of the fifth annual sexual assault mini-conference.

April also is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.





While human trafficking is an epidemic with global reaches, not much is known about the crime.
"I don't think we have a full understanding of how it affects our community," said Amber Valencia, community outreach coordinator for Family Crisis Center, a local organization that provides emergency shelter, counseling and other services for victims of domestic violence.

Vulnerable populations, such as the homeless, undocumented immigrants and teen runaways, are most at risk for becoming victims, Valencia said.

The crime often accompanies other crimes, making service providers a likely first responder.
"We found that many times the crime has been misidentified," Sanchez-Gagne said.
Reported domestic violence cases sometimes can be human trafficking, Sanchez-Gagne said. The crime isn't tied solely to domestic violence, she said.

Human trafficking can occur in the form of forced labor in the construction, agricultural, service, hotel and restaurant industries, Sanchez-Gagne said.

"The type of victim can be so broad as well," she said.

It is unclear how often cases of human trafficking occur in San Juan County.

Human trafficking is not limited to metropolitan areas. Any location with a demand for cheap labor or commercial sex runs the risk of harboring trafficked people.

"Training is important," Sanchez-Gagne said. "The victims are among us. We just need to learn how to identify them, and until we do, we likely won't encounter them."

The issue also may be harder to identify in San Juan County because of the rural setting and language barriers of some of the most vulnerable populations.


Despite someone potentially being in the country illegally, there are federal and state laws to protect them from being trafficked.

"Modern day slavery is not allowed in our country or in our state," Sanchez-Gagne said.

Brendan Giusti: bgiusti@daily-times.com

IF YOU GO

What: Fifth annual Sexual Assault mini-conference

Where: Marriott TownePlace Suites, 4200 Sierra Vista Drive, in Farmington

When: April 28
Registration is due by April 16 to attend the day-long conference.
For more information on registering, call Desert View Family Counseling at (505) 326-7878.

OTHER RELATED EVENTS

What: Take Back the Night

Where: Gather at Safeway on West Main Street and march to Orchard Park

When: April 21. Gather at 6:45 p.m., and march at 7 p.m.

What: Free screening of the film: "Sin by Silence"

Where: Totah Theatre, 315 W. Main St., in Farmington

When: 7 p.m. May 5
IMPORTANT NUMBERS

For emergencies call 911

Sexual Assault Services of Northwest New Mexico (Farmington)
Rape crisis hotline: (505) 326-4700 or (866) 908-4700

Family Crisis Center (Farmington)
Domestic violence hotline: (505) 564-9192 or (888) 440-9192

Desert View Family Counseling (Farmington)
Crisis line: (505) 947-3645 or (505) 326-7878

Home for Women and Children (Shiprock)
Domestic violence hotline: (505) 368-5124

Ajooba Sexual Assault Services (Shiprock)
Sexual assault hotline: (505) 368-5130

Task Force Against Domestic Violence (Crownpoint)
Domestic violence hotline: (800) 799-5050

Battered Families Services (Gallup)
Domestic violence hotline: (505) 722-7483 or (800) 634-4508

Local seminar focuses on human trafficking - Farmington Daily Times