This HIP project builds on the 2014 Emerge HIP project entitled “From the Underground Railroad to Modern Day Human Trafficking” by addressing regional human trafficking concerns relevant to social work practice in our geographic area and aligns with the regional comprehensive mission and scope set forth by the University of West Florida (UWF).

1. It’s Closer Than You Think!
Presented by Emerge Students enrolled in
SOW-3783 Human Trafficking Course through the
College of Education and Professional Studies

2. The United Nations defines Human
Trafficking as:
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring,
or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of
force or other forms of coercion, of abduction or fraud, of
deception, of the abuse of power of a position of
vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payment or
benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control
over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation
of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual
exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices
similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
(p.11) http://www.cahr.fsu.edu/the%20report.pdf

3. Human Trafficking In Perspective

4. Worldwide, human trafficking is a
$32 Billion dollar industry,
involving 100,000 children in the
U.S.

5. Video
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8SB_Pc5bkw

6. Sources

7. Key Target Groups of Human
Trafficking
 Traffickers prey on people with promises of higher
incomes to improve economic situations, support parents
and families in villages, and escape from war and
conflict.
 People from impoverished and low income households.
 Ethnic minorities, indigenous people, hill tribes,
refugees, and illegal migrants.
 People with low levels of education.
 Young girls running away from home.

8. Venues for Human Trafficking
Sex Trafficking
 Hotel/Motel
 Commercial-front brothels
 Residential brothels
 Online ads
 Truck stops
 Pornography
 Street based
 Escort services
 Domestic work
Labor Trafficking
 Traveling sales crew
 Hospitality
 Restaurants/food services
 Agriculture
 Forestry/reforestation
 Construction
 Begging rings
 Retail/other small
businesses

9. Major Transits
 I-20 is one of the most heavily used routes for traffickers
who use the highway to transfer victims to Atlanta and
elsewhere in the southeast
 I-75 goes through the heart of Atlanta and is a major
corridor for human trafficking
 I-10 is also known as the “super highway” and is known
from going to coast to coast. It’s also the closest east-
west corridor from the U.S/Mexico border, the most
common entry for international smugglers and
traffickers
 I-95 goes from Bangor, Maine to Miami, Florida. Is a
huge route for drug trade and sex trafficking.
 http://www.ubahouston.org/filerequest/6206.pdf

10. Conditions that Contribute to the Problem of
Human Trafficking (cont.)
 Political instability
 Militarism
 Internal armed conflict
 Natural disasters (Ex:
Hurricane Katrina)
 In some States, social or
cultural practices also
contribute to trafficking.
 Ex: the devaluation of
women and girls in a
society makes them
disproportionately
vulnerable to trafficking

11. Legal Responses: Federal Law
 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA):
 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Acts
of 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2013 (TVPRA)
 The Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations
Act (RICO)
 The Mann Act of 1910, Title 18 U.S.C. 2421-2424
 National Defense Authorization Act of 2013

12. State Legal Responses
 Police Departments
 State Agencies:
 Attorney General’s office
 Florida Department of
Law Enforcement
(FDLE)
 Social Service Agencies
 Possible discoverers of
human trafficking: EMS/
Medical services,
Sherriff’s Departments,
social workers,
Immigration & Border
officials
 Safe Harbor Act:
Arkansas, Florida,
Kentucky, Louisiana, North
Carolina, Tennessee
 Task Forces: 10 out of the
12 southeastern states
 Joint Task Forces
 Training requirement for
Law Enforcement: 9 out of
the 12 southeastern states

13. Federal Level Legal Responses
 Department of Justice (DOJ):
 FBI
 Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Bureau of
Justice Statistics (BJS)
 Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS)
 Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit (HTPU)
 Department of Homeland Security (DHS):
 ICE
 Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit
 Child Exploitation/Operation Predator
 Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center