The document discusses the impacts of anti-trafficking policies on social services and vulnerable communities. It notes that increased collaboration between law enforcement and social services has led to the treatment of victims as witnesses, a rejection of harm reduction approaches, and funding shifts toward organizations friendly to law enforcement. Non-profits now feel pressure to align with police in order to access critical funding. This has transformed youth services and led organizations to prioritize positive police relations over advocating for clients who experience police abuse.

1. “War on Trafficking”?
Resisting Criminalization as a
Solution to “Modern Day Slavery”
emi koyama
january 10, 2013
university of washington
live tweet @emikoyama

2. THANK YOU SPONSORS
• UW Q Center
• ASUW Women’s Action Committee
• Queer Student Commission
• Student Disability Commission
• Queer People of Color Alliance
• UWB School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

3. OVERVIEW

4. OVERVIEW
1. recent history of anti-trafficking rhetoric
2. media spectacle of “sex trafficking”
3. public policies targeting (domestic minor sex) trafficking
4. impact of anti-trafficking policies on social service
5. resistance to the “war on trafficking”

5. 1. RECENT HISTORY

6. MEANING OF “TRAFFICKING” HAS
SHIFTED SINCE 2000
before 2000:
•“trafficking” as irregular migration and labor and human rights
violation. IOM, ILO.
2000 (TVPA, CTOC):
•“trafficking” as international criminal enterprise. Interpol, INS/
ICE, FBI.
around 2008:
•“trafficking” as “save our children from slavery” panic. Media,
churches, NGOs.

7. “TRAFFICKING” IN NEWS
600
500
501
469
400
388
366
300
297
200
100 134
72
0 41 37
2 9 16
1 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
1996 1997 0
SOURCE: compiled using EBSCOHost Newspaper Source for major U.S. newspapers with key
phrases “human trafficking” and “trafficking in humans”

8. RHETORICAL SHIFT CONTINUES
2011-now: “trafficking” as a “gang problem”
•FBI’s National Gang Threat Assessment 2009 vs. 2011.
•NPR’s “Gangs enter new territory” and other media stories.
•Attorney General Eric Holder’s testimonies 2010 vs. 2012.
•U.S. Attorney for Oregon 2012 reorganization of anti-
trafficking units.
•anti-trafficking laws promoted as “another prosecution
weapon against the dangerous street gangs.”

9. NGOs UPDATE MATERIALS
PIMP-CONTROLLED TRAFFICKING -
RECRUITMENT Types of Pimps:
Finesse Pimp Gorilla Pimp Boyfriend
Gorilla Pimp Gang Pimps
Pimp
• Presents as a caring • Obtains victims • Psychological • Severe violence • Gang pimping
individual through abduction control and and forced drug is a newer
• Makes promises of a • Immediate rape and manipulation use as primary trend
• “Sells the control • Girls often used
better life/romantic physical abuse
dream”; youth • Frequently sexually/violent
future • Strict confinement and believes pimp is kidnap youth ly in gang
• Control is through isolation her boyfriend and traffic out initiation
psychological • Limited access to • Violence as of area • Dual loyalty to
manipulation outside world enforcement gang and
“boyfriend”
Polaris Project YouthCare
November 2011 May 2012

10. FRAMEWORKS PROMOTING
CRIMINALIZATION
• trafficking as law-and-order problem
• trafficking as immigration control problem
• trafficking as prostitution problem
• trafficking as urban gang problem
• trafficking as sexual moral problem
• trafficking as “rescue” or “save children and women” problem

11. 2. MEDIA SPECTACLE

12. CREATION OF MEDIA
SPECTACLE BASED ON FEAR
• focuson very rare cases of young (white middle-class) girls
from good suburban homes being “taken” by evil urban men
(of color).
• this “good girl taken by bad men” trope distorts experiences
and realities of vast majority of young people in the sex
trade, and misdirects public responses.
• experiences of street youth, youth in (or have run away from)
the child welfare system, queer and trans youth, boys, and
others are erased.

15. UNDERSTANDING BOTH
PUSH & PULL FACTORS
• push: factors such as poverty, racism, transphobia, child
abuse, and other circumstances that make young people
vulnerable in the first place.
• pull: thepresence of the sex industry, paying customers,
online ads, pimps, etc. that attract young people who are
already vulnerable into the sex trade.
• media’sexclusive focus on the pull factors presumes that
young people have a safe place to return to, if it weren’t for
those evil pimps and sex buyers. this is rarely the case for young
people who engage in the sex trade.

16. BAD “STATISTICS” DISTORT
REALITY
• claim: average age of entry into prostitution is 13.
• claim: up to 300,000 U.S. children are trafficked each year.
• claim: third of runaway youth are trafficked within 48 hours.
• claim: major sporting events attract tens of thousands of
trafficking victims.
• claim: trafficking is rampant on Craigslist, Backpage, etc.

21. IS “AVERAGE AGE OF ENTRY”
INTO PROSTITUTION 13?
• basedon survey of minors only, which logically result in the
“average” below age of 18.
• cumulativeeffect (the fact someone who entered at 13 is five
times more likely to be counted than someone who entered
at 17 because she has five years to be studied) artificially
deflates the average.
• inconsistentwith other studies that show the average of at
least 15-16 among minors. there are major policy implications
whether typical minor begins sex trade at 13 (most likely
forced) or at 16 (most likely runaways).

22. Imagine a hypothetical town in which one person each from ages
12-17 enter prostitution. The “average age” of course is 14.5.
age: 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
12 13 14 15 16 17 <- entered this year
12 13 14
15 15
16 16
17 17 <- last year
12 13 14 15 16 17 <- year before
12 13 14 15 16 17
12 13 14 15 16 17
12 13 14 15 16 17
False average: 13.6; Actual average: 14.5

23. ARE 300,000 CHILDREN
TRAFFICKED EACH YEAR?
• sumof estimate size of all groups (such as “transgender street
youth”) considered “at risk” of being involved in prostitution.
• groups
are not mutually exclusive, so the same youth can be
counted multiple times.
• among those considered “at risk,” small minority actually
engages in the sex trade.

24. 1/3 OF RUNAWAY YOUTH
TRAFFICKED WITHIN 48 HRS?
• survey of a homeless youth service in Ohio.
• mostrunaway youth return home within a day or two. only a
minority show up at a homeless youth service.
• thirdof girls in this survey (14% of total) encounter someone
involved in prostitution. most however do not engage in it.

25. DO MAJOR SPORTS EVENTS
ATTRACT TRAFFICKING?
• anti-prostitution
groups claimed 400,000 women and children
would be trafficked to Germany for World Cup; same claim
has been repeated for other sporting events, such as the
Olympic Games and Super Bowl.
• studies
by International Organization for Migration, Council of
European Union, International Labor Organization, UN
Population Fund, and others found no evidence for the
supposed increase in human trafficking at World Cup 2006 in
Germany, World Cup 2010 in South Africa, and Winter
Olympics 2010 in Vancouver.

26. IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING
RAMPANT ONLINE?
• critics
of Craigslist and Backpage have alleged that many ads
posted on their “adult services” section were for minors and
trafficking victims.
• research
methodology is based on “guessing” age of someone
shown in the picture, or identifying “signs”—but they are not
corroborated by actual investigation.

27. a Backpage ad flagged by a researcher for “trafficking”

28. Analysis
• The data was analyzed through the software
program SPSS*
• Several pieces of data were important to
compare between the city
Key Words:
• No Black Men
• Call in/out
• Prostate Rub
things that can get an ad flagged for “trafficking:
refusing Black men, using sex trade lingo.

29. Possible Minors
! Ads tagged for being minor
! Subjects in the photos had physical indicators of youth (baby-
fat on cheeks, little to no curve at the waits, feet/legs outturned
when standing, gangly arms/legs)
! Environment where the photo was taken had features
indicative of common juvenile behavior (writing on mirror,
stuffed animals, posters on walls, etc...)
! Subject intentionally trying to look young (pig tails, knee high
socks, holding school books, etc...)
! Ad indicated the subject of the photo was potentially a juvenile
through the use of verbiage (barely legal, just turned 18, first
time)
signs that the ad is trafficking a minor, according to a
researcher

30. IMPACT OF MEDIA SPECTACLE
AND INACCURATE “DATA”
• pushfactors such as poverty, racism, homophobia and
transphobia are completely neglected.
• surveillance
and criminalization of certain communities is
presented as the solution to the problem.
• pushes street economy further underground, making it less
safe for people who do not have safe home to return to.
• successis measured by the number of “rescues” and
prosecution, not by the long-term well-being of vulnerable
individuals.

31. 3. PUBLIC POLICIES

32. PUBLIC POLICIES TARGETING
“TRAFFICKING”
• prostitution sweeps disgusted as “rescues.”
• “safe harbor” laws; involuntary services, locked or isolated
facilities, “services” administered by the law enforcement.
• “end demand” policies targeting clients.
• further surveillance of gangs, immigrants, homeless people.
• virtually
complete lack of “push”-side interventions addressing
poverty and other root causes.

33. NATIONWIDE “RESCUES”
date cities “rescues” “pimps” all arrests
1 06/2008 16 21 389
2 10/2008 29 49 73 642
3 02/2009 29 48 571
4 10/2009 36 52 60 700
5 11/2010 40 69 99 885
6 06/2012 57 79 104
Data released by FBI for Operation Cross Country 1-6

34. JUNE 2012 “RESCUE” DATA
“rescues” “pimps” all arrests
Boston 1 3 11
Cleveland 0 1 25
Dallas 6 0 36
Detroit 3 5 43
Milwaukee 7 3 53
San Francisco 6 7 65
Oklahoma City 3 7 37
Data compiled from local media reports.

35. “The FBI has rescued 79 teens held against their
will and forced into prostitution from hotels, truck
stops and stores during a three-day swoop on sex-
trafficking rings across the country. […] The
teenagers, who are all U.S. citizens, were
handcuffed and held in police custody until they
could be placed with child welfare organisations.”
The Daily Mail, June 26, 2012

36. “SAFE HARBOR” AND
INVOLUNTARY “SERVICES”
• “Safe Harbor” laws: minors treated as victims, not prostitutes.
• in
practice, it does not stop criminalization of young people in
the sex trade.
• lockdown “shelters”; forced “treatment”; sentback to unsafe
places; long-term involvement in child welfare system they
had to run away from.
• police more eager to arrest minors “to get them help.”

37. “END DEMAND” ECONOMICS
• targeting
clients through prosecution, public shaming, and
education: drives sex trade further underground.
• “end demand” policies often increase penalty for sellers as
well (e.g. Illinois End Demand legislation).
• shifts client demographics.
• racial and gender profiling.
• notactually endorsed by any economist.
(see http://eminism.org/blog/entry/340 to read why it does
not work, and how it can increase prostitution.)

38. PUBLIC SHAMING ONLINE
• Chicago Police Department posts pictures and personal
information of people arrested as clients.
• However, over 10% of the pictures show trans women of
color, who are most likely not buyers, but sellers.
• Thetrans women in the display are younger and more likely
to be Black than all other clients.

39. CASE OF “CLUB 907”
• “hostess club” in Los Angeles was raided for suspicions of
prostitution, sex trafficking, and labor rights violation in
November 2010.
• 80+ women working as “hostesses” were placed on
immigration detention and/or deportation proceedings;
club owners simply posted ads to hire replacement workers
the next week.

40. 4. IMPACT OF ANTI-
TRAFFICKING POLICIES

41. POLICE ENCROACHMENT OF
SOCIAL SERVICE
• increased collaborations between the law enforcement and
social service agencies.
• police ride-alongs.
• victims treated as witnesses instead of clients.
• harmreduction is rejected, undoing decades of coalition work
between public health and movements for homeless people,
immigrants, survivors, LGBTQ people, youth, etc.
• fundings are shifted to organizations and projects that are
“friendly” toward the law enforcement.

42. Police decides
who gets the
funding.
Desperate for funding during an economic downturn, non-profit
organizations rush to capitalize on the latest moral panic.

43. Multnomah County
CSEC Protocol
Youth are sometimes
arrested, sometimes not,
but they are all detained.
Youth either agrees to
stay at the specified
shelter, returns home,
or else he or she must
be institutionalized at
a psychiatric hospital.

44. Christianity Today magazine, November 2011
Tagline: Leading [Portland’s]
effort to halt child trafficking pictured left to right: police
is a network of dedicated officer, youth service director,
Christians. Just don’t go fundamentalist pastor, and
advertizing it. Christian lobbyist.

45. In November 2011, I attended a workshop about
Multnomah County’s response to DMST at a
conference about homeless and runaway youth.
What I heard there confirmed what I had
suspected about how the anti-trafficking
framework has transformed youth services.

46. JANUS YOUTH (Portland)
• programdirector at Janus stated that his organization has
been hostile to the law enforcement in the past.
• why? when youth came in complaining about police abuse,
Janus staff believed them and helped them file complaint. it
made police officers dislike Janus.
• inorder to address this, the director instructed all of his staff
to “treat police officers like their best friend.” the relationship
with the police is great now.

47. SARC (Beaverton)
• director of CSEC program at Sexual Assault Resource Center
also spoke highly about the relationship with the police,
criticizing “other” anti-violence organizations that are less
friendly toward the police.
• director
explained the benefit of having SARC advocate: they
can help open up victims into talking to CSEC team. it makes
them better witnesses for the prosecution.

48. FBI LIAISON FOR PORTLAND
• FBIliaison for Multnomah County CSEC team stated that the
law enforcement specifically recruited Janus and SARC
because of their “pro-police” stance, unlike other anti-violence
groups.
• Portland Women’s Crisis Line, which provides services similar
to SARC, is not invited to be part of any conversations.
PWCL uses harm reduction approach to reach out to and
support people in the sex trade.

49. JANUS (AGAIN)
• when Occupy Portland went up in the fall of 2011, many
youth from Janus shelters and services abandoned their
services and joined the Occupy encampment, leaving Janus
facilities empty.
• Portland Police Bureau asked Janus to locate a youth, former
Janus client, living at Occupy. Janus sent an outreach worker to
find the youth for the police.
• in
November 2011, executive director of Janus told Mayor
Sam Adams that Occupy was endangering youth. within days,
the Mayor ordered the removal of Occupy encampment.

50. From: Dennis Morrow [Executive Director, Janus Youth]
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2011 05:56 PM
To: Antoinette Edwards [Director of Public Safety, City of Portland]
Subject: Occupy Portland Observations
[…] When Yellow Brick Road teams went through Occupy Portland during
the early afternoon on Monday October 17th, they were greeted by large
numbers of homeless youth who had voluntarily exited Homeless Youth
Continuum (HYC) services to take part in the event. Outreach staff spoke
to at least 5 unaccompanied minors that they had never previously
encountered and who appeared to be street-entrenched (and not in
school) based on their general hygiene and demeanor. […] Yellow Brick
Road has also observed a noticeable increase in escalated behavior
bordering on hostility mostly from youth we recognized from HYC services
(or street outreach), including some young people with serious mental
illnesses who are intermittently serving as “peace-keeping” volunteers or
security. While we are very supportive of young people having both
meaningful voice and purpose, our years of experience with vulnerable
street-affected youth tell us that this requires a great deal of structure and
expertise or it is a recipe for disaster. […]

51. “When I have homeless and homeless youth
advocates telling me that this is a very unsafe
situation, you know, I listen to that.”
— Portland Mayor Sam Adams, after shutting down Occupy Portland

52. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO
OUR SOCIAL SERVICES?
• siding
with the police when people complain about
mistreatment and abuse by the police.
• functioning as conduits for police surveillance.
• treatingyouth and victims as “witnesses for the prosecution”
rather than prioritizing them as clients deserving help.
• lobbying
to evict youth and homeless people from
communities they have created for themselves.
• organizationsthat share same goals are divided and fighting
against each other instead of working together.

53. 5. RESISTANCE

54. RESISTING THE
“WAR ON TRAFFICKING”
• weneed to challenge media spectacle that mislead public
perception of the issue.
• we need to challenge criminalization of our communities and
the police encroachment of social support systems.
• weneed to address push factors that make people and
communities vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
• “better” services are not enough; we need organizing.

55. MOVING BEYOND
“DECRIMINALIZATION”
• “SafeHabor” laws are supposed to “decriminalize”
prostitution offenses for minors, but they are still targeted,
abused, and locked up.
• criminalization is more than just laws prohibiting particular
acts; it is a pervasive pattern of state violence targeting
communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people, street-
based individuals, and others.
movement is an emerging coalition of
• anti-criminalization
communities targeted by increasing surveillance and
criminalization by the state (e.g. opposition to Prop. 35).

56. SYSTEM FAILURE ALERT!
bus driver said my doctor at the clinic
service animal was Are your asked me why i was
just a pet and didn’t so upset about being
allow me to ride. i support raped if i’ve had sex
think it’s because i with people i don’t
am/look homeless. “SYSTEMS” know for money
before.
my teacher does
FA
EM
when i went to
not respect my
emergency room, the
IL
gender identity or
ST
nurse told me that it
call me by the name
UR
wasn’t a shelter and
i want them to use.
SY
i wouldn’t be sick if i
E
wasn’t using drugs.
police searched me ALERT!
at a bus stop, and
questioned why i
was carrying two cell
working my case worker
thinks that my
phones, or if i was
selling drugs.
for YOU? boyfriend is pimping
me but it’s not true.
systemfailurealert.tumblr.com

57. SYSTEM FAILURE ALERT!
• based
on “Bad Encounter Line” from Young Women’s
Empowerment Project in Chicago.
• share “system failures” (problems in social service, medical
service, police, and other institutions that are supposed to
help) experienced by street youth and other people through
zines, online, and in public events. also share how we fight
back and survive.
• usestories to hold service providers accountable and
transform institutions.
• also create resources to help all of us take care of ourselves
(e.g. how to advocate for a friend in an emergency room).

58. SUPPORT THESE GROUPS
Streetwise & Safe (New York)
http://www.streetwiseandsafe.org/
Young Women’s Empowerment Project (Chicago)
http://www.youarepriceless.org/
Different Avenues (Washington, D.C.)
http://www.differentavenues.org/
Native Youth Sexual Health Network (North America)
http://www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com/
Women With A Vision (New Orleans)
http://wwav-no.org/
FUSE (North America)
http://www.lightafuse.org/

59. if you want to hear more… get my zines!
how to find emi elsewhere:
emi@eminism.org
www.eminism.org
facebook.com/emigrl2
emigrl.tumblr.com
@emikoyama
also: come hang out with me at Q Center afterwards!