Concordia University - Portland CU Commons MA IDS Thesis Projects Graduate Theses & Dissertations 2015 TraffickACTS.Org: Turning Advocacy to Action to Combat Human Trafficking Through the Public Sarah Gardner Concordia University - Portland Follow this and additional works at:http://commons.cu-portland.edu/gradproj Part of theInequality and Stratification Commons,International and Area Studies Commons, Social History Commons, and theSocial Media Commons Recommended Citation Gardner, Sarah, "TraffickACTS.Org: Turning Advocacy to Action to Combat Human Trafficking Through the Public" (2015).MA IDS Thesis Projects. 16. http://commons.cu-portland.edu/gradproj/16 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Theses & Dissertations at CU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in MA IDS Thesis Projects by an authorized administrator of CU Commons. For more information, please contactlibraryadmin@cu- portland.edu. Running Head: ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 1 TraffickACTS.Org: Turning Advocacy to Action to Combat Human Trafficking Through the Public Sarah Gardner Concordia University ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 2 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 4 Literature Review: Human Trafficking 5 Background: Definitions 6 Understanding the Victims 9 Slaves Yesterday and Today: Slavery Evolving Over Generations 18 Types of Human Trafficking 19 Human Trafficking International Law and Frameworks 30 Country, Intergovernmental Interventions and Frameworks 33 The Power of Globalization and the Internet 38 Challenges and Emerging Trends to Activism 39 Best Practices for of Intervention 49 Social Media Advocacy 58 Social Media Causes and Campaigns That Changed It All 63 Benefits to Non Profits 68 Challenges for Nonprofits and Social Media Advocacy 70 Social Media Activism And Human Trafficking 71 Future Research and Conclusion 73 Project Description: www.TraffickACTS.org 75 Structure and Content 77 Audience 86 Project Evaluation 87 Discussion 90 Conclusion and Further Research and Recommendations 91 Appendix 93 References 114 ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 3 Abstract This paper discusses in depth one of the most controversial topics today in the field of development and social justice: human trafficking. Examining it from an activist perspective, this paper defines human trafficking, reviews the history of slavery as it relates to human trafficking, and examines current and emerging trends in combating this human rights violation. Various best practices are explored in the realm of anti- trafficking campaigns and programs. A primary focus of this paper is providing a model for combating trafficking through the engagement of the general public. Therefore social media advocacy is also defined and analyzed in the role of mobilizing individuals. Based on all of the information provided, an online advocacy platform of www.TraffickACTS.org has been launched and evaluated as an intervention educating and engaging the public about human trafficking. Key Words: human trafficking, social media advocacy, sex trafficking, forced labor, activism, Facebook, twitter ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 4 Introduction Human trafficking is one of the most complicated crimes of today’s society. It is one that is hidden in the shadows, as well as stands in plain sight. It is one of the fastest growing areas of organized crime and estimated to be the third largest international crime industry after drugs and arms. The human trafficking industry generates an estimated $32 billion, $15.5 billion of which is generated in industrialized countries (CNN, 2011; Hodge, 2008; Schauer & Wheaton, 2006). This human rights violation is one that affects every continent on the globe, except for Antarctica (Bales, 2004). Estimates from intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and governments state that anywhere from 4 million to 27 million individuals worldwide are currently enslaved (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012). Despite major efforts on multiple fronts of advocacy, policy, and enforcement in the last fifteen years, this crime is not only growing but it is continuing to be misunderstood by those same parties as well as the general public. No true number, let alone a concrete range of numbers, has been given in any piece of literature. However there is no mistaking that this is a global crisis (IOM, 2011). This paper focuses on the issue of human trafficking, breaking it down as much as possible to understand the issue. It reviews terminology, definitions and research in the field. It also reviews the challenges that come with the lack of knowledge of the issue that activists face which in turn pushes us further from addressing the core issues of the crime. The paper also examines the avenue of social media advocacy and how the world is losing borders as it goes online and how this can help connect people to address social justice issues. Finally, the intervention of the website: www.TraffickACTS.org is ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 5 described and analyzed as a possible solution toward a more educated and engaged public to combat human trafficking and slavery. Literature Review: Human Trafficking This paper presents a comprehensive review of the current literature on human trafficking. The goal of the research was to understand the type and amount of information available to advocates working to combat human trafficking. Materials used for research included scholarly peer-reviewed journals primarily written and published within the last ten years, academic texts, non-fiction novels that showcased personal stories and experiences, and reports by federal government and United Nations offices. This study was structured to identify the challenges and obstacles to combating human trafficking from an advocacy perspective, to examine the disagreement about human trafficking among scholars and interest groups, to hone in on misperceptions and confusion about human trafficking within the populations of migrants and sex workers, and to determine what steps the public needs to take to properly address contemporary human trafficking and combat it. The structure of this literature review will be to provide the background of human trafficking including definitions, types of human trafficking, an understanding of the victims, key terms and popular phrases, one of which is “modern day slavery.” The evolution of slavery will be examined from past to present. Following this section, challenges and emerging trends in human trafficking and activism combating it will be identified. As the intervention later introduced a website of engagement, an exploration of today’s advocacy world is discussed through online social media activism and its success. ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 6 Background: Definitions One of the largest misunderstandings of human trafficking is understanding the true severity of it without having consistent and accurate statistics. The U.S. Depart of State in its annual report; The Trafficking In Person’s Report, affirmed that although 440,000 survivors have been identified this year, there are more than 20 million people who have not been (TIP, 2014). The CIA estimates that 700,000 women worldwide are trafficked annually into the sex industry; in 2011 the International Labor Organization reported that 9 million people were subjected to this crime in the last ten years alone (ILO, 2011). The second edition of the Global Slavery Index produced by the Walk Free Foundation estimated 35.8 million people in modern slavery globally with 61% of them living in just five countries alone (Global Slavery Index, 2014). Other estimates from intergovernmental and NGOs state that anywhere from 4 million to 27 million individuals worldwide are currently enslaved (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012). It needs to be understood that although there are many questions and sometimes few answers, especially pertaining to concrete data, there is no mistaking that this is a global crisis (IOM, 2011). Researchers are quick to admit that these numbers are extremely difficult to quantify due to many factors. Factors include: the serious depth of the crime leaving many misconceptions and misunderstandings; lack of identification of victims and prosecution of traffickers; lack of enforcement; and criticism placed on governments, UN Agencies and NGOs on over inflation or overestimation of numbers to create hysteria (Vance, 2011; Weitzer, 2014). All of these factors will be explored further in this paper. Scholarly literature provides what little information is known but demonstrates that there are large gaps in contemporary research on human trafficking, gaps that lend themselves ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 7 to contradictory theories and a general confusion about the information. All of these leave severe challenges for activists combating this serious crime (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012; Vance, 2011; Weitzer, 2014). One of the largest challenges to combating human trafficking is that there is no single definition of human trafficking. In fact, there is little definitional agreement among governments, NGOs and even entire nations which struggle to prosecute and understand human trafficking. The absence of a definition has, no doubt, resulted in misunderstandings of the issue and friction in the field (Schauer & Wheaton, 2006). For the purpose of this review, I will be using those definitions of terms put forward by the United Nations specifically, and the U.S government’s Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA), using similar definitions to much of the literature on this subject. In 2000, the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crimes in Palermo, Italy, addressed human trafficking as a whole for one of the first times. They define human trafficking as having three key elements: [1] The act: “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons”; [2] the means: “threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the victim”; [3] the purpose: “exploitation, which includes exploiting prostitution of another, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery or similar practices and the removal or organs (UNODC, 200bm article 3 as cited in Alvarez and Alessi, 2012). ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 8 The United States became involved in 2000 as well, when Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which was the first comprehensive federal law to address trafficking. TVPA is used to define trafficking, prosecute traffickers and provide services and protections to victims in the United States. The TVPA encompasses many of the terms used in the UN definition such as recruitment, harboring, coercion and others. The TVPA also includes statement of understanding that when a victim is under the age of 18, consent is irrelevant. It is also important to understand that the definition includes both United States citizens as well as those from abroad, and it does not require movement across county, state or country lines. Similar to other nations’ laws, the TVPA standards are not all inclusive. It does not include illegal adoptions (Alexander, 2014), nor the trading in human organs (Pugliese, 2007), which are included in the UN’s definition (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012; Bernat & Zhilina, 2011; Potocky, 2011; Schauer, Wheaton 2006; Wirsing, 2012). Because “one kind of abuse and one kind of victim should not be privileged over others” (Brennan, 2010, p. 141), we must include the most comprehensive definition to conceptualize the issue. Differing definitions not only result in confusion surrounding the issue, but also in neglect of victims in need of protection. The inclusivity and exclusivity of varying definitions leaves many victims without protection (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012; Gallagher, 2010). One of the most common misconceptions of human trafficking is the difference between the terms “trafficking” and “smuggling.” Human smuggling and human trafficking are closely related but should be clearly separated with regard to legal consequences and the purpose of identification of the victim. There are four main elements that distinguish the two illegal situations. The smuggling of a person does not ADVOCACY TO ACTION TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING 9 have a coercive element, the participant hires the smuggler and therefore is willing; there is no subsequent exploitation intended. Smuggling also requires the crossing of borders, while trafficking can simply be internal, and entry into a state is always illegal. Smuggling, therefore, can be summarized as an act of facilitating illegal migration (Luther, Walker, & Hunt, 2009; Staiger, 2005). This is a very important to note because for many victims of human trafficking who go unidentified, one of the main reasons is because they are assumed to be of smuggling or of illegal immigration, when, in fact, the situation is more complicated. It is important to understand that there are cases of human smuggling turned into trafficking. For example, the victim hires the smuggler and upon arrival is held captive and exploited through debt bondage. (Brennan, 2014; Logan, Walker & Hunt, 2009; Roby, Turley & Cloward 2008; Schauer & Wheaton, 2006;). Understanding the Victims The questions of who, where and how are on everyone’s mind when they hear the estimated numbers of people in servitude today. And the truth is, there is no specific type of person who is enslaved. Unlike different periods in history, the slave trade no longer is confined to a race, religion, ethnicity or gender (Brysk & Choi-Fitzpatrick, 2012). The one common denominator among victims is vulnerability (Alvarez & Alessi, 2012). Trafficking is a business, and there is always at least one person profiting from it, if not more. Human trafficking has become a more attractive business prospect than other forms of smuggling and trafficking because it does not require technical expertise or a distribution network like other highly profitable enterprises such as narcotics or the smuggling of military arms. Additionally, in many countries, the penalties for the