The RETURN of AATOP!

IOFA is excited to announce the re-launch of the Asian American Trafficking Outreach Project (AATOP) with generous support from Help for Children/Hedge Funds Cares.

AATOP will build upon the pilot project’s efforts to raise awareness, engage the Asian American community and build capacity of AA serving providers to identify, refer and respond to the needs of survivors of human trafficking in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways.

AATOP’s Beginnings:

The International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA), created AATOP as a one year pilot project with funding from the Asian Giving Circle in 2012.  Its goals were to build capacity of Asian American service providers to identify, refer, and respond to survivors of human trafficking from Asian American communities.  AATOP also worked to increase Asian American service organizations to participate in anti-trafficking coalitions and task forces.  AATOP reached these goals by partnering with various Asian American service providers to hold trainings and community events.

AATOP’s Pilot Program Key Outcomes and Accomplishments: 

• reached out to and built relationships with around 25 API-serving social service, legal, research, community, leadership, and educational institutions and organizations
• hosted a general community forum with a variety of service providers
• hosted a meet and greet for attorneys with the Asian Pacific Legal Advocacy Network (APLAN)
• conducted a human trafficking training for attorneys with the Chicago Bar Association (CBA)
• developed a mental health specific training for clinicians working within these communities
• hosted a Filipino-specific community forum with Filipino project partner CIRCA Pintig
• had staff teach as a guest lecturer at University of Illinois Chicago’s Asian American Studies Program.

AATOP’s Relaunch:

With support from Help for Children/Hedge Fund Cares (HFC), AATOP’s 2016 activities will focus on connecting with social service providers serving Asian American children and youth.  AATOP will work in collaboration with these programs to increase their capacity to identify trafficked children and/or youth and refer them to culturally and linguistically appropriate trauma informed services.

AATOP Project Goals:

• Engage and educate Asian American communities across Chicago to create a coordinated response to human trafficking.
• Train a cadre of health, mental health and other social services professionals serving Asian American communities across Chicago to identify and assist trafficking survivors.
• Implement culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach activities and campaigns to to raise awareness of human trafficking in Asian American communities across metropolitan Chicago.
• AATOP’s outreach and training activities will be guided by a Community Advisory Board whose members will represent the diverse Asian American community.  The community advisory board will assist AATOP connect to resources and give input to ensure activies are as culturally and linguistically appropriate as possible.

The Asian American Trafficking Outreach Project (AATOP) aims to fill a critical gap that currently exists in outreach efforts to potential victims of human trafficking in Asian American communities. Many Asian countries are listed as sources of trafficked labor according to the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report. Vulnerable Asian immigrants in Chicago are susceptible to human trafficking in massage parlors, restaurants, factories, and other low-wage, unregulated industries that rely heavily on undocumented labor.  Young people within Asian communities are uniquely vulnerable, as they may be dealing with social pressure and stigma related to their adult development, in addition financial hardship.

Although victims of trafficking have the right to services and benefits under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Asian American victims of this crime face significant obstacles in accessing services in the Chicago metropolitan area to which they are entitled. To date, little has been done to adapt training and outreach efforts to the Asian American community. The need for sensitization within the community regarding victim-centered service and treatment has also been noted by community-based researchers. IOFA’s initial survey of agencies serving human trafficking victims found that while agencies received significant numbers of clients of Asian descent, Asian American-focused organizations remain underrepresented in anti-trafficking coalitions and task forces.

This project seeks to address mental health needs within Asian American communities and promote safe environments and improved service delivery to human trafficking victims and those at risk within this population.  The inclusion of Asian American serving organizations in anti-trafficking efforts in Chicago, coupled with training and technical assistance, will provide organizations working in Asian American communities with resources they need to successfully identify and serve human trafficking victims.

Follow us on social media!

Facebook: AATOP CHICAGO
Twitteer: @AATOPCHICAGO
Instagram: @AATOPCHICAGO
Blog: aatopchicago.blogspot.com

For more information, contact Project Coordinator, Jody Haskin at jhaskin@iofa.org 

or Jae Jin Pak, AATOP Community Advisory Board Chair at jpak@iofa.org

Learn more about IOFA and AATOP at http://iofa.org

Forced Marriage and Child Brides

CHILD MARRIAGE- whereby child are given in matrimony before marriageable age. Girls as young as 8 are married to men, often much older, for a variety of reasons. If present trends continue, 142 million girls will marry over the next decade.

• One in three girls in developing countries will probably be married before they are 18
• One out of nine girls will be married before their 15th birthday
• Over 67 million women 20-24 years old in 2010 had been married as girls
• Half of these marriages occurred in Asia

Where does this happen? Today such customs are fairly widespread in parts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America. This blog will focus on the marriages that occur in Asia.

Child Marriage Hot Spots and % of girls married before 18

1. Mali 55%
2. Niger 75%
3. Chad 72%
4. Bangladesh 66%
5. Guinea 63%
6. C.A.R. 61%
7. Mozambique 52%
8. Malawi 50%
9. Madagascar 48%
10. Sierra Leone 48%
11. Burkina Faso 48%
12. India 47%

Why? Child marriage happens for a variety of reasons. Often it is due to the cultural history of the area, where importance is placed upon female virginity, the perceived inability of women to work for money, and to women's shorter reproductive life relative to men's. Further, parents are often poor and use the marriage as a way to make her future better, especially in areas with little economic opportunities. They also will gain considerable property for her bride price, such as cattle or other goods. 

Consequences? Girls who marry earlier in life are less likely to be informed about reproductive issues, and therefore pregnancy related deaths are known to be the leading cause of mortality among married girls between 15 and 19 years of age. These girls are twice more likely to die in childbirth than girls between 20-24. Girls younger than 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth. Infants born to mothers under the age of 18 are 60% more likely to die in their first year than to mothers over the age of 19.

Young girls in a child marriage are more likely to experience domestic violence in their marriages as opposed to older women. The International Centre for Research on Women conducted a study that demonstrated that girls married before 18 are twice as likely to be beaten, slapped, or threatened by their husbands and three times more likely to experience sexual violence. Young brides often show symptoms of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress.

Child Marriage perpetuates a further cycle of gender inequality and sickness. Young girls who lack status, power, and maturity are often subjected to domestic violence, sexual abuse, and social isolation. Early marriage almost always deprives girls of their education and ability to learn job skills, therefore perpetuating poverty and leaving them vulnerable if their husband dies or leaves them.

And there are stories of the abuse that child brides suffer. A 13 year old Yemeni girl, Ilham Mahdi al Assi, died in April 2010 from internal injuries four days after a family-arranged marriage to a man almost twice her age. In September 2009, a 12 year old Yemeni child-bride died after struggling for three days in labor to give birth.

Child Marriage in Asia

Child marriage is particularly prevalent in India, where more than one third of all child brides live. According to a report published by UNICEF, 47% of girls are married by 18, and 18% are married by 15. Indian Law has made child marriage illegal, however it is still widely practiced.

In Bangladesh  in 2005 45% of women then between 25 and 29 were married by the age of 15; According to the "State of the World's Children-2009" report, 63% of all women aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18

In Yemen, roughly half of the girls are married before 18, some by the age of eight, even though Yemeni law set the minimum age for marriage at 15. However, tribal customs often ignore the law, and in 1999 the minimum marriage age of fifteen was abolished, and the onset of puberty was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage. However, conservatives have interpreted that age to be 9 in some cases.

In Saudi Arabia, Saudi cleric have justified the marriage of girls as young as 9, with sanctions from the judiciary

HOWEVER, the girls are fighting back

Nada al-Ahdal is an 11 year old girl from Yemen, who posted a a powerful appeal against child marriage on YouTube. Nada ran away from home in order to avoid being married to a much older man.

Humaiya, a 16 year old form Bangladesh, was saved from being a child-bride by her mother, who refused to let her father marry her as a child bride. Her mother and a group of advocates intervened to prevent the marriage. Humayiya became an advocate against child brides and for child rights issues through World Vision.

Sally as-Sabahi, who was married at age 10 to a 25 year old cousin, managed to win a divorce from her cousin. Her story made headlines in local media and polarized the country.

Sally as-Sabahi and her Family

What is being done about this?

The UN and NGO's have initiated efforts to combat child marriages. Steps taken are

• framing laws against child marriages
• increasing access to girls' education
• changing harmful cultural norms
• supporting community programs
• maximizing foreign assistance
• providing young women with economic opportunities
• addressing the unique needs of child brides
• evaluating programs to determine what works

Further, there does exist legislation to combat child marriage. However, why does child marriage still happen? Part of it is the majority of these laws are International Convention; meaning there is very little way to concretely enforce these provision unless brought before the ICJ. Second is domestic legislators are fighting against thousands of years of cultural tradition, therefore making laws harder to enforce. And since often parents are the ones marrying off their daughters, it is hard for officials to identify cases of child bride and prevent them. Existing legislation:

• India's Child Marriage Restraint Act
• India's National Plan of Action for Children 2005
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• the Convention on the Rights of the Child
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
• The Convention on the Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriage
• International Convention on Civil and political Rights
• International Convention on Economic and Cultural Rights
• The Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices
• The WHO Constitution

Colorado Man Convicted of Trafficking Filipino Nurses

One of the common misconceptions about labor trafficking is that it only pertains to agriculture, restaurant work, or other low paying jobs. But anyone at any level can be labor trafficked; in fact, according to the US Trafficking in Persons report, skilled laborers such as engineers and nurses are at high risk of being trafficked as well.

One such example is the case in Colorado. Kizzy Kalu of Highland Ranch,Colorado was convicted of human trafficking on Monday. Of the 94 counts that Kalu was charged with, he was convicted of all but 6 of them.

Kalu posted an advertisement online and sent letters to Filipino nurses inviting them to obtain nursing degrees in the US at Adams University. Although he told them that they would be nursing instructors and receiving 72,000 a year, they were to apply for student visas. The reason he gave the nurses for this duplicity was although there are limits on how many visas the US hands out, there is no set limit on higher education student visas. The nurses paid around 6,500 to obtain a visa.

However, there was no such university as Adams University; the picture on the website was of a building of another Colorado University, and there was no such institution at the location that Kalu posted on the website. Furthermore, when the nurses arrived, Kalu had them work for nursing home and other extended care facilities, at significantly lower rates than he had promised. At first, Kalu was paid directly from the nursing homes and only gave a small portion to the nurses. However, when the government started asking questions about his income, Kalu had the nursing homes pay the nurses directly, from which Kalu would take a significant portion of their wages. The nurses were required to pay at least 1,200 a month to Kalu, or else he threatened to report them to the Department of Homeland Security for visa fraud. One nurse refused to pay Kalu, and was subsequently deported.

Jay Moskowitz, who owned one of the nursing home company who hired several of the women, was one of the companies that brought the case to the authorities' attention after the nurses told them that they were not receiving all of their wages from Kalu.

This case highlights the vast reaches of labor trafficking. Many misconceptions of labor trafficking are that 'It doesn't happen here' and 'it's only on farms and in factories'. But labor trafficking can come in many different forms.

Facts about Labor Trafficking

• According to the US Trafficking in Person's Report
• In 2012 there were 1,153 labor trafficking prosecutions and 518 convictions around the world
• In North and South America there were 369 prosecutions and 107 convictions in 2012
• Traffickers control their victims in many different ways
• Recruitment Debt- traffickers charge their victims large fees for travel and visa expenses, and the victims are forced to work long hours with little pay to pay off their debts
• Hold on to important documents such as visas or passports
• Threaten to go to the authorities to have victims arrested and deported
• There are many 'legal' recruitment agencies that participate in labor trafficking; as brokers are paid according to the amount of employees they recruit, they are often unethical or don't follow up after persons are placed

Jasmine Prokscha

Intern

Official Complicity with Human Trafficking

Although actions must be taken at all levels, it is crucial to any anti-human trafficking movement to have strong governmental support and action. However, according to the U.S. State Department's report on trafficking around the world, there are many governments whose officials who comply with, or even aid, traffickers. For example, NGOs in Malaysia have reported that the police often will not investigate complaints that employers are confiscating passports, travel documents, or withholding wages as possible trafficking offenses. Furthermore, in 2010 the government did not report any prosecutions of employers who subjected workers to conditions of forced labor, nor were any government officials convicted of trafficking related complicity, despite numerous reports of collusion between police and trafficking offenders. Police collaboration is a common thread throughout many countries; local law enforcement officials are willing to take bribes to look the other way when presented with cases of human trafficking, or, at the most extreme, are the ones perpetrating human trafficking themselves.

India

One such example is India. The report stated "Official complicity in trafficking was a serious problem that remained largely addressed by the government. Corrupt politicians, police, and border security forces on both sides of the India-Bangladesh border reportedly recognized a token used by human traffickers to evade arrest if caught at the border." Some corrupt law enforcement officers facilitated the movement of sex trafficking victims, protected suspected traffickers and brothel keepers from enforcement of the law, took bribes from sex trafficking establishments and sexual services from victims, and tipped off sex and labor traffickers to impede rescue efforts. Many owners of brothels, rice mills, brick kilns, and stone quarries who engaged in human trafficking were politically connected and therefore immune from prosecution.Further, of the Anti-Human Trafficking Units established by the government, many were criticized as being ineffective or only existing on paper and not in practice. Furthermore, there was significant complicity of some governmental officials in human trafficking. Many sources noted that the Indian central government approached anti-trafficking measures in an uncoordinated and piecemeal manner, therefore allowing for greater instances of corruption.
One highly publicized case of sexual and physical abuse, including both sex and labor trafficking, of women and children in Apna Ghar shelter for mistreated victims in the state of Haryana, demonstrates the pervasiveness of official compliance with human trafficking. Not only was the shelter run by the state, but police officers reportedly raped some of the inhabitants and destroyed evidence once an investigation into the home commenced.

Burma

Burma is one of the highest offenders in regards to official complicity in human trafficking. The Military is the main perpetrators. Internally, there are several different ways in which the military implements human trafficking. The military engages in the unlawful conscription of child soldiers. Boys as young as 10 years are forcibly recruited to serve in the Burmese army and ethnic armed groups through intimidation, coercion, threats, and violence. Children of the urban poor are at particular risk of involuntary conscription; UN reports indicates that the army has targeted orphans and children on the streets and in railway stations, as well as young novice monks from monasteries for recruitment. It also continues to be the main perpetrator of forced or compulsory labor inside Burma. Military and civilian officials target minors of ethnic minority groups, and use men, women, and children for forced labor for the development of infrastructure and state-run agricultural and commercial ventures, as well as forced portering for the military. 

An NGO study published in 2010 found an acute problem in Chin State, where a survey of over 600 households indicated that over 600 households indicated that over 92% experienced at least one instance of a household member subject to forced labor; the Burmese military reportedly imposed two-thirds of these forced labor demands. Children are often subjected to forced labor in tea shops, home industries, and agricultural plantations. Exploiters traffic girls for the purpose of prostitution, particularly in urban areas. There are also reports that Burmese officials kidnapped Rohingya women from Sittwe and subjected them to sexual slavery on military installations. There were also reports that victims deported from Thailand into Democratic Karen Buddhist Army controlled areas of Burma continue to be extorted and retrafficked by DKBA elements, in collusion with Thai officials.

How can the military do this? There are many causes of human trafficking in Burma. The military regime's climate of impunity, gross economic mismanagement, and the acceptance of child soldiers as a method of recruitment remain top causal factors. Further, the authorities refuse to recognize members of certain ethnic minority groups, such as the Rohingyas, as citizens and provide them with identification documentation, which make them a prime target.

Vietnam

The Vietnamese government is complicit in human trafficking as it has certain programs in place that human traffickers can easily utilize to gain access to their victims. For example, Vietnam is a source country for men and women who migrate abroad for work opportunities. Many of the migrants are process through state-affiliated export companies which coerce migrants to sign contracts in languages they cannot read, and charged exorbitant fees, sometimes as much as $10,000. This has forced Vietnamese migrants to incur some of the highest debts among Asian expatriate workers, making them highly vulnerable to debt bondage and forced labor. Also, there has been a significant lack of prosecution of perpetrators of human trafficking; many NGOs claim that government officials are often willing to turn a blind eye towards trafficking in return for bribes.

Thailand

Thailand's greatest issue is corrupt law enforcement. The majorities of networks that traffic foreigners into Thailand tend to be small and not high organized, those who traffic Thai victims abroad tend to be more organized and work in more formal networks and will collaborate with law enforcement officials. Also, as the Thai government has no official laws that address sex tourism, there remains greater leeway for sex trafficking. Broader issues in regards to the Thai government and trafficking are local police corruption, including direct involvement in and facilitation of human trafficking, biases against migrant laborers, lack of understanding among local officials and courts in regards to human trafficking, particularly labor abuse cases, and finally systematic disincentives for trafficking victims to be identified. Corruption is one of the largest issues as it is widespread among Thai law enforcement personnel, creating an enabling environment for human trafficking to prosper. There are reports that officials protect brothels, other commercial sex venues, and seafood and sweatshop facilities form raids and inspections. Furthermore, there are also reports that Thai police and immigration officials extort money or sex from Burmese citizens detained in Thailand for immigration violations, and sell Burmese people who are unable to pay labor brokers and sex traffickers.

Further, due to the refusal of the Thai government to grant legal status to Ethnic minorities from the northern Hill Tribes, these populations are at an extremely high risk for trafficking.

Cambodia

Cambodia has a significant history of human trafficking, due to the longtime civil unrest that created an unstable environment rendering many homeless; refugees are particular targets for human traffickers. Furthermore, there are reports that some law enforcement and government officials are believed to have accepted bribes to facilitate the trafficking and sex trade. There are other reports of government officials who are complicit in the trafficking by accepting bribes. Corrupt officials facilitate the transportation of victims across the border, or route migrants deported from Thailand to human traffickers. However, there have been several large-scale prosecutions of police officials for trafficking corruption charges. The former Deputy Director of the Police Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department was convicted for complicity in trafficking and sentenced to five years' imprisonment; two officials under his supervision were also convicted and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Another example was when police arrested two military officers and one member of the military police for running brothels and trafficking.

Jasmine Prokscha
Intern

President Obama Raises Human Trafficking on Visit to Asia

President Obama made his first post-election visit abroad two weeks ago to three countries in Southeast Asia. He spent November 18^th in Thailand and held a joint press conference with Thai Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. On November 19^th, he journeyed to Burma and met with Burmese President Thein Sein and Member of Parliament who was formerly under political house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi. He then attended the East Asia summit in Cambodia on November 20^th and met with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This trip was significant not only because President Obama was the first U.S. president to visit Burma and Cambodia, but also because he raised the priority human rights issue of human trafficking in his conversations with leaders in each of the three countries.

This visit echoes in action the address that President Obama gave at the Clinton Global Initiative in September, which he focused entirely on human trafficking in the form labor and sex services, both in the United States and globally. He began describing human trafficking as such:

“It ought to concern every person, because it is a debasement of our common humanity.  It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric.  It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets.  It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime.  I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name -- modern slavery. “

Recognizing that it is a tragedy that “modern slavery” should exist in the U.S. but acknowledging that the U.S. has resources and technical knowledge to be a leader in the anti-trafficking movement, the president called to attention these anti-trafficking initiatives that his Administration has designed:

·         Executive order strengthening protections in federal contracts: The U.S. is strengthening adherence to its zero-tolerance policy on human trafficking within government contracts in the U.S. and overseas.

·         Tools and training to identify and assist trafficking victims: Government employed professionals from the local to federal levels who are most likely to cross paths with trafficking victims will be provided human trafficking training.

·         Increased resources for victims of human trafficking: Social services and legal assistance for trafficking victims will be expanded so they will have increased access to help. The T-visa application and prosecution of the victims’ traffickers are being streamlined to expedite processing times.

·         Comprehensive plan for future action: The first strategic action plan to strengthen services for victims of trafficking and the first domestic human trafficking assessment tool to track trafficking trends in the U.S. is being developed by federal intelligence agencies.

President Obama's speech at the CGI 

The President calls upon members of every community to be educated on human trafficking and join in on the existing efforts to combat this worldwide epidemic. In the same address, he urges Congress to renew the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which he says, is “something we should all agree on”, whether Democrat or Republican.

On his visit, President Obama commended Burma on the extensive progress made toward its transition to democracy and addressing sex and labor trafficking in the last two years. Burma has repealed the 1907 Towns and Villages Act, which condoned government use of forced labor and has enacted the 2012 Wards and Village Tracts Administration Act, which criminalizes all forms of forced labor. It has also signed a child soldiers action plan with the UN to release child soldiers from the Burmese military. These are just a few signs of evidence for Burma’s advance in human rights.

President Obama meets Aung San Suu Kyi (Official White House photo)

 In his subsequent conversations with the Thai and Cambodian leaders, President Obama affirms that the technical knowledge and practices developed by the U.S. and its partners in anti-trafficking efforts will be shared with all three countries. The bilateral partnerships between the U.S. and these countries signify cooperative efforts to share ideas and learn from each other how to tackle this issue. However, human trafficking is not a standalone issue; therefore, the U.S. will work with the Thai, Burmese, and Cambodian leaders to improve education, revamp public health systems, and focus on human development from childhood.

This visit seems to have provided added momentum for the anti-trafficking movement in Asia. With such a huge focus on trafficking as President Obama begins his second term, those already engaged in anti-trafficking work are looking forward to greater development in advocacy and services for victims as well as abusers being held accountable to their crimes. It is a tremendous sign of progress as the covert operations of human trafficking are being exposed and awareness of the issue has gained prominence in the last decade.