Proskauer hosted actor and activist Ashley Judd and author and activist Ruchira Gupta for a discussion last week that addressed the issue of human trafficking.
I had the honor of introducing the conversation between Judd, well known for her global activism centered on gender equality, and Gupta, an Emmy Award-winning journalist who founded Apne Aap, a non-governmental organization in India that has helped thousands of women and girls exit prostitution.
Proskauer was privileged to host a panel presentation this month on the topic of representing victim witnesses in cooperating with law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of human traffickers. The panel featured Jane Kim, Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Jessica-Wind Abolafia, Director of Sanctuary for Families’ Anti-Trafficking Initiative; Lori Cohen, incoming Executive Director of ECPAT-USA; and Bill Silverman, Proskauer’s Pro Bono Partner and former Assistant United States Attorney.
The panelists shared a number of insights from their various perspectives as attorneys within law enforcement, a nonprofit legal service provider, and a law firm’s pro bono program. Several best practice tips emerged that will enable pro bono lawyers representing survivors of human trafficking to provide competent and trauma-informed legal assistance to their clients:
The human trafficking industry preys on vulnerable young women throughout the world who seek to escape poverty, violence, and oppression. These women are often lured by sex traffickers through false promises of a better life, only to find themselves trapped in a cycle of abuse. The trafficking industry earns profits of approximately $150 billion a year, nearly $100 billion of which comes from commercial sexual exploitation. Sex trafficking victims do not profit, but they are often, in many jurisdictions, the ones being prosecuted.
Last week, Proskauer, along with the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition, hosted Valiant (Val) Richey, the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Office of the Special Representative assists the 57 OSCE countries—including the United States—in their efforts to combat human trafficking.
Thousands of women in the United States, who never knowingly or intentionally entered the sex industry, find themselves trapped in a world of unspeakable abuse. These women, whether in illicit massage parlors or other abhorrent situations, are routinely arrested despite being the victims – while traffickers and buyers with actual culpability routinely are not.
To understand their plight, imagine you are a single parent with three children, recently unemployed, and faced with mounting debt. You see an online advertisement for a work opportunity in a neighboring country with a thriving restaurant industry. You can split rent with other workers, send home earnings, and return to your children as soon as your debts are repaid. To sweeten the offer, the employment agency covers airfare, handles immigration papers, secures an employer, and arranges housing, all at a fee that you can pay off over the course of your work engagement. It seems your prayers have been answered; you leave hopeful and determined for the United States.
What I thought would be a simple bill signing ceremony for legislation intended to protect children from sex trafficking turned out to be something more. On August 15th in lower Manhattan, rock music blared in the community center gymnasium as hundreds of people found their seats amid TV cameras stationed in front of a make-shift stage with a large banner embracing the fight for women and girls. As the New York Times reported, “[t]he event was ostensibly a bill-signing ceremony,” but it had all the trappings of a political rally.
The legislation that Governor Cuomo signed is significant. Prior to this law, a New York State prosecutor had to prove force, fraud or coercion to establish sex trafficking – regardless of whether the victim was a child. It made no sense that even though a child cannot legally engage in sexual activity, the State still had to meet that evidentiary burden. The legislation conforms New York law to that of 46 other states and federal law which recognize that all children involved in prostitution are victims of trafficking. According to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.: “By eliminating the need to prove force, fraud, or coercion for children under 18-years-old, we will be able to bring stronger cases, and spare young survivors from the trauma of having to testify mere feet from their traffickers.”
Discussing the pervasiveness and impact of online sex trafficking and how to fight it, Proskauer hosted a seminar titled “Combating Online Sex Trafficking: Confronting Challenges, Forging Cooperation.” It is estimated that 50% of sex trafficking takes place online.
The event brought together global players in the fight against human trafficking including François Delattre, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations; Per-Anders Sunesson, Swedish Ambassador-at-Large for Combating Trafficking in Persons; Cyrus Vance, New York County District Attorney; Monique Villa, CEO, Thomson Reuters Foundation; Yves Charpenel, Deputy State Prosecutor, the Supreme Court in France, and President, the Scelles Foundation; Valiant Richey, Prosecutor, King County, Washington; Mary Mazzio, Producer and Director, “I am Jane Doe”; and Angel Nguyen, Vice President of Compliance and Financial Crimes Solutions, Enigma.
Last month I had the honor of accepting an award on behalf of Proskauer that was presented by Gloria Steinem on behalf of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). The firm works closely with CATW, and other organizations, in representing victims of human trafficking. There is no question that this work is impactful and important, but I’ve learned that conventional pro bono — namely, representing individuals — is simply not enough. We need to look beyond the individual case, to help raise public awareness and to advocate for certain commonsense changes in the law and public policy.