A conversation about creative legal approaches to combat human trafficking and support survivors was presented by the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy on January 15, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the first comprehensive federal law to address trafficking in persons, and the Palermo Protocol, the international treaty that established a globally agreed definition of human trafficking.
Moderator Julie Dahlstrom, director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Programming at Boston University School of Law, began by asking the panelists how trafficking persists and manifests as both a global and local problem.
In response, Jose Alfaro, a survivor himself and a survivor advocate, provided some context, noting that there are many misconceptions about human trafficking and its victims. Though many may think being trafficked means being kidnapped and taken far away, and that victims are predominantly female and white, the truth is that “anyone can be a victim,” Alfaro said, and many of them are marginalized and underserved people.
Alfaro learned that his own court case against his trafficker initially wasn’t charged with human trafficking, despite the fact that the man who exploited him transported at least one other male victim out of the country for the purpose of selling his sexual services. The reason? Because that victim was male, not the preconceived female victim. “It motivated me to continue doing this work [to unpack assumptions about survivors],” Alfaro explained.
It’s not just the survivors who are misunderstood. Perpetrators themselves can be survivors, not criminal masterminds, Alfaro said. “They are human. They tend to be people who are very close to the victim more often than not.”
Panelist Cynthia Vreeland, a partner at WilmerHale, explained that because trafficking is misunderstood, many survivors are victim-blamed, not believed, or stigmatized. She highlighted a case where a 14-year-old girl was sold by a family friend. And yet, in memos and opinions, the court continually referred to her as a “prostitute.” “There’s a lot of mud thrown at people who have survived,” Vreeland said.
The conversation also touched on criminal prosecution before shifting to civil remedies. “[Prosecution] is a way to hold traffickers accountable,” said Beth Keeley, former chief of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s human trafficking division. “It highlights to the public that this is an issue. It protects people in the community.” But, she admitted, it has its limits. Namely, prosecution is focused on the trafficker, not the survivor.
For a survivor, possible remedies beyond prosecution may be accessed through civil lawsuit, which Vreeland champions through an active pro bono practice representing human trafficking victims. She explained that enforcing third-party liability for human trafficking not only keeps businesses like hotels and motels accountable, but also raises awareness of the issue. Representing her client Lisa Ricchio, Vreeland brought in 2015 the first civil sex trafficking case against a motel under the TVPA. Ricchio’s case was the first filed against a hotel or motel for knowingly benefitting from human trafficking.
Panelists also pointed to a variety of other ways that survivors could be helped by legal advocates. For example, survivors often incur a criminal record as a result of being trafficked, and they may need help to seal or expunge their criminal records in order to obtain jobs, education, or housing.
Apart from civil remedies, supporting survivors requires creativity and sensitivity, as many times even well-intentioned legal responses risk causing more harm. “A lot of these victims are dealing with an immense amount of trauma,” Alfaro said. Survivors are just trying to live a normal life, and a court case can sometimes do more to hurt than heal a survivor. A survivor may have to relive the most traumatic moments of their lives, not only opening old wounds but also opening themselves up to potential retaliation, and not just from traffickers. “By community members and family,” Alfaro said. “Saying, ‘you did this to yourself, you wanted it, etc.’”
For survivors and victims, it’s not over after prosecution. Empowerment and agency are key for survivors to move forward. The panel closed with a call for advocates to get the training and professional development necessary to be trauma-informed and survivor-centered in their work. Nonprofit partners My Life My Choice and the Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County provide resources to support advocates to use law in ways that truly support survivor agency.
Photograph by Reba Saldanha