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HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The following is excerpted from the website of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Fact Sheet: Human Trafficking, www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/fact_human.html.
Human trafficking is a form of slavery where victims are forced to provide commercial sex or physical labor.
Human traffickers use force—rape, beatings and/or confinement—to control their victims, especially during the early stages of victimization.
Human traffickers make false offers that induce people into trafficking situations. Women and children who reply to advertisements for jobs as waitresses, maids and dancers in other countries are sometimes forced into prostitution once they arrive at their destinations.
Human traffickers coerce victims with threats of serious harm to them or their loved ones back home. Victims are also led to believe that they will be arrested or deported if they don’t follow the traffickers’ demands.
Human traffickers sometimes loan money to people to entice them to move to another country. To repay these transportation fees victims fall into debt bondage. Victims do not realize that their debts may be legally unenforceable and that it is illegal for anyone to dictate how to pay off debts.
Traffickers may also take away the victims’ travel documents and isolate them to make escape more difficult. Victims are usually not allowed to have the money they are supposed to be earning and may not know the amount of their debt. Victims who realize that their bondage is illegal or unjust are often unable to obtain help because of language, social, or physical barriers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has established a Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline (1-888-373-7888). The hotline helps intermediaries determine whether they have encountered a victim of human trafficking, connects victims to local non-governmental resources and coordinates with local social service organizations to protect and assist victims of trafficking.
THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CONNECTICUT provides services to victims of trafficking in Connecticut. The Institute's Project Rescue offers language and cultural assistance, legal and immigration services, housing, health services, transportation, job training skills and referrals to other organizations for victims of trafficking.
TO FIND PROVIDERS IN CONNECTICUT'S COMMUNITY RESOURCES DATABASE
Search by service names:
Crime Reporting for Victims of Human Trafficking
Crime Victim Support for Victims of Human Trafficking
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SOURCE: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services: Fact Sheet: Human Trafficking
PREPARED BY: 211/rj
CONTENT LAST REVIEWED: February2008
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