Potential Signs of Human Trafficking

Unfortunately, and incomprehensibly, we are growing accustomed to seeing daily news reports of human trafficking and exploitation of children and adults. Thanks to the internet, this multi-billion dollar industry, which boasts over 100,000 dedicated websites, is among the fastest growing online business sectors in the United States. At what point do we say enough already? The answer is NOW!

Human trafficking cannot be ignored or denied any longer. This topic can be extremely uncomfortable to acknowledge, but we can make a difference by being proactive. This is a matter of life and death!

Every one of us has the potential to discover and report a human trafficking situation. While some victims are kept behind locked doors, others are often hidden right in front of us in such locations as construction sites, restaurants, elder care centers, nail salons, agricultural fields, escort services, truck stops, and hotels. You can learn indicators of human trafficking and effective questions you can ask in order to empower yourself to act when your gut tells you that something is wrong and make a real difference.

Traffickers’ use of coercion — such as threats of deportation or physical harm to the victim or family members — is so powerful that, even if you reach out to victims, they may be too fearful to reach out for or accept your help. Therefore, it is important to recognize the enormous amount of courage it takes if a trafficked victim to reach out for help and action should be taken immediately to remove them from their abuser. When a human trafficked victim does reach out to someone, they probably want out now.

The suggestions set forth in this article are not exhaustive and are merely a starting point.  Starting the conversation and educating ourselves and others is the critical first step in ending human trafficking.

What to look for
Some key red flags to alert you to a potential trafficking situation that should be reported:

– Suspected victim is living with employer;

– Poor living conditions, including blocking windows so others cannot see inside;

– Multiple children/people in cramped space and rarely seen, with numerous adults coming in and out of the property;

– Inability to speak to a suspected victim alone;

– If you are able to speak with the suspected victim, the answers appear to be scripted and rehearsed;

– Employer is holding identity documents;

– Signs of physical abuse;

– Suspected victim appears submissive or fearful;

– Very little or no payment;

– Prostitution of children under 18.

Questions to ask:
Assuming you have the opportunity to speak with a potential victim privately and without jeopardizing the victim’s safety, here are some sample questions to ask:

– Can you leave your job if you want to?

– Can you come and go as you please?

– If you have tried to leave, have you been hurt or threatened?

– Has your family been threatened?

– Do you live with your employer?

– Where do you sleep and eat?

– Are you in debt to your employer?

– Do you have your passport/identification? Who has it?

Where to get help and education about human trafficking
If you believe you have identified someone currently in the trafficking situation, alert local law enforcement immediately by calling 911. You may also want to alert the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, a national 24-hour, toll-free, multilingual anti-trafficking hotline. It may be unsafe to attempt to rescue a trafficking victim on your own. You have no way of knowing how the trafficker may react and retaliate against the victim or you.

If, however, you identify a victim who has escaped the trafficking situation, there are a number of organizations to whom the victim can be referred for help with shelter, medical care, legal assistance, and other critical services. Call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to report a tip, connect with anti-trafficking services in your area, or request training and technical assistance, general information, or specific anti-trafficking resources. The Hotline is equipped to handle calls from all regions of the United States from a wide range of callers, including potential trafficking victims, community members, law enforcement, medical professionals, legal professionals, service providers, researchers, students, and policymakers.

Polaris, another nonprofit organization, provides human trafficking victims and survivors with critical support, local resources, training, and solutions to eradicate human trafficking. You can contact them to get help and stay safe through the BeFree Text line (text HELP to 233733) or 202-790-6300.

 

Everyone wants human trafficking stopped. Starting a discussion and educating others will make a difference! Will you accept this challenge?

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How to Spot Human Trafficking

This weeks question comes from Lydia in San Francisco, who writes:

Q: I am originally from Jamaica. I learned of an opportunity to work in San Francisco as a hotel housekeeper. He told me that if I paid him he would get me a job in the United States. I was told I would earn $2,000 a month plus overtime. When I arrived in San Francisco, things were different. I was employed by an agency that contracted with hotels and worked 70 hours a week. The agency took my passport for “safekeeping” for the money they charged me to come here and for rent in crowded company housing. No matter how many hours I worked, I didn’t get overtime, and the fees they charged continued to rise. I could never break even. Eventually, I collapsed at work and was taken to a hospital where I met a social worker. She told me that it sounded like I was a victim of human trafficking.

Could I be a victim of Human Trafficking?

A: Thank you for your question, Lydia. What a horrific series of events to go through. I am sorry that this happened to you. Based on the information you provided, it is possible that you have been the victim of Human Trafficking under California law. Human trafficking can take many forms and is not limited to the sexual exploitation we hear so much about and see in movies. In fact, human trafficking can and does occur in legal and legitimate businesses such as restaurants, hotels and manufacturing plants.

Unfortunately, there are many common misconceptions about what human trafficking is, and who has been a victim. For example, human trafficking does not require physical restraint or force. Psychological means of control such as threats or fraud can suffice. In your case, the unreasonable payroll deductions, as well as the holding on to your passport because of your “debt” can meet the “control” requirement of a human trafficking claim.

Many people also confuse human trafficking with human smuggling. While each can take a severe toll on the survivors, they are separate claims. Human trafficking occurs regardless of whether there was any transportation or illegal border crossing. (See Cal. Civ. Code § 52.5 and Cal. Penal Code § 236.1). Smuggling, on the other hand, would require transportation over a border. With hotel workers like you, it is not uncommon, for people to be induced to come to California through misrepresentation of the type of work or amount of pay. Often, a recruiter will work directly with immigration officials to ensure a legal visa is issued.

The California legislature recently took steps to help remedy the misunderstandings and to bring attention to the issue so that victims, or those who may come into contact with them, may more easily recognize human trafficking. In September 2018, two laws were passed requiring certain businesses to post human trafficking notices and trainings.

SB 970 requires training of new employees at hotels and motels. The employer must provide at least 20 minutes of training and education on how to identify, respond to and report human trafficking. After an initial Jan. 1, 2020 deadline for training, each new worker must receive training within six months of being hired and again every 2 years.

AB 2034 requires the posting of notices regarding Human Trafficking in hotels, motels, bus and truck stops, as well as several other business establishments where trafficking is prevalent or may be seen. The notice must be in, English, Spanish, and whichever other language is most widely spoken in that county. The notice must state that if “you or someone you know is forced to engage in any activity and cannot leave — whether it is commercial sex, housework, farm work, construction, factory, retail, restaurant work, or any other activity they may text of call one of the human trafficking hotlines.

AB 2034 also requires certain businesses to conduct employee training regarding:

  • The definition of human trafficking, 
  • Myths and misconceptions,
  • Physical and mental signs that may point to trafficking,
  • Guidance on how to identify at-risk individuals,
  • Guidance on how to report human trafficking, and
  • Protocols for reporting human trafficking when on the job.

The first things you, or any other potential victim of human trafficking, should do is to make sure that you are safe and contact one of the hotlines. If you, or someone you know fits this description, text 233-733 (Be Free) or call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or the California Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) at 1-888-KEY-2-FRE(EDOM) or 1-888-539-2373 to access help and services. Then, call an attorney experienced in this area of law, such as the Dolan Law Firm, to help guide you through the process.

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What The Law States Regarding Human Trafficking

Joe from San Francisco writes: My wife and I learned of a great opportunity to work in a restaurant in San Francisco. We were promised “good wages” and we were excited to move to from the Philippines and start a new life in America. When we arrived in San Francisco two years ago, we were required to and continue to work over twelve hours a day and not allowed to take breaks. We also work 6 days a week. Our employer told us that we owed a debt and he began deducting various items from our wages such as transportation, interest or fines, and charges for bad behavior. We ended up with almost no salary for the hours we worked. We were also threatened with our visas having expired and being in the United States “illegally.” My employer even took our passports away. We were threatened that if we tried to leave our employer and go back to the Philippines, something bad would happen to our family there. We confided in a friend who told us that she believed that we are victims of human trafficking. What can we do? We feel trapped and do not know if we have rights.

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An Interview with FBANC’s 40th President: Mari Bandoma Callado

This morning, we had the opportunity to catch up with our senior associate attorney from our Oakland office and current president for the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California. FBANC is an organization of attorneys, judges and law students dedicated to serving the Filipino American legal community in Northern California. As a talented attorney, Mari Bandoma Callado represents employees in wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and human trafficking cases. She also represents injured individuals and families of loved ones who have died due to the fault of others, including in elder abuse and neglect lawsuits. From 2017 to this year, Mari is recognized as Super Lawyers’ Rising Star among Northern California attorneys.

At the Dolan Law Firm, Mari assists courageous employees in safeguarding their rights and has achieved remarkable success in cases involving:

“While important, for most employees we represent it’s not just about recovering monetary damages,” Mari explains. “They have been treated unfairly and suffered significant emotional distress. Justice demands that their rights be vindicated and wrongdoers be held accountable.”

Mari has successfully represented clients in a wide range of individual personal injury & wrongful death lawsuits including:

Mari has been an active member of several local national bar associations, including the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California where she has been a member since 2010 (as a law student) and served as a board member three years later. She now serves as FBANC’s 40th president and chairs several committees.

Interview with Mari

Hello Mari, thank you for taking the time to speak to us. How does it feel to be FBANC’s 40th president? 

It truly is an honor to serve as FBANC’s 40th President.  I have to say that this is a challenging year to be president as nothing about this time is ordinary.  We could not have anticipated how our lives, our economy, and our sense of normalcy would be severely disrupted by a public health emergency.

The pandemic also exposed pre-existing racial inequities in our health system as COVID-19 continues to disproportionately kill people of color – particularly Black Americans.  It also reminded us how quickly, and unapologetically, this nation shifts the blame on the “other” during moments of crisis. The violent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery at the hands of police and vigilantes sparked a public outcry to eradicate an arguably deadlier disease, racism. 

These last couple of months have placed a spotlight on the horrific injustices that Black Americans suffer. As a mother to a two-year-old son, I feel sick to my stomach thinking about how Black mothers live in a constant fear of never seeing their sons again.  I refuse to imagine, it’s impossible to imagine, it’s a privilege to not be able to imagine. 

All mothers were summoned when George Floyd called for his mama.  As lawyers, we are privileged to hold this power.  We have an obligation to use our voice to speak up for those muzzled by systemic racism and to continue to serve marginalized communities.  As president, I hope to continue serving the Filipinx and Filipinx-American and marginalized communities as FBANC has done for the last four decades.

Tell us about the virtual installation ceremony. What were the major challenges about organizing such an event?

The FBANC Board transformed its annual fundraiser gala, which FBANC planned to host 300+ guests, into a virtual installation ceremony.  The ceremony featured trailblazers in the Filipino-American legal community including the induction of FBANC’s officers by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye; remarks by the Hon. Benjamin Reyes, II, the first Filipino-American superior court judge in Contra Costa County, the Hon. Audra Ibarra, the first Filipina-American superior court judge in the SF Bay Area, remarks by Rob Bonta, the first Filipino-American Assemblymember in the California Legislature.

FBANC kicked off the celebration with a virtual cocktail reception and held a virtual afterparty with a live DJ.  The ceremony was attended by almost 140 viewers and has been viewed over 500 times on YouTube, making it the most attended FBANC installation ceremony to date.  During the ceremony, the FBANC Foundation, which provides scholarships to support the educational development of Filipino and Filipino American lawyers and law students in Northern California, awarded over $40,000[1] in scholarships and stipends to aspiring attorneys.

Switching to a virtual format for our annual fundraising gala means we did not incur typical expenditures related to that event. FBANC hosted the ceremony at no cost to attendees in light of the economic downturn and to encourage donations to other causes.  In light of the financial impacts of COVID-19, FBANC leadership made a conscious decision not to seek sponsorships for the virtual gala. Therefore, one big challenge is funding our programming this year.  Fortunately, because of the Board’s financial stewardship over the past several years, FBANC still begins the year with sufficient funds to operate. In the coming year, FBANC plans to adopt a cost-saving budget to preserve its financial resources. FBANC will also solicit sponsorships for its programming and conduct membership drives to supplement its operating budget.

 What are some major goals for FBANC for the coming year?

Established in 1981, FBANC aims to continue serving our community and remains committed to diversifying the legal profession and providing a voice for, and advocating on behalf of, Filipinx and Filipinx-American interests in various forums.

The global pandemic forced FBANC to think outside the box in terms of member engagement.  FBANC’s programs will be virtual for at least the end of the year.  We are hosting a virtual conference for law students on August 9 and well as offering professional development webinars and remote social events.  FBANC is also aiming to raise $40,0000 for the FBANC Foundation’s legal scholarships and stipends to celebrate FBANC’s 40th anniversary.  To facilitate serving the community, FBANC will be relaunching our free remote legal clinics and will be providing webinars to the public on various issues. 

 I realize this may be a broad question, but how has COVID-19 affected the Filipino and Filipino American community in the Bay Area?

First respondents and healthcare workers have made sacrifices serving on the frontlines all across the country every day, but particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, including losing their lives. Filipinx Americans make up a large portion of the nation’s health care workforce. In the Bay Area, approximately 17% of nurses are Filipinx/Americans.

Moreover, it has been reported that COVID-19-related fatalities have higher rates in the Filipinx American communities. Experts believe the higher risk factors among Filipinx and Filpinx Americans could be prevalent preexisting health conditions, poverty, undocumented status and lack of health insurance.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, FBANC recognized the widespread need in our community for support and legal assistance.  FBANC contributed to relief efforts through the following initiatives by:

  • Releasing a Resource Guide for workers, tenants, domestic violence survivors, and immigrants after California’s shelter-in-place orders took effect.
  • Presenting legal information via webinars and interviews with The Filipino Channel to provide legal resources to the Filipinx and Filipinx-American community.
  • Launching a two-month long Virtual Unemployment Form Assistance Clinic with Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus. Over 70 volunteer attorneys, law students and advocates offered 1400+ pro bono hours to the public. The virtual clinic provided services in Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Spanish to almost 500 clients.  The clinic assisted 140 clients with filling out unemployment, disability and paid family leave benefit from start to finish.  FBANC also trained two local organizations to provide a similar service.
  • Providing a wills assistance virtual clinic and legal resources to emergency responders through a partnership with Legal Access Alameda and hosting a free webinar on basic estate planning for health care professionals.
  • Providing (through the FBANC Foundation) over $10,000 in COVID-19 relief stipends to law students who have been affected financially by the pandemic.

 You were also nominated as a Super Lawyer Rising Star this year. Tell us what this means to you?

It is an honor to be included on the Super Lawyer’s Rising Star list for the fourth consecutive year because to be eligible for this recognition, you have to be nominated by your peers.  Moreover, fewer than 2.5% of eligible licensed attorneys who have either been practicing for fewer than ten years, or are under 40 years old are given this recognition.

In the age of COVID-19 and as working parent, do you have any advice to other parents? How do you maintain a work and personal life balance?

With childcare options being extremely limited, my husband and I have had to coordinate working and caring for our two-year-old.  We had to work on communicating with our work. In the first few weeks of shelter-in-place, it seemed harder to maintain a work and personal life balance.  There was something about having my workstation at home that made it difficult to step away from it, even after work hours.  I try to squeeze in play time with my toddler and stepping out for walks during the day so I can take a “real” break, which is better for my sanity and health.

 Who inspired you to go to law school? Did you have mentors that helped you along the way?

My father was injured at work in 2004.  Instead of supporting him during a vulnerable time, his former employer discriminated against him for his disability, requesting accommodations and taking job-protected leave. His former employer retaliated against him and terminated his employment. I felt the worry and anxiety my parents struggled with as they figured out how we were going to supplement my father’s lost income. I told myself that I would never let anything like this happen to my family or any of my loved ones again.

I immigrated to the United States when I was twelve years old.  I was the first person in my family to go to a college in America, let alone law school. During law school, I became a law student member of FBANC where I met many of my mentors who gave me advice along the way, even today as I navigate being an immigrant, woman of color in the legal profession.

 Do you have any advice to young students exploring law school?

Students who are interested in going to law school should reach out to attorneys to learn more about their practice area and what they do on a day-to-day basis. Law school is a big investment, so it’s worthwhile to make sure that this is really something they want to do.  It might seem intimidating but most attorneys I know are willing to take time to share their journey.

[1] Almost doubling the amount awarded from the prior term.

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The $150-Billion-a-Year Industry That Is Killing Our Children

“It ought to concern every person, because 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.” – President Barack Obama, Sept. 25, 2012

The most common forms of human trafficking are sex trafficking, forced labor and debt bondage. While any form of human trafficking is reprehensible and deserves attention, the focus of this article will be sexually exploited children. This is a difficult and uncomfortable topic, but denial and silence is killing and permanently harming our children.

Sexual exploitation of children by force, fraud, or coercion in the United States is misunderstood.  Many believe it happens in other countries, not right before our eyes in the United States.

The reality is that human trafficking is modern slavery that happens everywhere, affects every race and crosses all social classes, and is woefully underreported because the victims are not visible. Sex-trafficked children are often “reused” for rape sometimes more than 12 times a day. The United States Department of State documented a case of one child being raped more than one thousand times.

Not until 2003 did the first state, Washington, criminalized human trafficking. Despite federal and state legislation in ensuing years, the sex trafficking serpent has continued to proliferate at an alarming rate.

The latest federal law, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017, takes the important step of broadening the accountability net, providing an instrument to cut the head off the serpent and eventually put an end to this violence and abuse. Now, “facilitators” financially benefitting or receiving anything of value from participation in a venture which has engaged in sex trafficking can be held civilly and criminally responsible. Examples include truck stops, hotels, and social media advertisers receiving money through the sale of goods or services, leasing real estate or renting hotel and motel rooms. It is important that customers of these businesses keep an eye out and report to law enforcement any behavior or circumstances suggesting the presence of sex trafficking (see Red Flag Warnings, below).

THE NUMBERS
1.6 Million homeless children on the streets at any one time, many having run away or been abducted. A large proportion of these children are victims of neglect or physical or sexual abuse.

1.5 Million sex-trafficked victims in the United States.

35.7 percent rise in sex trafficking in the United States between 2015 and 2016.

14 & 10 percent of girls and boys, respectively, under age 18 bought and sold every year and sexually violated.

The average age of commercially sex trafficked children is 11-14 years.

58 percent of LGBTQ homeless children are sexually exploited annually.

$650,000 is the potential annual earnings of sex trafficker violating as little as four children.

300,000 United States children at risk of becoming victims of  commercial sexual exploitation annually.

7 years is the average child’s life span beginning on the first day they are exploited (from all causes including suicide, physical violence, disease, malnutrition, and overdose)

SECRET CODE EXAMPLES TO HIDE TRAFFICKING
-Lot Lizards: Commercially sexually exploited victims brought in droves to nationwide truck stops and sexually exploited.

-Facilitators: Legitimate businesses such as hotels, airlines, bus and rail companies, advertisers like Craigslist.com, alternative newspapers, banks and other financial services companies, truck stops, landlords, social media including Facebook and Twitter, bars, strip clubs, massage parlors, escort services, and on and on and on.

-Quota: Amount often set between $300 and $2,000 a trafficking victim must make each night before she/he can go “home.”

-Leash: Narcotics, typically heroin and meth, used to control victims.

RED FLAG WARNINGS
-Physical Appearance – Injuries/signs of abuse such as burn marks, bruises, cuts, or unhealthy thinness; tattoo(s) displaying a man’s name, symbol of money, or barcode; sexualized behavior; provocative dress considering age group and/or weather conditions.

-Possessions – Very few personal possessions, no identification, multiple hotel keys or key cards, prepaid cell phone.

-Behavior – Talk about an older boyfriend, sex with an older man, making lots of money and/or wild parties; claims of being an adult; stories that do not add up; fear of authority figures; withdrawn, depressed, distracted or checked out affect.

-Unusual Circumstances – Twenty girls in one hotel room; groups of children outside trucks stopped at truck stops; multiple children living in a home with boarded up windows and numerous cars where the children are rarely seen.

If you see something, DO something! You just might save a life.

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Mari Bandoma Callado

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A talented senior associate attorney in our Oakland office, Mari Bandoma Callado represents employees in wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and human trafficking cases. She also represents injured individuals, and families of loved ones who have died due to the fault of others, including in elder abuse and neglect lawsuits. In 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 Super Lawyers recognized Mari as a Rising Star among Northern California attorneys.

At the Dolan Law Firm, Mari assists courageous employees in safeguarding their rights and has achieved remarkable success in cases involving:

“While important, for most employees we represent it’s not just about recovering monetary damages,” Mari explains. “They have been treated unfairly and suffered significant emotional distress. Justice demands that their rights be vindicated and wrongdoers be held accountable.”

Mari also has successfully represented clients in a wide range of individual personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits including:

From writing complaints, discovery requests, settlement demand letters and mediation briefs to and writing and arguing substantive motions and preparing cases for trial, Mari possesses extensive litigation experience. “I know that litigation can be confusing and emotionally exhausting for many individuals, particularly if they were subjected to harassment and discrimination from their employers,” states Mari. “My role is to make the process as smooth as possible and alleviate their stress. One way I accomplish this is by regularly updating our clients as to what’s going on in their cases and informing them of the next steps.”

Prior to joining the Dolan Law Firm, Mari represented employees in significant class action lawsuits involving minimum wage pay violations, improper denial of overtime pay and meal and rest breaks, and misclassification of employees as exempt and non-exempt. She also worked as a research attorney for the Honorable Judge Stuart Hing in the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda.

A graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, Mari was recognized for her Pro Bono work and served on the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal. During law school, Mari interned with administrative law judges at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Merit Systems Protection Board and the U.S. Department of Labor. She also volunteered at the Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center’s Workers’ Rights Clinic and was President of the Employment and Labor Law Students Association and the Pilipino American Law Society.

Mari has been an active member of several local and national bar associations.  Mari has been a member of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California  since 2010 as a law student and has served on the FBANC board since 2013. She currently serves as FBANC’s President and chairs several committees.  Mari also serves as the co-chair of the Asian American Bar Association’s Civil Rights Committee and as a co-chair of the Plaintiff’s Network of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association.  She also serves on the California Employment Lawyers Association’s Education and Women’s Committees as well as the Consumer Attorneys of California’s Diversity Committee as its Education Chair.  Mari regularly volunteers at Legal Aid at Work’s Workers’ Rights Clinic and the Alameda County Bar Association’s Lawyers in Library.

Mari is fluent in Tagalog.

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