Combating Trafficking in Persons

WATCH THE RECORDING HERE

Through the IVLP Impact Awards initiative, recent alumni of the International Visitor Leadership Program administer community impact projects that bring the experiences of their exchange program home to their communities and promote innovative solutions to shared global challenges. 

On Wednesday December 4, 2024, Meridian International Center hosted a virtual panel of IVLP Impact Awardees who have dedicated their efforts to combating human trafficking. These IVLP Impact Awardees have harnessed their exchange experiences to create innovative solutions and raise awareness about this critical issue. The panel was moderated by Suresh Kumar and featured panelists Edwin Mugambila, Estefanía Mendoza Tarache and Aissatou Balde.

Some key takeaways from the discussion were:

1. "Let us all work together to ensure that our world is available for freedom from exploitation and oppression"

This call to action was shared by LaTina Marsh, the Senior Coordinator for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. Department of State. She began the session with opening remarks, saying, "building partnerships and collaboration improves the effectiveness of the global response to human trafficking, and it increases the likelihood of successfully prosecuting traffickers and ensuring victims receive the support and services that they need to heal and rebuild their lives. Exchanges like the International Visitor Leadership Program create more opportunities for partnership building and collaboration."

The session began with introductions to the panelists' projects, starting with Suresh, whose 2023 IVLP Impact Award engaged 55 survivors of human trafficking, allowing them to access resources and state compensation to take back control of their lives and become advocates to fight future trafficking. As he put it, "I realized the power of survivors, how they can make a difference in community."

In contrast, the other three panelists' 2024 IVLP Impact Award projects focused on raising awareness of the threat of human trafficking and preventing it before it occurs. Aissatou did this by engaging both youth and religious leaders, "because religious leaders are very highly respected in my country." Edwin's focus was on providing the hospitality and aviation sectors with the tools needed to identify and report trafficking. Estefanía's project is engaging pre-teens and teens by raising awareness of the threat of trafficking through an educational game that allows young players to understand the broad range of factors and types of human trafficking. Her project also works with schools to help reinforce these prevention and reporting efforts.

2. "My IVLP experience has shaped the way we do things...It has enabled me [to] bring into place a unique project that has never existed"

This was part of Edwin's reflection on his IVLP exchange experience, titled Combating Trafficking in Persons III, organized by World Learning in partnership with the El Paso Council for International Visitors, San Antonio Council for International Visitors, Iowa International Center, and the U.S. Department of State Office of International Visitors program branch in New York City. He remarked, "In Iowa…it was fascinating to see how the Department of Safety is working very closely with business communities, hotel owners…working in tandem to provide support services to victim but also to combat human trafficking through joint awareness raising programs." He added, "I was very interested with the way the El Paso International Airport runs a program of screening and detecting human trafficking before it can happen. And that knowledge was strengthened again by the experience I had also gained by sharing insights with one of the IVLP colleague from Ethiopia [who] was working for Ethiopian Airlines, operating a desk [at] departure and arrival screening of potential victims of trafficking. So...I thought upon returning back home these two programs would bring some positive changes."

Like Edwin, Aissatou participated in an IVLP Project, which World Learning organized. Her exchange was titled Combating Trafficking in Persons and was organized in partnership with the El Paso Council for International Visitors, Georgia Council for International Visitors, Global Ties Sacramento, and Global Ties San Fransisco. Aissatou explained, "What impressed me the most in San Francisco, I saw a TV program about human trafficking, so they could see that they were coming from Mexico and how they were victims of traffickers. And so, this experience, I felt like it will help me with how I could implement a project to raise awareness among young people...to avoid that the young people would be victims of human trafficking. And this experience; what I saw in the United States really helped me."

Suresh's IVLP Project was called Combating Trafficking in Persons, and it was organized by Cultural Vistas in partnership with GlobalAustin, World Affairs Council of South Texas, WorldDenver, and Georgia Council for International Visitors. He shared, "I visited Denver, and I visited one of the organizations, and I see they have been working on this survivor empowerment, and that really helped me to develop this [IVLP Impact Award project] idea."

Estefanía took part in the IVLP project Combating Trafficking in Persons, organized by the Mississippi Consortium for International Development, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State Office of International Visitors program branch in New York City, Global Minnesota, Global Ties Arizona, and International House. She mentioned enjoying her time in Sedona, Arizona, and shared, "My favorite city (well really they were all very important) but I really liked Phoenix, Arizona, because we had the experience of seeing how the State University of Arizona works along with law enforcement, organizations...human rights activists...that was a very valuable experience."

3. "This phenomenon is very complex, so I think each and every one of us has a role"

This reflection was shared by Aissatou, and each panelist spoke about the unique obstacles they faced over the course of their projects. One of the challenges Edwin encountered was the need to cross sectors, "we, the anti-trafficking activists, had never thought whether there will be an avenue to engage with the business community." Still, through his training, which brought together various perspectives and experiences, the project has been able "to increase the understanding of how human trafficking phenomena are conducted." He noted, "Now hotel operators...have put in place protocols to detect suspicious activities so they can see the red flags and the indicators, and they take action."

Estefanía mentioned the difficulties with accessing the schools she wanted to work with. She explained that "we need to build trust with these principals of these schools, so that they feel safe having us there, and so that they can see...that it has nothing to do with politics, it's more...protection of the youth." Aissatou talked about a similar issue: the reluctance of her participants and partners to engage in the project, in her case due more to "stigmatization and cultural taboos," especially about discussions of sex trafficking. She noted that "Some victims of human trafficking do not want to talk about it. They don't want to be part of this raising awareness because once they have talked about their story and what they've been through...they face a lot of stigma." She spoke about how, despite these barriers, she was able to have frank community discussions, including the use of images and the testimony of a local trafficking survivor willing to share the story. As a result of these discussions, Aissatou was able to raise awareness of the issue and discourage several young people from engaging in irregular migration, which would have put them at risk of falling into the hands of traffickers.

4. "My advice is very simple: You just help them to apply [a] human trafficking lens."

This is how Suresh urged the audience to begin engagement with this topic. He added, "The offenses of human trafficking are happening around us, but many of us are not able to identify them." He encouraged us all to begin raising awareness so that more people can "start understanding that human trafficking victims are around them and that they can make efforts to reduce that, because, in one way or other, they are part of it, without knowing and realizing they are fueling it." Aissatou agreed, noting, "If you really want to contribute to fighting human trafficking, identification is the first step, and then to support the victims throughout their journey." She also noted that individuals and institutions are essential in the fight.

Estefanía talked about the importance of raising awareness of what human trafficking means before being able to combat it and how crucial it is to communicate that it is a violation of a person's fundamental human rights. In addition, she mentioned the importance of creating standard policies on a governmental level while tailoring the specific aid required to the individual victim's case. Edwin's advice was straightforward and encouraged action: "Provided that whatever you can do will bring positive change...will unchain the chained person from slavery or trafficking scheme, then do it! Even if this is the kind of change that will liberate one person, liberating one person is [more] powerful than doing nothing at all."

5. "We need to have the strength to continue with this work that is so necessary"

This was the point that Estefanía underscored when asked about her motivation for doing this work. Although she acknowledged that the topic of combating human trafficking is a "very difficult issue and it has a very emotional impact," Estefanía said, "We also feel the responsibility...we know we can make a difference by informing, by telling them where they can go get help...we can feel that it is worth the work [and] all these difficulties."

Edwin explained, "I am motivated by a wide range of factors, the main one being the fact that [my country] has continued to be a vulnerable country as a source, as a transit and a destination for victims of human trafficking...So having this at that kind of scale gives me the motivation to keep moving in addressing these atrocities."

Aissatou's motivation, she explained, stems from the progress she is seeing so far, and she promised, "I'm going to keep fighting until the end." Suresh encouraged this and added, "What keeps me going is…after some time [the survivors] start dreaming, you know. They just start planning something: that they want to resume their education, they want to achieve something in life. And this is what keeps me going… Some of them want to be a doctor. Some of them want to be a lawyer. So, whenever I just hear these words from their mouths, it gives me a lot of satisfaction whenever you see that our survivors of human trafficking [are] now dreaming for a life. You know they do have a dream. This keeps me going." Suresh wrapped up the session well when he reflected, "We believe that together we can make a difference. We can combat human trafficking. We can give hope to the survivors as we can make their lives better."

"As long as human trafficking continue to exist, that gives me the motivation to keep pushing, expecting that one day our country, our continent, our global community will be a safer place for all of us." - Edwin Mugambila

If you have any questions, please reach out to the IVLP Impact Awards Team at IVLPImpactAwards@meridian.org.

If interested in attending more IVLP Impact Award events, click here.