Bulletin - August 2016
Hope Exists in Philly Area for Foreign Nat'l Trafficking Victims, BCAT Learns  
 
Representatives from Nationalities Services Center (NSC), a nonprofit that provides comprehensive services to immigrants and refugees in Philadelphia, outlined for BCAT July 13 the critically important work the Center does.

NSC's Anti-Human Trafficking Program aims to assist foreign nationals, many of whom are not native English speakers, with a range of services from housing to medical care, food and job training, once they've been liberated from trafficking situations. Anh Q. Hua, the Center's Anti Human Trafficking Project Coordinator, told BCAT members many of their clients have experienced labor trafficking and, when freed, are at a loss as to how to navigate methods to secure food, work, a place to live, and lawful status independent of their trafficker. Often, these foreign nationals have been recruited from home countries by traffickers who promise them the "American Dream." In many cases, trafficked people are willing to take the risks involved in leaving their countries in order to flee violence and murder.

Many of NSC's clients have gone through legal channels to obtain their visas, but upon arrival, have their working papers and passports seized by traffickers, said Chris Setz-Kelly, the NSC staff attorney. The recruitment is all about the false promises of jobs, fair wages and safety; yet, as soon as they get here, trafficking victims are exploited because of their lack of knowledge about their immigration status and the handicap of language barriers. They are isolated and don't know they have rights, Setz-Kelly said. The reasons victims stay, instead of reaching out to and returning to families and home countries, are many. Often it involves threats of deportation, shame and self-blame.

Different dynamics exist between the victims of sex and labor trafficking and even among those who are trafficked to work in different industries, the NSC representatives noted. Agricultural laborers are mostly males in their teens and 20s; domestic workers are typically more mature women.

Education is an important component of the work the Center does on behalf of clients, especially regarding legal status. Trafficking victims often don't see themselves as victims and are unaware that if they meet certain criteria, they can remain in the US for four years and after three can apply for a green card. Although the US provides for up to 5,000 visas per year for foreign nationals, last year only 1,000 applications were received.

The hotline number for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center is 1-888-373-7888. Interpreters are available in 170 languages. For more information about the NSC, go to www.nscphila.org .


BCAT Holds First Hotel Outreach Training in June
        
Hugh Organ, Community Outreach Coordinator at Covenant House and member of Philadelphia Anti-Trafficking Coalition (PATC), conducted training on hotel outreach for BCAT members and NOVA staff on June 25. In anticipation of the Democratic National Convention in July, PATC met its own goal of visiting every Philadelphia hotel to explain human trafficking and leave informational packets with hotel managers. The June 25 training prepared BCAT for its' own Hotel Outreach which was conducted on July 15.

BCAT Conducts Inaugural Hotel Outreach in Bensalem
 
On July 15, volunteers from the Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking and staff from Covenant House in Philadelphia undertook a hotel outreach campaign to raise awareness about trafficking prior to the Democratic National Convention. The group visited 15 hotels in the Bensalem area and distributed information to hotel staff about signs of trafficking as well as provided the National Human Trafficking Resource Center's hotline information (1.888.3737.888) for where to call for help. This is the first hotel outreach undertaken by BCAT and we were fortunate to have the guidance and experience of Covenant House to help us in our efforts. More hotel outreach efforts and trainings for hotel staff are planned by the BCAT Outreach Committee.
 
Human Trafficking Takes the Podium at the DNC
 
There was an important "first" at the second night of the Democratic National Convention on July 26. A former victim of human trafficking took the podium at the DNC-a first for any major political party's convention-to describe the years of abuse she endured and to state her support for presidential candidate Sec. Hillary Clinton, who has affirmed her commitment to ending human trafficking.

"Before human trafficking began to capture our attention, before there were laws to identify and protect victims, even before I escaped my trafficker, Hillary Clinton was fighting to end modern slavery," said Ima Matul in her address to the DNC. Matul shared her story with the convention attendees. She had taken a job as a nanny for a Los Angeles family at age 17 to leave an abusive marriage in Indonesia, but her trafficker confiscated her passport when she reached the US. She was never paid, as promised, and her employer was often violent and abusive. After three years Matul wrote a plea for help to the nanny next door, and the woman took Matul to the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking. They helped her escape and be rehabilitated, and Matul became an advocate for fellow survivors.

According to a Medium op-ed column recently penned by Clinton, Clinton "supported the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which enhanced support for survivors and equipped prosecutors to go after traffickers. As Secretary of State, (she) oversaw about 170 anti-trafficking programs in 70 countries. (She) also 'insisted' that the United States be included in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, so that American would hold itself to the 'same standard' as the rest of the world.'" (source: Huffington Post, 7/27)

Matul said she believes that Clinton will keep her promises made on the subject. "I have hope...... As a survivor and an advocate, I have hope that we can end human trafficking."

 
Mark Your Calendar:
  • NOVA and BCAT have received a $10,000 grant from the Bucks County Foundation to conduct human trafficking awareness training for Bucks County school staff and students, and the kickoff training will be September 20. The goal is to train 50 Bucks school staff, NOVA staff and BCAT members using a national expert in school responses to trafficking. An advisory committee will develop and distribute materials to schools to identify students at risk for trafficking and develop education efforts and social media outreach on human trafficking prevention and awareness.

 

  • The BCAT Outreach Subcommittee is beginning to plan now for Human Trafficking Awareness Month, January 2017, and needs your help in planning a series of events. 
    Attend the Community Outreach Committee meeting on August 29 at 5:30 pm at the NOVA Jamison office. Please help in this important effort by calling Deirdre Blackburn at NOVA (215) 343-6543 or emailing her at Deirdre@novabucks.org.


 

  • Start now... Indian Rock Soroptomists received a $1300 grant from Soroptimist North Atlantic Region to create care kits for human trafficking victims. Indian Rock Soroptimists and BCAT are working together to create 125-250 Care Kits to give to the
    Bensalem police for distribution to victims and, where necessary, to victims of domestic violence and homeless female youth identified by the Synergy Project. We are seeking donations of unused travel size personal care items such as shampoo, conditioners, toothbrushes, toothpaste, body lotion, chapstick, pocket tissue packs, hair brushes, individually wrapped tampons and sanitary pads, shower gel and plastic scrub pads, and soap. Please ask friends, family and business colleagues to pitch in with items, and share the need on your Facebook and other social media pages. Contact Deirdre Blackburn at NOVA to have your collected items picked up, or drop off the items at a box at NOVA's offices.

 

  • The next BCAT meeting is October 12 at 5 PM at Doylestown United Methodist Church. Please join us!
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