Survivor voices are essential in the movement to combat human trafficking. The newly released Report from the presidentially appointed US Advisory Council on Human Trafficking provides key priorities of a diverse group of 11 human trafficking survivors. Of the Council’s 19 recommendations, several topics stand out.

Housing

The Advisory Council’s “underserved populations committee” emphasized the need for housing opportunities for survivors in multiple recommendations. Calling for increased funding and coordination, the Council highlighted the importance of safe, sustainable housing in survivors’ recovery from the crime of human trafficking. 

Pornography

For the first time since the Advisory Council’s creation in 2015, the Council called upon the US government to examine and address the intersection between pornography, human trafficking, and child sexual exploitation. The Council noted that 16 states have recognized pornography’s negative impact on public health and the correlations between consuming pornography and the purchase of commercial sex. Specifically, the Council stated that “It is time that the federal government also take deliberate action to acknowledge the direct links between pornography and human trafficking.”[1] 

Don’t Prosecute Victims

Traffickers often compel victims to engage in unlawful conduct. Sometimes these offenses generate money for the trafficker or they contribute to the climate of fear that causes victims to avoid law enforcement. Far too often governments wrongly prosecute victims for this unlawful conduct even though the victims lacked the intent to commit any crime. The Council recommends that government avoid criminalizing victims and instead find alternatives to prosecution that are trauma-informed.

[1] Page 29.

Should human trafficking victims be prosecuted? That was the question before the European Court of Human Rights last week.

The Facts

In May of 2009, law enforcement found two Vietnamese boys (15 and 17 years old) in a “cannabis factory” in Cambridge (actually a four bedroom home). Human smugglers brought the boys into the UK and human traffickers compelled them to work. The traffickers locked the boys in the cannabis factory, took their identity documents, refused to pay them for their work, and threatened to kill them if they tried to escape.

Instead of receiving services and trauma informed care from the government, the authorities promptly charged the two boys with drug offenses, prosecuted them, and sentenced them to jail terms of 22 and 18 months, respectively. 

Over the last several years, the movement to combat human trafficking has elevated the role of survivors in leadership. Today, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) took another big step forward toward survivor engagement with the creation of  the “International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council” (ISTAC).

This new Advisory Council includes 21 survivors of sex trafficking and forced labor from around the globe, including six members from the United States. The launch of the ISTAC was heralded by an esteemed group of anti-trafficking leaders including:

• Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings;
• Tatiana Kotlyarenko, ODIHR Adviser on Anti-Trafficking Issues;
• Princess Eugenie of York;
• Ambassador Per-Anders Sunesson, Sweden;
• Siobhan Mullally, UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons; and
• Kari Johnstone, Acting Director, State Department’s TIP Office.

The speakers highlighted the importance of survivor leadership, a trauma-informed approach to survivor care, and moving beyond merely asking survivors to share their traumatic trafficking experiences.

You can learn more about ISTAC here.

Netflix has consistently innovated and adapted to market changes over the last twenty years. It’s leader, Reed Hastings, credits Netflix’s unique and counterintuitive culture with its success. In “No Rules Rules” Hastings and Erin Meyer lay out the key concepts that make Netflix’s culture distinct. They include three big ideas:

Talent density

Netflix works to hire the best people and pay above-market salaries to recruit and retain them. It applies the “keeper test,” which asks if an employee resigned would you as a supervisor fight to keep them. If not, their merely “adequate” performance deserves a generous severance. Dismiss them and hire talent.

Hastings suggests that businesses that depend on innovation are not “families” – they are “teams.” “Families” should express unconditional love and are willing to endure the ups and downs of your life and performance. “Teams” are elite groups of people united for a season or for a specific project.  When you are no longer the best at your position on the “team,” you will be replaced. Building a team that is densely packed with top talent is Netflix’s goal.

Candor

Netflix boasts about its emphasis on candor. It is not about annual performance reviews, it is about regular feedback all year long. Hastings tells his team that their job is not to “please your boss.” Instead, the job of every Netflix employees is to operate in the best interest of Netflix.

Sharing feedback up and down the chain of command is prized.

Remove Controls

Hastings seeks to lead with context, not controls. Netflix’s mantra is “freedom and responsibility.”  Gone are rules or limits around vacation time, spending authority, per diems, and expense reports. Decision-making is decentralized but transparent.

Even if one thinks that Netflix’s culture is extreme, “No Rules Rules” is worth reading to clarify where your organization stands on each of these continuums. 

With recommendations for how federal agencies and Congress can improve, the “U.S. Public Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking” released its first Report in December 2020.  The Council spread its 49 specific recommendations across 11 different topics that focused on preventing human trafficking and survivor care.

From improving prevention education in schools to prioritizing anti-demand efforts, the Council suggested that prevention efforts be elevated in conversations about fighting human trafficking. Regarding survivor care, the Council focused on governments not prosecuting victims for the things traffickers compelled them to do and increasing services to male human trafficking victims.

The Council’s 11 members were presidentially appointed and are leaders in business, academia, and nonprofits. Its recommendations are the product of a year’s worth of consultations with federal agencies.

Read the full Report here.

The UN Protocol against trafficking in persons directs countries to pass a comprehensive human trafficking law. In the last 20 years, 178 countries have signed on to the Protocol and now they have an updated model law to guide them. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recently published its “Model Legislative Provisions” and a “Legislative Guide against Trafficking in Persons.” These documents represent the first updates in 16 years.

The updated model law contains far more than just the criminal offense. It also sets out victim protections and highlights the importance of not punishing trafficking victims for the things their traffickers compel to do. The guide provides key insight for the application of the aw and explains key concepts. Click here to read the model law and legislative guide. 

Learn more about UNODC by visiting its website: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/index.html?ref=menuside