USA
New legislation assists human trafficking victims
The Times Online
A woman went to the Freedom House, a shelter for abused women, seven years ago for help. But hers was no ordinary tale of domestic violence. She was a mail order bride who came to the United States on a fiancée visa. Because she didn't marry in the required six months, her visa lapsed.
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Thursday, December 29, 2005 12:28 AM CST
New legislation assists human trafficking victims
BY MARIA HEGSTAD, JACLYN BERTNER and CORA WEISENBERGER
Medill News Service
A woman went to the Freedom House, a shelter for abused women, seven years ago for help.
But hers was no ordinary tale of domestic violence.
She was a mail order bride who came to the United States on a fiancée visa. Because she didn't marry in the required six months, her visa lapsed.
When she arrived at Freedom House in western Princeton, Ill., in 1998, Executive Director Mary Carla Grube contacted a long list of people for help, to no avail. But through Illinois' new anti-human trafficking campaign, the woman is finally in the process of getting a visa and federally funded social services.
The woman was the first of eight mail-order brides who came to Freedom House. That number alone may seem striking because the rural communities from which Freedom House draws its clients comprise five counties with a total population of 126,000.
The effort is part of a year-long campaign, launched in June, to raise awareness and save victims of human trafficking. The Illinois Rescue and Restore Campaign, funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is composed of federal and state officials who are training law enforcement, health care workers, social workers and advocates on how to recognize trafficking victims and help them.
Illinois is the first state to use a statewide approach to combat human trafficking, said Mark Rodgers, dean of the graduate school of social work at DominicanUniversity in RiverForest.
Andrea Bertone, director of the Washington D.C.-based Academy of Educational Development, estimates that 14,000 to 17,000 men, women and children are trafficked into the United States each year, down from about 50,000 in 2000.
She said the numbers are only rough estimates because of the covert nature of trafficking and the victims being afraid to seek help.
The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking in Los Angeles defines trafficking as the recruitment and/or transportation of people using violence, threats or deception to exploit them for forced labor, slavery or servitude. Trafficking occurs in various forms including prostitution, forced marriages, domestic service, sweatshops, child labor, factory workers and farm workers, according to the coalition.
Once victims are identified in Illinois, they are referred to Chicago's Heartland Alliance, a human rights organization that assists them in getting federal benefits and legal, social and medical services.
The awareness campaign accompanied legislation signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in June. The legislation defines trafficking crimes and helps law enforcement and social service agencies aid victims.