Watch the Replay Below
COVID-related measures and changes to temporary visa regulations may disproportionately affect some people at risk of exploitation. Undocumented migrants and seasonal workers are faced with more precarious working and living conditions, resulting in greater vulnerability to falling prey to traffickers and criminal networks. There are also concerns that domestic workers, the vast majority of whom are women, are more vulnerable to exploitation, as health hazards and exposure to COVID-19 increase.
This event took place on January 7, 2021.
Some takeaways from our stellar panelists:
* Human trafficking can begin to be solved if we begin by educating ourselves, parents, children, law enforcement.
* Every kid who has access to the internet is at risk of human trafficking. 80-90% of underage kids are being targeted by human traffickers.
* Parents must be very cautious when their child partakes in online games that allow them to share the camera or screen. Many kids are being reached out by traffickers via social media, online games, etc.
* Parents need to be the first line of defense by following who their children are talking to.
* If we want to stop human trafficking, we must educate ourselves and the people around us about it.
IN OUR BACKYARD
offers free courses and resources regarding human trafficking:
http://inourbackyard.org/
A21: Can You See Me campaign: https://www.a21.org/content/
*During COVID-19 an “invisible” crisis exacerbated in South Florida of workers who are tied to their B1 visas. The dependency of the workers on their employers has led, in some cases, to labor trafficking.
*We must focus on equal Vaccine distribution to labor trafficking victims. Every frontline worker deserves to have accessibility to a vaccine no matter their migration status.
*We must contact your representatives and make noise. Every human being deserves equal access to the vaccine. We must advocate for it by raising awareness on the issue and communicating with our local government.
* We must put pressure on the new administration to rollback the asylum regulations in order for human trafficking victims to safely enter the United States.
* We need labor migration programs that reduce the control of employers and expand labor and citizenship rights. Our system at the moment is unfortunately paving the way to labor trafficking.
* Many B1 visa, agricultural visa holders are unaware that they are being labor trafficked.
Links to our panelists organizations: