A series of in-depth focus groups and an online survey of 157 anti-trafficking advocates around the world revealed that advocates are passionate and committed to their work, but face several barriers that are a persistent source of frustration. Advocates reported they lack targeted training, meaningful connection to experts, knowledge of evidence-based practices, and access to funding and resources to sustain their work. Advocates also report they are often under-paid and undervalued. Despite these frustrations, they still desire to “bring more victims to freedom, traffickers to justice, and survivors to wholeness”. The Emancipation Nation Network was developed to respond to these frustrations. “The Network” is a global organization developed to connect advocates from around the world, via an online network and phone application. As a member of the Network, advocates gain access to human trafficking and social justice focused information, courses, workshops, and can join live events to hear expert speakers each month. Members also have access to assessment and screening tools, human trafficking focused grant proposals, jobs announcements, and are provided titles and abstracts of recently published research articles. Now the solutions to your problems, the barriers to your progress, and the answers to your most pressing questions are at your fingertips. Membership is free, but only to committed advocates. This session will discuss the study findings, explain the Network, and instruct attendees on how to get connected and ways to use the Emancipation Nation Network to meet their needs.

Presentation Objectives:

· Identify persistent barriers faced by anti-trafficking advocates despite their profession, position, and approach

· Provide solutions that address persistent barriers so that advocates can effectively respond to the issue of human trafficking

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In India, numerous castes practice customary prostitution (Dolson, 2014; Jha & Sharma, 2016) that is either religious (e.g., Devadasi) or tribal (e.g., Bacchara, Perna, Nat, Bedia) based. Little is known about tribal-based prostitution. Among the Bedia, sex trafficking has manifested as a customary and intergenerational form of family and community survival. Intended as a “micro-analysis” focused on small regions (e.g., a town) or those with “special, delimited populations,” (Weitzer, 2015, p. 232) two research questions guided this study: First, what are the multiple intersecting social and personal vulnerabilities that put Bedia at risk for trafficking into the commercial sex industry and how do these compare with the HT literature? Second, to what extent does sex trafficking among the Bedia reflect the dominant HT discourse—with particular attention to the “ideal” victim and perpetrator conceptualizations? As a phenomenological investigation, in-depth interview data were collected from 31 sex-trafficked Bedia women and girls residing in seven multi-caste villages in central India. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA. With the exception of poverty, vulnerabilities to sex trafficking among the Bedia do not reflect “risk factors” identified in the HT literature. Similarly, the social and cultural dynamics of sex trafficking among the Bedia defy the dominant HT discourse in multiple ways. This investigation highlights the inherent value of small-scale, micro-studies for revealing the complexity of human trafficking across cultures and geographies. Other members of the research team include Kaitlin Roselius, BS; Sarah Erwin, MS, PhD (c); Jessie Peter, MS, PhD (c); Jhaveri Panshal, PhD; Ranjan Mischra, PhD (c) & Sahu, S., MS.

Presentation Objectives:

· Provide an overview of sex trafficking among the Bedia caste of India

· Identify vulnerabilities to entry into the commercial sex industry (CSI) among the Bedia, in relation to “risk” identified in the human trafficking literature

· Describe the social and cultural dynamics of sex trafficking among the Bedia and explain how these defy the dominant HT discourse

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Colombia, South America has unique challenges when it comes to human trafficking. There are unique factors in Colombia that contribute to the human trafficking problem, and the government has taken a proactive approach to combat human trafficking that should be replicated in other countries around the world. In February of 2020, Dr. Sadulski conducted in-country research in Colombia as a guest of the Colombia National Police. This research included interviews and presentations from the leadership of INTERPOL and the Criminal Investigative Directorate in Colombia, which oversee combating human trafficking in Colombia. It was discovered that characteristics in recruitment and coercion are different in Colombia compared to other countries. In particular, the proactive approach of the Colombian government that focuses on five modalities of human trafficking was discovered during this research. These modalities include sexual exploitation, homeless exploitation, marriage for asylum, organ trafficking, and labor exploitation. During this research, the leadership of INTERPOL and the Criminal Investigative Directorate identified the trafficker profiles that are used by the Colombia National Police to identify those engaged in human trafficking. Global implications of human trafficking in Colombia and the international partnerships with 18 countries that have formed an alliance against human trafficking with Colombia was analyzed in an informative presentation. The in-country research provided firsthand insight into Colombia’s approach to combating human trafficking. Recommendations for how other nations can learn from Colombia’s approach were developed. This research will serve as the platform for Dr. Sadulski’s presentation on Colombia’s approach to combating human trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

· Describe the in-country research study and share firsthand insight into the unique characteristics of human trafficking in Colombia, South America

· Assess the five modalities that INTERPOL and the Colombia Criminal Investigation Directorate use to identify and combat human trafficking

· Discuss specific regions of Colombia that are highly susceptible to human trafficking and what the government is doing in terms of special prosecutors and investigators to address this problem

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