HB 265 - Victims of Reform School Abuse

Executive Summary Executive Summary

Human trafficking, often referred to as modern day slavery, is one of Florida’s leading industries. For the

past five years, Florida has ranked third, out of fifty, for the highest number of human trafficking cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. My name is Olivia Chappell, I am a social work student at Florida Gulf Coast

University. I am here to advocate for the refiling and passage of Senate Bill 154 during the 2021 legislative session of the Florida Senate. I am writing to inform members of the Florida House and Senate of the importance of this bill. SB 154 is primarily focused on human trafficking. The states’ current response to the issue of trafficking is to criminalize all parties involved, especially the victims. Instead of penalizing victims, I recommend that lawmakers shift their focus to awareness and education for minors.

Introduction It is evident that Florida has a high rate of human trafficking. Many methods, including the use of nonprofit agencies, changes in legislation, and increased use of law enforcement, have been used as the primary response to the issue of human trafficking within the state. The goal of Senate Bill 154 is to address the issue of human trafficking education in Florida public schools. By introducing this

issue into the public-school system, further awareness would be brought to those that are the most vulnerable to human trafficking. If this bill were passed, there would be requirement for class instruction on the dangers and warning signs of human trafficking. This curriculum would be integrated in the comprehensive health courses as part of that requirement. The purpose of this bill is to create legislation that insures all students in the Florida public education system learn about human trafficking, its dangers, and how they may be at risk of falling victim to this cycle.

According to Finigan-Carr et al., human trafficking is effected on societal, community, relationship/interpersonal, and individual/intrapersonal levels. The focus of anti-trafficking efforts, in Florida, is on the societal level, through the legal system. There is a slight focus on the community level with the current human trafficking education requirements in the Florida public school system. With the passage of SB 154 issues of awareness of human trafficking can be reinforced at a community level. This bill would create an effective prevention method to the issue of human trafficking and teach children about it age appropriate ways.

In this paper I will discuss how the legal system and current policies do not fully address the aspect of prevention when it comes to responding to human trafficking.

Message

The current methods used by the state to address human trafficking are the use of law enforcement and legal processes to break up human trafficking rings, and annual human trafficking education in Florida

Human Trafficking Education: A way to protect children and break the cycle Florida Gulf Coast University Department of Social Work

public schools. Although these methods work to address the issue, there is more that can be done. It can take months for law enforcement professionals to investigate human trafficking rings, and the yearly presentation that is now required in schools has a limited effect. This piece of legislation should be supported because it provides the highest level of preventative action, on behalf of the state, compared to the options above.

One of the reasons that SB 154 provides better prevention is because the education it would provide would expose the dangers and warning signs of trafficking. There are common attributes among children that have been victimized through human trafficking. In Human Trafficking of Minors and Childhood Adversity in Florida, the data shows that children with “six ACE’s (adverse childhood experience) and composite ACE scores were significantly higher in the sub-sample of youths who had trafficking reports. If children were given a thorough education on these risk factors, and why traffickers choose children who have these experiences to prey upon, there is a higher chance that they would participate in preventative measure like reporting these experiences to a school counselor, teacher, or trusted adult in their lives. They would also be more aware of people that fit these descriptions in their surroundings. The infographic on the left gives a description of those at risk for trafficking.

Another example of why SB 154 would be beneficial to implement as an effective method of prevention is because of the intensity and

extended period that it

takes for law enforcement agencies to investigate and detain individuals that are participating in this activity. One example of this would be a multi-state human trafficking case, with origins in Miami. The investigation of this case began in 2017, when two victims of a prolific trafficker came forward with information of the operation. The FBI proceeded to investigate this trafficking ring until late 2019 when arrests were finally made. Even with the apprehension of this man, and two of his coconspirators, it is unknown how many women and young girls came into his operation. Of the three women that were willing to discuss their experience in this trafficking ring, two of them stated that they were recruited as minors. If there were methods of prevention implemented through spreading awareness to the public, especially children, then law enforcement agencies may have better chance at having victims and witnesses coming forward with information on trafficking rings.

The work of the legal system and law enforcement agencies is well appreciated in the fight against trafficking; however, they would greatly benefit from a knowledgeable public. The charts below show the amount of human trafficking case convictions in 2018, and new cases reported in federal districts across the state.

With the multitude of cases being reported, and so few being brought to trial, it is evident that the processes of the legal system are not enough to effectively slow the rate of human trafficking within the state of Florida.

There is also an issue of the legal system revictimizing and discouraging victims of human trafficking to come forward with information on their experiences. With the current laws that are in place it is common that the victims the legal system is supposed to protect are the ones that end up with harsh prostitution charges and long prison sentences. Finigan-Carr et al. states, “ The criminalization of prostitution exacerbates the vulnerability of women and youth in the sex trade, as enforcement of the law has primarily focused on the arrest of sex workers (including trafficking victims and minors) for prostitution-related offenses while their exploiters (pimps, johns) are arrested and charged at much lower rates.” If the focus of human trafficking was shifted from persecuting victims to awareness through education, then there would be a great change in the cycle of human trafficking.

Policy implications There are many conclusions that can be drawn after reviewing this brief. The possibilities are to take no action and let the current policies in place continue, to create an entirely new bill on human trafficking, or to refile and support this bill in the 2021 legislative system.

The pros of not acting are:

 The systems in place will continue to work towards addressing the issue of human trafficking in Florida.

 Children will receive a limited education on the dangers and warning signs of human trafficking.

 Continue to make convictions on human trafficking rings after long term investigation.

The cons of not acting are:

 Maintaining a moderately effective system.

 Children will likely forget the information they learn in an annual teaching of this information, making them less aware.

 Continuing to revictimize and discourage victims of human trafficking from seeking necessary treatment and working with law enforcement to dismantle human trafficking rings.

The pros of creating a new bill are:

 A new bill may be easier to get pushed through the legislation process because of new information in it

 Constituents may support a new bill compared to one that has previously died because of optics

The cons of creating a new bill are:

 Legislators may not support a new bill over an older one

 It can take a long time to create a new bill that addresses the same issues as a previous one

The pros of supporting SB 154 are:

 Children would gain a comprehensive education on human trafficking

 There would be a method of prevention of human trafficking spread through awareness

 Children that belong to vulnerable populations would be aware of their level of risk in this situation

 There could be lower rates of children being coerced into trafficking because they know the signs

The cons of supporting SB 154 are:

 It is a bill that has previously died so it may not be perceived as necessary

 The current human trafficking education policy may seem less intense for children

Recommendations As previously stated, I recommend that lawmakers focus on awareness and education of minors, as it concerns human trafficking. Supporting this bill would help raise awareness of a prominent issue that our state has been dealing with for a long time. Current policies are effective and do address this issue, however, there is much more that can be done.

References Finigan-Carr, N., Johnson, M. H., Pullmann, M. D.,

Stewart, C. J., & Fromknecht, A. E. (2019). A traumagenic social ecological framework for understanding and intervening with sex trafficked children and youth: C & A C & A. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 36(1), 49-63. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.10 07/s10560-018-0588-

Hotline Statistics- National Human Trafficking

Hotline. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/states

Litam, S. D. A. (2017). Human sex trafficking in

america: What counselors need to know. The Professional Counselor, 7(1), 45-61. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.15 241/sdal.7.1.45

Marchante, M. (2019, December 16). South Florida

man created fake nonprofit to lure minors into sex trafficking, FBI says. Retrieved from

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/cri me/article238352778.html

Nicol, B. R. (2019, December 10). Perry Thurston bill outlining human trafficking curriculum in schools OK'd by Senate panel. Retrieved from https://floridapolitics.com/archives/313095- thurston-human-trafficking-curriculum

Reid, J. A., PhD., Baglivio, M. T., PhD., Piquero, A.

R., PhD., Greenwald, M. A., M.P.A., & Epps, N., M.S. (2017). Human trafficking of minors and childhood adversity in florida. American Journal of Public Health, 107(2), 306-311. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.21 05/AJPH.2016.303564