Anti-Trafficking Program

About Human Trafficking

Human trafficking, also described as modern-day slavery or involuntary servitude, affects an estimated 700,000 to 2 million people around the globe every year. Of this number, thousands of victims land in the United States – with New York City serving as a major destination and transit point.

Traffickers often transport individuals from their home countries to unfamiliar destinations, leaving them defenseless and vulnerable. Victims are often forced, through physical violence and psychological threats, to engage in sex acts or to perform work under slavery-like conditions. Trafficking in persons is a violation of human rights.

The United States made human trafficking a federal crime in 2000 with the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). New York State also made human trafficking a crime in November 2007.

What are Different Types of Trafficking?

According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the different types of trafficking are

• Sex trafficking: A trafficker uses force, fraud, or coercion to get a victim to perform sexual acts for commercial reasons.
• Labor trafficking: A trafficker transports, provides, harbors, or obtains a victim through force, fraud, or coercion into debt bondage, involuntary servitude, or slavery.

There are three common elements to trafficking cases on which both international and federal definitions agree:

• Process - the victim is recruited, transferred, harbored, obtained, or moved by a trafficker.
• Means - the trafficker uses force, fraud, coercion, abduction, threat, deception, or the abuse of power to gain control over the victim.
• End - the victim is exploited for forced labor, involuntary servitude, slavery, debt bondage, or commercial sex acts.

Smuggling vs. Trafficking

Trafficking and smuggling are two different crimes, and law enforcement regards trafficked persons and smuggled persons in different ways.

Trafficking involves:

• An element of coercion. A person cannot consent to enslavement.
• A restriction of movement, withholding documents, providing low or no pay, etc.
• Crime or violation against a person.
• Subsequent exploitation and/or forced labor.
• Trafficked persons are seen as victims by the law.

Smuggling involves:

• Unauthorized border crossings.
• No coercion.
• Facilitated illegal entry of person from one country to another.
• Smuggled persons are seen as criminals by the law.

It is important to distinguish between trafficking and smuggling, in order to identify those who are trafficking victims and to provide appropriate services.

Some Questions to Consider

If you are a service provider, the Safe Horizon Anti-Trafficking Program recommends that you incorporate the following questions into your client assessment.  Answers to these questions can reveal whether or not your client may be a victim of trafficking.  These questions alone will by no means serve as a comprehensive assessment of a trafficking case.  Please contact Safe Horizon's Anti-Trafficking Program for assistance.

• Did the person come to the United States for a specific job or other purpose?
• Upon arrival, was the person forced to do different work than what he/she was promised?
• Does the person have access to his/her personal documents, identification papers, etc.?
• Does the person owe money to the employer?
• Can the person leave his/her present situation?
• Has the person been threatened with harm or deportation if he/she tries to leave?
• Have family members been threatened?
• Is the person's freedom restricted in any other way?

How We Help Human Trafficking Victims

Safe Horizon is the nation’s largest provider of services for crime victims, and our Anti-Trafficking Program is how we provide support to human trafficking survivors. Established in 2001, the Anti-Trafficking Program has grown into the largest direct-service provider on the East Coast.

Through the Anti-Trafficking Program, we assist women, men, and children who are victims of labor and sex trafficking. Since its founding the Anti-Trafficking Program has helped in over 360 cases within and outside the New York metropolitan area, giving human trafficking survivors from more than 60 countries the means to truly escape modern-day slavery.

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call the Safe Horizon Anti-Trafficking Program at 718.943.8631 (Monday - Friday, 9-5).  After hours, call Safe Horizon's 24-hour toll-free Hotline at 800.621.HOPE (4673).  The hotline is equipped to respond to inquiries in many languages and has TTY capability.

What Makes Our Anti-Trafficking Program Unique?

Safe Horizon’s Anti-Trafficking Program uses a two-tiered approach to fight the epidemic of human trafficking. The first is by providing intensive case management so victims receive much-needed social and legal services, as well as referrals for other support. The second is by offering a range of educational and technical assistance, training, and advocacy which foster the type of change that will reduce and ultimately end human trafficking.

The Anti-Trafficking Program also values partnerships with other organizations tackling human trafficking issues, and also takes a leadership role to build coalitions among advocates across the country. The Anti-Trafficking Program is a co-founder of the Freedom Network (USA), the Freedom Network (USA) Training Insitute, and the New York Anti-Trafficking Network.

Services and Assistance for Human Trafficking Survivors

In following the language of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, our Anti-Trafficking Program has designed and implemented victim-centered services through intensive case management and legal advocacy. Our support for trafficking survivors include:

• Culturally and linguistically sensitive services
• Counseling, support groups, shelter, and housing assistance
• Linkage to other services
• Liaison with law enforcement and criminal justice process
• Legal representation

How We Help Other Organizations Fight Human Trafficking

We know client services alone will not turn the tide on human trafficking. Safe Horzion’s Anti-Trafficking Program also offers education and technical assistance, training, and advocacy to help foster systemic change. Our Anti-Trafficking Program staff can provide tailored trainings and presentations to meet the needs of your audience.

Safe Horizon’s Anti-Trafficking Program also works in partnership with other advocates, law enforcement agencies, and government entities to help further efforts to combat human trafficking, and to provide high-quality support to trafficking survivors. Safe Horizon is a founding member of the Freedom Network (USA), the Freedom Network Training Institute, and the New York Anti-Trafficking Network. Safe Horizon is also a member of the New York City Anti-Trafficking Task Force.

Facts about our training:

• Safe Horizon was designated as the national training and technical assistance provider for the U.S. Department of Justice trafficking service provider grantees. We have trained more than 1,000 professionals through this endeavor.
• ATP staff has trained more than 5,000 professionals as a training faculty member of the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Freedom Network Institute on Human Trafficking, and Intergovernmental Institute on Research.
• At the request of the New York State Office for Temporary and Disability Assistance, Safe Horizon trained the state’s Response to Human Trafficking Program service providers after the enactment of New York State’s Anti-Trafficking Law.

For organizations dealing with human trafficking issues, the Anti-Trafficking Program offers:

• Training and Education: The Anti-Trafficking Program conducts workshops, presentations, and training sessions for community-based organizations, government entities, and law enforcement agencies. The staff also provides trainings, consultation, and technical assistance to other anti-trafficking programs throughout the country.
• Community Outreach: The Anti-Trafficking Program staff works closely with community-based organizations, immigrant groups, and other entities that can help provide services and enhance community understanding of this complex problem.
• NYC Anti-Trafficking Network: The Anti-Trafficking Program convenes and facilitates the NYC Anti-Trafficking Network. This network is comprised of service providers, advocates, and attorneys who share best practices, create partnerships, and coordinate long-term services for trafficked persons in the New York metropolitan area.

If you are a victim of trafficking or suspect someone is a victim, find out how we can help.

Learn more about the clients we have helped by visiting Our Stories.