Human Trafficking Around the World by Stephanie Hepburn Read Free Book Online Page A

her trafficker(s). After a while, we bring it up in a gentle manner and explain to the victim why it is helpful to talk to law enforcement, so that the traffickers are not getting away with continuing to victimize others. Usually at this point the victim is interested in helping law enforcement investigate and prosecute his or her trafficker(s).
    8
    Many social service providers would like to see cooperation with law enforcement eliminated as one of the prerequisites for victim services and visa eligibility. Kavitha Sreeharsha, executive director at Global Freedom Center in San Francisco, argues that the mandate to aid law enforcement actually hinders the prosecutorial process. She also holds that victims should first be provided with immigration protection. “Providing them with immigration protection without such a requirement will enable crime victims to first rebuild their lives. If they receive such services immediately, we expect that they would eventually cooperate on their own but in a way that would be far more effective.” 9
    WHAT HAPPENS TO TRAFFICKERS
    Human trafficking provides large profits for traffickers and those associated with trafficking networks. If a trafficking victim forced into the commercial sex industry in the United States must meet a quota of $500 a night, the person exploiting this individual can obtain roughly $182,000 a year, tax-free (Frundt, 2005). The more persons trafficked and exploited, the more profit gained by traffickers and their associates. From a cost-benefit analysis, trafficking is low risk and has high profit margins. Profits commonly range from $1 million to $8 million, and detection of abuse is difficult (Richard, 2000; iAbolish, American Anti-Slavery Group, 2006). Even once authorities suspect criminal activity, demonstrating the use of coercion or force is challenging.
    While stringent sentencing does occur (see
United States v. Carreto et al
., 2006), many traffickers face minimal punishment. In the Bennu case, the defendants, Ibrahim and Motelib, pleaded guilty to holding a person in involuntary servitude, obtaining labor through unlawful force or coercion, harboring an illegal alien, and conspiracy. They received prison sentences of 3 years and 1.8 years, respectively. Additionally, the defendants were ordered to pay Bennu $76,137.60 in restitution. The defendants, foreign nationals, were to face deportation proceedings once they completed their sentences (Srisavasdi, 2006). 10 Gray, the primary trafficker of 15-year-old Sarah, pleaded guilty to two counts of child prostitution, two counts of sexual assault, one count of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison (Park, 2008). None of the defendants in this Arizona case were charged with trafficking offenses. Perhaps prosecutors felt that they would be more successful, or that the defendants would receive harsher sentencing, if they pursued tried and true charges such as sexual assault, child prostitution, aggravated assault, and kidnapping. At the time of the July 2006 arrests, Arizona’s anti-trafficking law had been in effect for nearly a year.
    There continue to be more criminal convictions of sex traffickers than of forced-labor traffickers. For instance, in 2008 the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices secured 77 convictions in 27 sex-trafficking and 13 forced-labor cases (U.S. Department of State, 2009c). The good news is that the number of convicted forced-labor traffickers may be increasing. In 2009 there were 47 convictions in 22 sex-trafficking and 21 labor-trafficking cases, and in 2010 there were 141 convictions in 71 sex-trafficking and 32 labor-trafficking cases (U.S. Department of State, 2010, 2011). The average sentence for convicted traffickers may also be on the rise. In 2008 the average sentence faced by those found guilty of trafficking offenses in the United States was 9.3 years’ imprisonment compared to 13