Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Anabel Martinez as the two discuss the challenges of labor trafficking through forced criminality, particularly affecting youth and undocumented individuals.

Anabel Martinez

Anabel Martinez currently works as a Senior Policy Counsel for the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School. She is a committed social justice policy advocacy professional, with over a decade of experience in advocating for marginalized communities through direct legal services and using trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices. Anabel Martinez transitioned to public policy advocacy to seek system changes that are intersectional and inclusive. She’s highly skilled at looking at real-world issues from a nuanced, analytical lens that aids in the development of comprehensive and equitable policies.

Main Points

• Labor trafficking by forced criminality involves individuals being coerced into performing illegal activities as their form of labor. This can include tasks like drug cultivation, shoplifting, or other illegal acts. The labor they are forced to do is illegal according to local laws.


• Anabel emphasizes the need for better systems to support youth who are trafficked into forced criminality. Many young people in juvenile detention may be victims of LTFC but are not always recognized as such. This misidentification can lead to punitive measures rather than supportive interventions.


• There are similarities between the experiences of child soldiers and youth involved in gangs or forced into criminal activities. Both groups often join or are coerced into their situations due to a lack of options and are subjected to severe coercion and manipulation.


• Immigrant youth, particularly those from Latin America or Central America, face heightened risks of being trafficked for criminal activities. There is a need for improved recognition and support systems for these vulnerable youth, who may be caught between the juvenile justice system and immigration proceedings.


• Effective screening tools for identifying labor trafficking by forced criminality are currently lacking. It’s important to have training and tools for professionals who interact with youth, such as those in juvenile justice and social services, to better identify and support victims of labor trafficking by forced criminality.

Resources

• Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative


• 306: Survivor Voices Leading Change, with Jerome Elam


• Freedom Network USA


• Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program


• California Department of Social Services


• Covenant House 2023 Impact Report


• 259: Which Screening Tool Should I Use?, with Dr. Corey Rood


• 315: Keeping Our Children Safe Online, with Susan Kennedy 


• NCMEC


• National Human Trafficking Hotline

Transcript

Sandra Morgan 0:14

Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast here at Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice in Orange County, California. This is episode #327: Labor Trafficking and Forced Criminality. My name is Dr. Sandie Morgan, and this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. I am so glad to have Anabel Martinez with us today. She currently works as a Senior Policy Counsel for the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School. She is a committed social justice policy advocacy professional, with over a decade of experience in advocating for marginalized communities through direct legal services and using trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices. She transitioned to public policy advocacy to seek system changes that are intersectional and inclusive. She’s highly skilled at looking at real-world issues from a nuanced, analytical lens that aids in the development of comprehensive and equitable policies. So Anabel, welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast.

Anabel Martinez 1:51

Thank you so much for having me. I’m really happy to be here with you today.

Sandra Morgan 1:54

Well before we dive in, I have a personal question, because your bio says that you transitioned to public policy advocacy. Can you tell me a little bit about how and why you have done that?

Anabel Martinez 2:10

Sure. I feel like in some ways, as a direct client, when I was doing direct client services within the legal context, or whether that be social service, you’re always doing a little bit of policy advocacy in the sense that you’re letting your supervisors or your co-workers know, “Hey, this is a policy or an issue that doesn’t work for my clients or is causing me issues.” I noticed, as I was doing my work, that the people making policies were not folk who have experience providing direct client services, so oftentimes there’s policies are created with good intentions, but if you don’t have that understanding of how it looks on the ground or how that will be carried out, then you later on, you have to come back and fix those issues. So I was like, okay, why isn’t someone like me, who has this experience, providing this direct client service? Also, the person making the policy? Because then, I’ll be able to see those issues before they arise and be able to hopefully work around them or plan around them. It’s not possible to identify all the issues, but I do think we need more folks who have their client service experience, and be part of the people who are making the policies

Sandra Morgan 3:14

I love that. It’s so important for us to begin to figure out how to get further upstream in designing solutions.

Anabel Martinez 3:23

Yes. Unfortunately, sometimes we know nonprofits have limits on how much policy they can engage in, which is a lot of the folks providing those direct client services, work with the nonprofits. I’m very lucky to have found a job where I’m allowed to do that full time, which is very rare to find a job that’s full time policy.

Sandra Morgan 3:39

Well, let’s dive into our topic. What is labor trafficking by forced criminality? We even have an acronym, LTFC. Can you explain what that is?

Anabel Martinez 3:53

Essentially, within human trafficking we have sex trafficking, we have labor trafficking, and labor trafficking by forced criminality essentially means that the labor that is being asked of the person to do, or the person is being coerced to do, is an illegal activity. Whether that be cultivating, transporting drugs, deaths, shoplifting, sometimes even being the person who recruits people into sex trafficking, or being the person who arranges the dates for the person who’s being sex trafficked. That is what it is, the labor is the illegal activity they’re being asked to do.

Sandra Morgan 4:26

Okay, so when they’re given a job, a task, like go shoplift five necklaces or recruit somebody to be part of a brothel, those are considered labor trafficking examples?

Anabel Martinez 4:47

Yes, and it’s within the context off what is illegal within the state and city that you’re in, right? If that’s considered an illegal activity, then yes. For example, herein California it’s legal to cultivate, and grow marijuanaarijuana and sell marijuana.marijuana. But Then there’s also illegal farms that are doing that, and then they’re recruiting people into labor trafficking for that specifically. That’shat’s also another form of labor trafficking byby forced criminality becausecause they’re working at an illegal marijuana farm, doing the cultivating. Thehe growing, that might be considered legal if it was in a form that was actually permitted to do that work, if that makes sense.

Sandra Morgan 5:25

For our listeners, I want you to remember the interview in episode #306 with Jerome as he explained during his exploitation, first in commercial sexual exploitation of a child, he was very young, and then as he was older, he was required to do certain things, drop products in places, collect money, whatever. And when he was arrested, picked up, and put in juvenile detention, he was labeled a delinquent, even though it was all part of the trafficking experience. In your study at Loyola, you have used Los Angeles data. Let’s keep in mind everybody listening in other parts, I think a lot of this is a place where you can begin to ask questions in your area to see if there are parallels. I believe there are a lot of parallels. Let’s look at why you did focus on the youth in Los Angeles.

Anabel Martinez 6:41 <b