[Testimony]{.smallcaps}

of

[Derek P. Ellerman]{.smallcaps}

Co-Executive Director, Polaris Project

Before

Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness

Committee on Government Reform

United States House of Representative

July 8^th^, 2004

Mr. Chairman and Subcommittee members,

Thank you for convening this hearing on modern-day slavery and for
giving me an opportunity to share with you our experience combating the
trafficking networks in the United States.

I want to begin with a personal note of thanks. We work every day with
women in the sex trafficking networks either through direct outreach to
the brothels or through case work. We work with women who have been
brutally abused, raped, and threatened with death -- and who often,
understandably, have little hope or trust. It means a tremendous amount
to me to be able to say to them that my government cares about their
situation - something that I know cannot be said in every country. Thank
you again for demonstrating your commitment today to us and to all of
the victims with whom we work.

Polaris Project is a multicultural, grassroots non-profit committed to
combating sex trafficking. We are based in Washington, DC, and will be
opening offices in the New York/New Jersey area and in Tokyo, Japan in
the Fall of 2004. In the area of victim identification, we are
considered one of the most innovative and aggressive agencies in the
U.S., and are strong proponents of what we call the Proactive Approach.

In the DC area, we operate the Greater DC Task Force on Trafficking in
Persons, working closely with law enforcement to identify trafficking
operations in the sex industry. Our multicultural staff conduct direct
outreach into brothel locations, providing information about our 24 hour
Hotlines in Korean, Spanish, Thai, and English. In partnership with the
Metropolitan Police of DC (MPDC), we operate a Sex Trafficking
Assessment Team (STAT) that accompanies the MPDC Prostitution Unit on
raids of brothels to conduct culturally-sensitive victim assessment.

Many people have little understanding of the enormity and the brutality
of the sex trafficking industry in the United States. When they think of
sex slavery, they think of Thailand or Nepal -- not a suburban house
outside of DC, with \$400,000 homes and manicured lawns, where two women
were beaten, raped, and prostituted under the threat of death. Polaris
Project's DC Task Force facilitated the escape of those two women, but
there are many more women and children who have yet to be assisted.
Polaris Project has a database of over 175 commercial sex operations at
high risk for trafficking within Korean, Latino, Chinese, and internal
networks in the Greater DC area. And DC pales in comparison to the
massive networks in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Some of the operations are based out of residential homes, many unknown
to law enforcement, and advertised only through word of mouth to men of
certain ethnic backgrounds. Others operate openly out of thinly veiled
commercial front massage parlors, advertised out of publications like
the Washington Post and Super Pages. These operations are located in
suburbia and downtown business and government areas, and their customers
include professionals and government workers. Within a one-mile radius
of the White House alone, we are aware of twelve brothels in Korean and
Latino networks at high risk for trafficking. Modern-day slavery could
not be closer to home.

Our Victim Outreach Team has begun to break into the isolation of the
networks, using outreach techniques designed in collaboration with
survivors of the trafficking networks. But the efforts of NGO groups and
the government have still barely scratched the surface, leaving the vast
majority of the victims trapped under the control of their traffickers.

The standard I use to evaluate how well the US is doing against
trafficking is "Have the traffickers noticed yet?" and particularly,
"Have the victims noticed yet?" The answer, overwhelmingly, even almost
half a decade after the passage of the TVPA, is no.

While there has been an increase in prosecutions, less than one percent
of the estimated 17,000- 20,000 international victims trafficked into
the U.S. have been identified and assisted by the government, and almost
half of those numbers came from a single case. If there is one statistic
to remind us of how far we have to go, it is this one. If less than one
percent of the victims of assault or rape were identified by the
government, the American people would be outraged. We must understand
why we are failing and how we must change our policies and practices to
succeed.

Based on our experience in the field working with law enforcement,
survivors, and service agencies to combat trafficking, I would like to
share with you three areas where I believe we must improve.

1.  Identifying the Victims of Trafficking

The U.S. Government has recognized that one of the largest obstacles to
progress so far has been the identification of trafficking victims.
Until we can find the victims of this underground industry, we cannot
assist them or prosecute their traffickers. In our experience working
with women in Korean, Latino, Chinese and other sex trafficking
networks, women are almost wholly isolated - cut-off from contact with
anyone except their traffickers, other victims, and the men who buy sex.

The primary strategy for victim identification that the federal
government has adopted and funded is to encourage third-party reporting
of cases by social service providers, local law enforcement, and the
public. This approach, while a vital component, should not be the
primary strategy because most victims cannot leave the brothels and
rarely contact third parties.

Federal and local law enforcement have the responsibility to proactively
investigate commercial sex operations that are similar to networks that
have trafficked victims before. If customers and groups like us can find
these locations, then certainly law enforcement can.

When Polaris Project obtains information on commercial sex operations
that are at high risk for trafficking, federal law enforcement
consistently informs us that they are unable to investigate unless more
direct evidence for trafficking is obtained, such as first-hand
testimony from the trafficking victim. Given the gravity of this crime
and its importance to the US government, law enforcement should
proactively verify that trafficking is not present at these locations.
If there is smoke, we cannot afford to wait until people inside the
burning building have verified that fire is present before we act.
Unfortunately, this is what generally happens due to resource
constraints at the federal level and prioritization of other crimes
above modern-day slavery.

2.  Combating Root Causes through Aggressive Prosecution

Trafficking in persons is the fastest growing criminal industry in the
world for two primary reasons. First, traffickers face almost no risk of
prosecution or penalties for their crimes. Second, traffickers can make
large profits very quickly. Both causes can be addressed through
aggressive enforcement at the federal and local level. People who are
willing to exploit the most vulnerable of victims will not think twice
if they believe they are more likely to get a parking ticket than to be
prosecuted for modern-day slavery. The men who buy sex through the
traffickers will not stop adding to this criminal industry's coffers if
they think there is little chance of accountability.

In the course of our work with sex trafficking networks, we have also
found that traffickers are using techniques that amount to coercion and
yet fall outside of the statutory language defining trafficking in
persons. These practices include verbal intimidation, use of hierarchy
within a cultural context, exploitation of the vulnerability of the
trafficking victim. The statutory language must be broadened to
recognize these more sophisticated, yet widespread, control techniques
in order to facilitate prosecution of these cases.

The bottleneck that is constraining increased prosecution of traffickers
is the resource constraints on federal law enforcement, the lack of
state laws against trafficking, and the lack of enforcement of existing
state laws related to trafficking. We must provide the necessary
financial resources to increase investigation and prosecution capacity
at the federal level and must modify or supplement statutory language to
facilitate prosecution, adjusting to the changing methods of the
traffickers.

3.  Protecting and Serving All Victims

Recently, a girl shared her story with me about how since her early teen
years she was forced to provide sex for men and endured beatings and
rape by her trafficker. Remarkably enough, most law enforcement, when
viewing her case, would not view it as human trafficking. Why? Because
she is a citizen of the United States.

While the federal laws against trafficking equally protect foreign
nationals and U.S. citizens, in practice, U.S. citizen victims are
usually prosecuted as criminals, rather than protected as victims of a
human rights abuse.

When I explained to this girl that laws such as the TVPA protects anyone
under situations of modern-day slavery, she asked me why that law has
not helped her and the thousands of other children like her. I did not
have a very good answer for her.

The U.S. government has begun to face the problem of internal
trafficking, as evidenced by the focus on this issue in the latest TIP
Report. But we have largely failed to recognize the enormity of the
issue within our own borders and provide an adequate response. In the
DOJ *Assessment of U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons*
released earlier this year, the report almost ignored the internal
trafficking of citizens in the U.S., except for a footnote that stated
that it is estimated that over 200,000 American youth are trafficked
into sexual exploitation. The footnote went on to say that this would
not be the focus on their report. That shocking fact merits more than a
footnote.

The US government must face the reality that hundreds of thousands of
U.S. citizens are trafficked under brutal conditions within our own
borders. An American who buys sex from a child in Thailand faces greater
risk of prosecution and severe sentencing by U.S. authorities than if he
buys sex from a child on K Street NW. We must protect the victims,
prosecute the traffickers, and provide comprehensive and specialized
services. Currently, the federal law does not provide funding for
comprehensive and specialized services for internally trafficked victims
-- Congress must change the statutes to provide these vitally needed
provisions.

If any country can crush the trafficking industry within its borders, it
is the United States. Thank you for your continued work -- your efforts
have not and will not go unnoticed by those depend on your commitment --
the victims themselves.