U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

30–864 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018

S. HRG. 114–790 

ENDING MODERN SLAVERY: NOW IS THE TIME 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

FEBRUARY 24, 2016 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: 

http://www.govinfo.gov 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

BOB CORKER, Tennessee, Chairman

JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

DAVID PERDUE, Georgia 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut 

TIM KAINE, Virginia 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts 

TODD WOMACK, Staff Director

JESSICA LEWIS, Democratic Staff Director

JOHN DUTTON, Chief Clerk

(II)


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Corker, Hon. Bob, U.S. Senator from Tennessee .................................................. 1 

Cardin, Hon. Benjamin L., U.S. Senator from Maryland ..................................... 2 

McCain, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Arizona ................................................... 3 

McCain, Cindy, co-chair, Human Trafficking Advisory Council, the McCain 

Institute, Washington, DC .................................................................................. 4 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 

Middleberg, Maurice, executive director, Free the Slaves, Washington, DC ...... 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 

Chumbow, Evelyn, survivor advocate, College Park, Maryland .......................... 15 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 17 

Warners, Leah, human trafficking survivor, survivor advocate, Southeastern 

United States ........................................................................................................ 18 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 20 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

Statement submitted by Hon. Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida ............ 41 

(III)


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER

FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
(1) 

ENDING MODERN SLAVERY: 

NOW IS THE TIME 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, 

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m., in Room 

SD–419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Bob Corker, chairman of the committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Corker [presiding], Gardner, Cardin, Coons, 

Kaine, and Markey. 

Also Present: Senator McCain. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BOB CORKER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM TENNESSEE 

The CHAIRMAN. I am going to be very brief in my opening comments. I know that Senator McCain is here to introduce, as he 

should, his wife, Cindy. And I know he has other things to do. 

So, I just want to briefly say that, earlier this week, I had the 

opportunity to meet with students of three different universities in 

Tennessee, and this issue that we are highlighting today, modern 

slavery and human trafficking, and I have not seen an issue that 

touches young people like this issue and their concern for people 

all across our country, but around the world, their move to, when 

they understand there are 27 million people in the world today 

that are in slavery, that 26 percent of those people are in sexual 

servitude, and they want to do something about it. 

This committee unanimously, last year, voted to pass the End 

Modern Slavery Act. It is a bill that hopefully will be on the Senate 

floor soon. We received an appropriation earlier this year of $25 

million to begin a worldwide effort that will match public and private resources. What we find each year is that people come before 

us looking for incremental help in dealing with this issue, and yet 

we want to address this issue, not unlike we did with HIV/AIDS, 

where we pull together the world to end modern slavery. 

Today, we have tremendous advocates here. They will be introduced in just a moment. We have two extraordinary women that 

have dealt firsthand with this issue and shown tremendous courage. We thank you for being here to share your stories. 

And, with that, I will turn the meeting over to our distinguished 

ranking member and tremendous partner, Ben Cardin. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
2 

STATEMENT OF HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MARYLAND 

Senator CARDIN. Well, thank you, Chairman Corker. 

And I personally want to thank Chairman Corker for his passionate leadership on this issue. He has been an incredible leader, 

not just on this committee, but in our country, on ending modern 

slavery. And I thank him for that. Today’s hearing is just one more 

chapter in that record. 

I am going to ask consent to put my opening statement in the 

record, because it does express, I think, in more detail, some of my 

priorities in this area. 

But, we are talking about millions of people who are trafficked 

every year, people who are trafficked for sex trafficking, young girls 

who are sold into marriage, trafficking that occurs in the labor 

markets, as we have seen, which is outrageous, trafficking that is 

used by terrorist organizations in their recruitment or forcing of 

their ideology. It is modern-day slavery, and we have to do everything we can to end this. 

I am proud of the leadership that we have had in the United 

States, the Trafficking in Persons Report is considered to be the 

gold standard. Last year, we confronted a situation that the Chairman and I and members of this committee and others thought was 

just trying to politicize the report. We brought a major spotlight to 

that, because we want to make sure we maintain the integrity of 

the Trafficking in Persons Report. Whenever a foreign leader visits 

with me, which is kind of regularly, I have the TIP Report in front 

of me. I was with Senator Coons in the southern part of Africa. We 

raised it. Some of the world leaders were surprised at how much 

attention we pay to the Trafficking in Persons Report. They are 

now spending more attention to that Trafficking in Persons Report, 

and we are going to follow up with some of the specific recommendations. And we had the presidents of countries that are 

now engaged in this issue. So, it is working. 

It is also nice to have Senator McCain here. Senator McCain, I 

think, is one of the great human rights leaders in the United 

States Senate. While we have him before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Chairman, I hope we can ask him some questions about his effort as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services 

Committee, trying to steal our committee’s jurisdiction. So, I hope 

we will be able to ask some questions in that regard. [Laughter.] 

Senator CARDIN. But, it is a pleasure to have Senator McCain before our committee. 

The CHAIRMAN. In order to show proper respect to Senator 

McCain, I am going to ask him, if he would, to introduce Cindy, 

and say to him, as he does, it sure is a lot more peaceful on this 

committee now that you are off of it. [Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. And then I will introduce the other witnesses 

after that takes place. But, seriously, we warmly welcome you and 

thank you for your leadership on national security issues, in particular. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN McCAIN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA 

Senator MCCAIN. I thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator 

Cardin. And I must say that it is with nostalgia that I recall my 

wonderful time on this committee, especially being able to question 

the credentials of nominees for ambassadorships around the world. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator MCCAIN. I dearly miss those days. [Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. You seemed to like those that had actually been 

to the countries where they were going to be serving. [Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. More than the ones who had not. 

Senator CARDIN. The nominees appreciate that you are not on 

the committee anymore. [Laughter.] 

Senator MCCAIN. Could I congratulate both you and Senator 

Cardin, who work in a bipartisan fashion. Recently, a resolution 

passed this committee, and overwhelmingly in the House and Senate, in response to the Korean activity. I think we can be so proud 

of the Magnitsky Act and the effects that it has had. And this committee has, in a bipartisan fashion, led the Congress and the Nation, and I am very proud of the leadership, and especially proud 

of the partnership that Senator Cardin and Senator Corker, neither 

of whom speak English very well, but they have accomplished 

much. I appreciate that. [Laughter.] 

Senator MCCAIN. We have wonderful witnesses here today, and 

I thank you for having this hearing. I will be very, very brief, except to say that I am very proud of Cindy McCain’s work on this 

issue. She has traveled the world, but she has also spent time in 

our State, a border State, where cross-border trafficking is still a 

very, very serious issue. We have experts here to talk about it, including Cindy and her great work. 

I would just like to point out that all of us have a story, and we 

will hear stories today. There is a story of a young woman named 

Kayla Mueller, Prescott, Arizona. She went to Syria on purely humanitarian motivation. She was working in a hospital in Aleppo. 

She was captured by ISIS, was killed eventually. And that was 

after being held hostage under terrible conditions. We honor her. 

We honor her memory. We honor her dedication and her humanitarian behavior, which has so characterized so many young Americans today who want to combat evil and to do humanitarian things 

throughout the world. Kayla Mueller, to me, epitomizes the young 

women and young men in the world that need our protection and 

need our help and need us to eradicate this evil, which, with the 

increase in crises and conflict around the world, as Cindy and the 

other witnesses will testify, is not on the decrease, it is on the increase. 

So, I thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for having this hearing. And I am proud of Cindy’s work, and I think you will find her 

to be a far more articulate spokesperson on this issue than I am. 

Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. I do not think there is any question about that, 

but we do thank you very much for being here and know that you 

have other business. We thank you for your leadership on so many 

issues and look forward to Cindy’s comments in just a moment. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
4 

Our second witness is Maurice Middleberg. Mr. Middleberg is 

Executive Director for Free the Slaves, an international NGO established to combat human trafficking and slavery around the 

world. Free the Slaves focuses its efforts on identifying at-risk communities and vulnerable individuals to help them avoid being 

enslaved and to free enslaved individuals. 

We thank you for your efforts and your willingness to be with us 

today. 

Our third witness is Evelyn Chumbow. Was that pronounced correctly? 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Yes, perfect. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Chumbow is a survivor advocate who was 

brought to the United States from Cameroon at the age of 9 and 

then forced into servitude. Ms. Chumbow was 17 years old before 

she was able to escape. She was appointed to the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking by President Obama in December 2015. 

And again, thank you so much for being here. 

Our last witness is Leah. Leah, is a human trafficking survivor 

and is an advocate for the major anti-slavery organization A–21. 

We had a number of A-21 representatives in Nashville on Monday 

morning. Inspiring what is happening through your organization. 

For 7 years, she lost her freedom. I watched a video last night, by 

the way, that documented much of what you will have to say today. 

It is very moving. The A–21 Campaign is a nonprofit that works 

to fight human trafficking, including sexual exploitation and forced 

slave labor. 

All of your written comments will be entered into the record, 

without objection. I know Cindy has been here many times, but if 

each of you would summarize in about 5 minutes, and then there 

will be questions. 

We thank you all for being here. And, if we could, let us just go 

in the order that you were introduced, and begin with Cindy. 

STATEMENT OF CINDY McCAIN, CO–CHAIR, HUMAN TRAFFICKING ADVISORY COUNCIL, THE McCAIN INSTITUTE, 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Ms. MCCAIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Corker and 

Senator Cardin, I really appreciate you offering me the opportunity 

to be here and to talk on an issue that is obviously very close to 

my heart. 

Most importantly, I am honored to be here because it is the day 

before ENDIT, the ENDIT day. And that brings to light so many 

facets of human trafficking that are all too often not understood. 

But, first I would like to commend the committee for focusing attention on this issue, and you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership 

on this topic and for your authorship of the End Modern Slavery 

Initiative Act, along with Senator Menendez. I look forward to seeing its passage and its implementation. 

I am also honored to testify alongside Mr. Maurice Middleberg, 

from Free the Slaves. I have followed Mr. Middleberg, and I have 

watched what you do. And, on behalf of the victims around the 

world, thank you for what you do. And our other members, thank 

you. I am very honored to be here at the same table as you all. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
5 

As you know, human trafficking is a pervasive problem touching 

every State in our Nation and every country around the world, but 

it is such an insidious and horrible act, and underreported. Accurate statistics on the number of victims and traffickers are very difficult to produce. Sex trafficking of minors is particularly hard to 

estimate, as the victims are often abused, traumatized, and hurt at 

such a young age, and they do not recognize themselves as victims. 

Their stories and problems are tragic and complicated. And we as 

a Nation owe our children a collective effort to end this travesty. 

We need to recognize that we have a global problem that calls for 

a global solution. 

While precise data on the number of victims of trafficking is difficult to come by, we know that the numbers are way too high. The 

number of adult women as well as young boys and little girls 

whose childhoods and very lives are being lost to trafficking every 

day is heartbreaking. 

The anecdotal stories of survivors and victims tell us that there 

are individual operations and very well-orchestrated and well-financed trafficking networks worldwide. I firmly believe that 

human trafficking is directly tied to drug and gun trafficking, and 

ultimately to the illicit terrorist organizations, like Boko Haram 

and ISIS. 

The McCain Institute has sponsored targeted research projects 

that tell us that an alarming high percentage of children passing 

through our child welfare and foster care systems have been trafficked. Vulnerable populations, such as homeless and LGBT youth, 

are also shown to be at a much higher risk of trafficking. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that 68 

percent of these likely victims were in the care of social services or 

foster care at one time. 

The International Labor Organization estimates that of nearly 21 

million victims of forced labor worldwide, 11.4 million are women 

and children. Globally, an estimated 2 million people are exploited 

by state actors or rebel groups, and 19 million are exploited by individuals. 4.5 million of these people are victims of forced sexual 

exploitation by individuals and organizations. It is estimated that 

forced labor generates $150 billion annually in illegal profits to 

traffickers worldwide. 

A December 2012 UNODC report identified traffic victims originating in 136 countries. These numbers are staggering. While these 

numbers are overwhelming, I am encouraged by the increase in efforts to combat human trafficking globally. In the last few years, 

UNIAP has found that 61 countries have passed national laws 

against trafficking, and 90 percent of these laws have been enacted 

in the last 5 years. The potential of the End Modern Slavery Initiative to laser focus known strategies to find its victims, break up 

trafficking networks, and tactically organize the many people who 

deeply care about this issue into more effective action is unlimited. 

It is time we work together, though. It is time we stop this heinous 

crime against humanity. 

Congress mandates reports on human trafficking. One of the 

most well-known, of course, is the State Department’s annual TIP 

Report, as you mentioned. The report was mandated to assess each 

country’s progress in achieving minimum standards for fighting 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
6 

trafficking. Countries are ranked in tiers from 1 to 4, with tier tier 

1 being the best. The report was designed to be an honest assessment of each government’s commitment to fighting trafficking in 

both source and destination countries. The TIP Report should be an 

accurate assessment, and countries that do not meet the minimum 

standard for fighting trafficking should face other penalties until 

they take it seriously and they improve. 

It seems that several countries with whom we had other prevailing interests moved up on the list. The rankings improved, 

where there was really no real action or reducing of trafficking. 

The report should be factual and not swayed by outside interests. 

The fight against trafficking has not played a large enough role 

in the President’s rhetoric in Asia. U.S. Government officials recently met with ASEAN leaders in Los Angeles. I hope these countries advance on the TIP Report rankings, because they have made 

concrete advances in the fight against trafficking, and not because 

of outside political considerations. It is time the measuring tools 

used to fight trafficking internationally are used fairly and honestly. 

There are increasing numbers of people dedicating their lives to 

fighting trafficking every day. And some NGOs are really outstanding at this. The McCain Institute has had the honor of 

partnering with THORN Digital Defenders of Children to help get 

their innovative spotlight tool into the hands of over 2,000 police 

departments in 49 States. 

Mr. Chairman, I would like to present the rest of this for the 

record, but if I may say, I just recently returned from Turkey and 

Greece, both. And I was staggered to see what I saw anyway, but, 

most importantly, I, myself, watched trafficking happening. So, 

with your consideration, I would hope that this committee would 

focus somewhat on the women and children that are coming across 

the waters from Izmir into Lesbos on that. 

And thank you for having me today. 

[Ms. McCain’s prepared statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CINDY MCCAIN

Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin, it is an honor to be here today 

to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the important issue of 

human trafficking. I am particularly pleased to join you on the eve of ENDIT day 

and appreciate the increased attention this committee is bringing to ending the 

many facets of human trafficking. 

First, I’d like to commend the committee for focusing attention on this issue, and 

you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership on this topic and for your authorship of the 

End Modern Slavery Initiative Act along with Senator Menendez. I look forward to 

seeing its passage and implementation. 

I am also honored to be testifying alongside Mr. Maurice Middleberg from Free 

the Slaves, whose remarkable efforts to combat trafficking on the international level 

are nothing short of inspiring. 

Human Trafficking is a pervasive problem, touching every state in our nation and 

every country around the world. Because it is such an insidious, horrible and under 

reported crime, accurate statistics on the number of victims and traffickers are very 

difficult to produce. Sex trafficking of minors is particularly hard to estimate as the 

victims are often abused and traumatized at such a young age that they don’t recognize themselves as victims. Their stories and problems are tragic and complicated 

and we as a nation owe our children our collective efforts to end this travesty. We 

need to recognize that we have a global problem that calls for a global solution. 

While precise data on the number of victims of trafficking is difficult to come by, 

we know that the numbers are way too high. The number of adult women, as well 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
7 

as young boys and girls whose childhoods and very lives are being lost to trafficking 

everyday, is heartbreaking. The anecdotal stories of survivors and victims tell us 

that there are individual operations, and very well orchestrated, well financed trafficking networks worldwide. I firmly believe that human trafficking is directly tied 

to drug and gun trafficking and ultimately to illicit terrorist organizations like Boko 

Haram and ISIS. 

The McCain Institute has sponsored targeted research projects that tell us that 

an alarmingly high percentage of children passing through our child welfare and 

foster care systems have been trafficked. Vulnerable populations, such as homeless 

and LGBT youth, are also shown to be at a much higher risk for trafficking. The 

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that 68% of these likely victims were in the care of social services or the foster care system. 

The International Labor Organization estimates that of the nearly 21 million victims of forced labor worldwide, 11.4 million are women and children. Globally, an 

estimated 2 million people are exploited by State actors or rebel groups, and 19 million people are exploited by individuals. 4.5 million people are victims of forced sexual exploitation by individuals and enterprises. It is estimated that forced labor generates $150 billion annually in illegal profits to traffickers worldwide. A December 

2012 UNODC report identified trafficked victims originating in 136 countries, these 

numbers are staggering. 

While these numbers are overwhelming, I am encouraged by the increase in efforts to combat human trafficking globally in the last few years. UNIAP has found 

that 61 countries have passed national laws against trafficking and 90% of these 

laws have been enacted in the last five years. The potential of the End Modern Slavery Initiative to laser focus known strategies to find victims, break up trafficking 

networks and tactically organize the many people who care deeply about this issue 

into more effective action is unlimited. It is time we work together to stop this heinous crime against humanity. 

Congress mandates reports on human trafficking. One of the most well known is 

the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. This report was 

mandated to assess each country’s progress in achieving minimum standards for 

fighting trafficking. Countries are ranked in Tiers from 1-4, with the Tier 1 being 

the best. The report was designed to be an honest assessment of each government’s 

commitment to fighting trafficking in both source and destination countries. The 

TIP report should be an accurate assessment and countries that do not meet the 

minimum standard for fighting trafficking should face other penalties until they 

take it seriously and improve. It seems that several countries, with whom we had 

other prevailing interests, moved up in their rankings without real action on reducing trafficking. The report should be factual and not swayed by outside interests. 

The fight against trafficking has not played a large enough role in the President’s 

rhetoric toward Asia. US Government officials recently met with ASEAN leaders in 

Los Angeles. I hope that these countries advance on the TIP report rankings because they have made concrete advances in the fight against trafficking and not because of outside political considerations. It’s time that the measuring tools used to 

fight trafficking internationally are used fairly and honestly without regard to trade 

or other factors. 

There are increasing numbers of people dedicating their lives to fighting trafficking every day and some NGO’s that do outstanding work. The McCain Institute 

has had the honor of partnering with THORN, Digital Defenders of Children, to 

help get their innovative Spotlight tool into the hands of over 2,000 police departments in 49 states. THORN’s work on the pervasive use of the internet to buy and 

sell human beings for sex, using the brightest minds in technology to disrupt trafficking networks, and save victims one at a time is making a difference. The global 

battle against human trafficking has many shifting fronts and there are a variety 

of weapons, like the Spotlight tool, available to combat it. 

I recently traveled to both Greece and Turkey with the International Rescue Committee, and I was stunned by the horrific conditions that refugees have to endure. 

This desperate situation is a breeding ground for traffickers. Vulnerable refugees 

are lured by the promise of safe passage to a new country, before being subjected 

to a dangerous transport in harrowing conditions. The wave of refugees coming from 

Syria is placing many vulnerable people at risk to be trafficked. Young girls and 

boys are traveling by themselves, ahead of their families and arriving on shore 

alone. Children are being trafficked out of camps, where traffickers and smugglers 

prey on vulnerable children and desperate families. We are at risk of losing an entire generation if we do not defend those who cannot defend themselves. 

Human Trafficking is not just an international issue and we as a country need 

to address it in our own states and communities. Through the efforts of the Arizona 

Human Trafficking Council, which I co-chair, we have been able to strengthen the 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
8 

laws, giving victims better services and protections and increase penalties against 

traffickers and buyers, but our fight is far from over. Once we protect the most vulnerable among us in our nation, we can become a global leader in the fight to protect those that cannot protect themselves. 

Mr. Chairman, I again congratulate you on your dedication to this issue. It is an 

honor to work with you in the fight against all forms of human trafficking. Thank 

you for allowing me to speak to the committee today. I look forward to any questions 

you may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you so much. Thanks for your leadership 

on this issue and for pointing out the ENDIT movement. Annie 

Brown is here, who leads that effort. She is sitting behind you. But, 

to be honest, we would not be pursuing this had that awareness 

not taken place. And tomorrow is ENDIT Day. The awareness catapulted all of us into action. Anyway, thank you for mentioning that 

and what is happening in Greece. 

Mr. Middleberg. 

STATEMENT OF MAURICE MIDDLEBERG, EXECUTIVE 

DIRECTOR, FREE THE SLAVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman Corker, Ranking Member Cardin, members of the 

committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you 

today and share the views of Free the Slaves. We are grateful for 

your outstanding leadership on this issue. 

I was asked to address what we experience as the central obstacles to reducing human trafficking and make policy recommendations accordingly. The brief answer is that we view the small scale 

of the global response to trafficking and inconsistent political support as the core obstacles. We have specific recommendations for 

Congress that address resource levels, resource allocation, the roles 

of USAID and the multilateral development banks, consistency in 

our diplomacy, and investing in research and evaluation. 

The focus on scale responds to the substantial progress of potential for radical reductions in slavery. While fully acknowledging the 

dreadful reality of slavery, my message today is actually one of 

hope and optimism. We now have the potential to achieve radical 

reductions in slavery if the Congress and the next President act 

boldly. 

A bit of context, if I might. The early phase of the anti-slavery 

movement was dedicated to alerting the world that slavery exists. 

That goal has been largely achieved, and I am proud of the role 

that Free the Slaves played in that awakening. The second phase 

of the anti-slavery movement involved the search for solutions. 

Three mutually reinforcing solutions to the problem of slavery have 

evolved. The supply-chain approach focuses on choking off the demand for slavery-tainted goods in international trade. The criminal 

justice approach looks at slavery through the prism of investigation, arrest, and prosecution, seeking to end impunity for predators. The third approach, which is the strategy pioneered by Free 

the Slaves, focuses primarily on reducing the supply of highly vulnerable labors in high-risk communities. 

Slavery is very disproportionally concentrated in the impoverished rural communities of South and Southeast Asia and West 

and Central Africa. Over the past 16 years, we have developed and 

refined a community-based abolition model that replaces 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
9 

vulnerabilities with assets so communities become highly resistant 

to slavery and trafficking. We know that the Free the Slaves community-based abolition model is effective. Our work has led to the 

liberation of well over 11,000 slaves. While the 2015 data are still 

being compiled, I can share that, in 2014, our collaboration with 

our local partners reached almost 2,000 villages, where more than 

82,500 people were educated to protect themselves from trafficking. 

Almost 1300 government officials were trained on how to fight slavery. The collaboration with our partners led to the arrest of 163 alleged traffickers and slaveholders. We did this on a budget of $3.2 

million. An independent evaluation of our program in the Congo 

concluded that the results clearly demonstrate the project led to increased community resistance to slavery. In short, the anti-slavery 

movement has evolved a three-pronged approach grounded in a 

substantial body of experience and evidence. 

The most important barrier to progress against slavery is the diminutive scale of the response. As Mrs. McCain pointed out, the 

ILO estimates that traffickers and slaveholders are pocketing $150 

billion per year. The resources to fight slavery are a tiny fraction 

of the benefits to traffickers. The anti-slavery movement is fighting 

a raging elephant with a popgun. We have the experience and the 

knowledge to make a difference, but not the resources. This is a 

great tragedy and deeply frustrating for my staff, our partners, and 

me. We are holding a slavery vaccine that we cannot deploy. 

The resource gap reflects inconsistent political support. In some 

countries, leaders deny that a problem exists or deliberately turn 

a blind eye. While no one openly supports slavery, sustained, intense political support is needed that does not flinch when competing priorities emerge. 

The time has come for the third phase of the anti-slavery movement, which must focus on going to scale. We, therefore, propose 

the following policy agenda: 

Dramatically increase resources. Only a qualitative leap in available resources will allow for the necessary scaling-up. Investing 2 

cents—just 2 cents—in fighting slavery for every dollar the traffickers put in their pockets would be a huge gain for the anti-slavery movement. 

Invest consistently and wisely. Invest in the countries where 

slavery is most prevalent. Stay there over time. And enact a comprehensive approach. 

Fully implement the USAID Counter Trafficking in Persons policy. We applaud the policy, but it is difficult to understand exactly 

what has occurred, in terms of its implementation. We suggest this 

committee would be well served to require regular publicly available reporting from USAID on the implementation of the CTIP policy. We bring to the attention of the committee that USAID issued 

one RFA on human trafficking in 2015 and has issued two RFIs in 

2016. Human trafficking is not included in USAID’s 2016 mission 

competitive forecast, as posted on February 8th. 

Leverage the resources of the multilateral development banks. 

Almost by definition, development banks are supporting large-scale 

programs that reach communities where slavery is prevalent. However, they neither see nor act upon slavery in their midst, which 

is a huge missed opportunity. To our knowledge, the reduction is 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
10 

not even on the agenda of the multilateral development banks. At 

a modest cost, poverty alleviation programs could integrate an antislavery component so they could detect slavery and know how to 

respond. 

Consistently include slavery on the agenda at the highest levels 

of diplomatic discourse. Everyone expects the TIP Ambassador to 

address the trafficking issue in dialogue with foreign governments. 

It is quite another thing if, consistently, the Secretary of State and 

the President would include this on their dialogue at the highest 

levels. I join Mrs. McCain in saying that an unimpeachable Trafficking in Persons Report should undergird diplomatic efforts. And 

the JTIP office should be ensconced in a structure and culture that 

is fully supportive of its congressionally mandated mission. 

Lastly, invest in context-specific research to guide policy and program design. Good policies and programs depend upon research 

that elucidates the magnitude and dynamics of slavery in specific 

context. Radical reductions in slavery are possible of these eminently feasible measures are adopted. The next President of the 

United States will have the opportunity to become the great emancipator of the 21st century by asserting U.S. leadership and galvanizing global action against slavery. This committee could help 

pave the path for the next President. 

Thank you very much. 

[Mr. Middleberg’s prepared statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MAURICE I. MIDDLEBERG

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Cardin, members of the Committee, thank you 

for the opportunity to appear before the Committee and share the views of Free the 

Slaves. I would like to take this opportunity express our gratitude to Senator Coker 

and Senator Cardin for their outstanding leadership and commitment to addressing 

human trafficking. It is very heartening to know that the leaders of this Committee, 

as well as other members, have devoted strenuous effort to ensuring the United 

States is the leader in the global effort to address the tragedy of modern slavery. 

I returned from India on Sunday, where Free the Slaves has an extensive program. Over the last sixteen years, Free the Slaves has implemented anti-trafficking 

programs in eight countries, including our current programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Haiti, India and Nepal. 

Human trafficking, which is slavery, inflicts a vast toll of human suffering. At 

Free the Slaves, we are daily witness to the ruthless exploitation of slavery: girls 

and women victimized by sex trafficking; little boys on fishing boats; young girls 

trapped as household servants; women breaking rocks by hand in a stone quarry; 

men sent down primitive mine shafts in search of gold and the coltan that ends up 

in our cell phones; and, entire families locked up in brick kilns. I have seen all of 

these with my own eyes and know the devastation wreaked on individuals, families 

and communities. 

While acknowledging that dreadful reality, my message today is one of hope and 

optimism. I believe that we now have the potential to achieve radical reductions in 

slavery if the Congress and the next President act boldly. The anti-slavery movement has galvanized global acknowledgment of the persistence of slavery. Three 

complementary approaches to eradicating slavery have evolved, with substantial 

gains in experience and evidence, though there is still much to be learned. The Congress and the next President must now focus on scaling up approaches pioneered 

by the anti-slavery organizations so that the effort to eradicate slavery is commensurate with the magnitude of the problem. 

We have specific recommendations for Congress on which I will elaborate. These 

include dramatically increasing resources, investing strategically and consistently, 

fully implementing the USAID C-TIP policy, leveraging the resources of the multilateral development banks, consistency in our diplomacy and investing in research 

and evaluation. 

The early phase of the modern anti-slavery movement was dedicated to sounding 

the alarm and alerting the world that the ancient curse of slavery persisted, notVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:18 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\02 24 2016\022416-F

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withstanding formal legal abolition in most of the world. That goal has been largely 

accomplished, with widespread acknowledgment that slavery exists. I am proud to 

say that Free the Slaves played a critical role in this global awakening. 

In the second phase of the anti-slavery movement, three complementary, mutually 

reinforcing approaches have emerged. These are the supply chain approach, the 

criminal justice approach and the community-based approach. While organizations 

tend to specialize, many, such as Free the Slaves, implement a combined approach. 

The goal of the supply chain approach is to choke off the demand for slavery-tainted goods. It focuses primarily on the links within international trade, tracing slavery-tainted goods from producer to retailer to consumer. It relies largely, though not 

exclusively, on name and shame tactics and evolving business norms that make it 

untenable for complicit or negligent businesses to sell goods made by slaves. The 

recent exposition of slavery in the fishing industry is a good example of this approach. We commend the Congress and the Administration for closing a legal loophole that allowed such behavior to go unregulated. 

The criminal justice approach primarily looks at slavery through the prism of investigation, arrest and prosecution. Slavery is a crime in every nation on earth. In 

practice, however, the risks to slaveholders and traffickers are negligible while the 

rewards are high. Only a tiny fraction of criminals are ever brought to justice. The 

goal of the criminal justice approach is to end impunity for predators and create disincentives through swift, certain and severe punishment. This approach is often accompanied by hotlines that allow for reporting of suspected crimes and trigger support for victims, as well as safe harbor statutes that exempt slavery victims from 

prosecution for crimes committed under the coercion of slavery. 

The third approach, which is the primary strategy of Free the Slaves, focuses on 

eradicating slavery at its source by dramatically reducing the supply of highly vulnerable laborers on whom traffickers prey. Our Community Based Abolition Model 

is based on a simple and irrefutable premise: Slavery cannot be meaningfully addressed without empowering the people and communities preyed upon by traffickers. Demand reduction and law enforcement are critical. But the necessary third 

leg of the proverbial stool is ensuring that potential victims and survivors can aggressively assert their right to be free. Policies and strategies that do not place atrisk communities at the center of their own struggle to live free will fail. 

Moreover, the communities at risk have clear markers. Slavery is not randomly 

distributed. Slavery stems from specific vulnerabilities in identifiable, high-risk 

communities. Its victims come very disproportionately from the hamlets and villages 

of south and southeast Asia and west and central Africa. These communities are 

typically rural, impoverished and made up of stigmatized and marginalized groups, 

compounded by severe gender inequities. They are characterized by low understanding of their legal rights, weakness or absence of protective community organizations, deficits of legal protection, and poor access to basic social services. Understanding the root causes of slavery also provides the path to its eradication. 

I can best illustrate this point by recounting an experience from India. My colleagues and I entered a tiny hamlet in northern India. The villagers were members 

of a low caste group. The dwellings were made of cow dung, mud and thatch and 

had dirt floors. Running water and sanitation were unknown. There was no school 

for the children and almost no access to health care. Their meager possessions consisted of a few tools, some hand-made cots, some chickens and a water buffalo. 

Every member of the community supposedly owed debts to the landlord on whose 

property they lived. The typical path to slavery is that an impoverished family encounters a moment of crisis, most often illness in the family. Debts are incurred to 

pay for health care or other emergency needs. In the absence of cash, the creditor 

demands free labor. Lies, ruses, coercion and violence are used to hold people on 

the farm, in the mine or in a factory. The entire family is held liable for the debt, 

which is passed down from one generation to the next. Children grow up knowing 

nothing but enslavement. 

To speak to the people in the community, we were obliged to hide in the nearby 

forest. We were told that the villagers would be beaten if the landlord or his agents 

saw them speaking to us. One man said to me, ‘‘My father was a slave. I was born 

a slave. I don’t want to be a slave anymore.’’ This was a slave village. 

Predators will always be able to exploit villages such as the one I described unless 

the underlying vulnerabilities are addressed. Over the past sixteen years, we have 

developed and refined a Community Based Abolition Model that replaces 

vulnerabilities with assets so that communities become highly resistant to slavery 

and trafficking. 

The first essential step is building the capacity of local agencies and organizations 

to protect at risk communities. Our experience is that there are usually dedicated 

organizations that have intimate knowledge of the communities and close ties to the 


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population. However, they are invariably under-funded and need training, technical 

assistance and organizational development. Hence, Free the Slaves always partners 

with local organizations to build sustained local capacity to fight slavery. 

The Free the Slaves Community Based Abolition Model is built on four mutually 

reinforcing pillars that address the core vulnerabilities that underlie slavery: educating and mobilizing vulnerable communities, enhancing legal protections, increasing access to essential services and liberating and reintegrating slavery survivors. 

All the work is carried out with and through local partners who understand the context and are trusted in the communities. 

1. Educating and mobilizing vulnerable communities: Slavery stems in part from 

gaps in knowledge and unchallenged assumptions about social norms. Lack of 

understanding of rights under law leaves people open to exploitation; e.g., in 

India, debt bondage is often accepted as an obligation without understanding 

it is illegal and a crime. In Nepal, insufficient education about safe migration 

strategies and tactics leaves people open to the manipulations of sex and labor 

traffickers. Engrained attitudes and norms about caste leave ancient social hierarchies in place, which are then used to hold workers in subservience. Gender 

discrimination facilitates the exploitation of women and girls, including trafficking. These knowledge, attitude and behavior gaps are compounded by the 

absence or weakness of community-based organizations that serve to protect the 

community from exploiters and predators. 

Accordingly, the first pillar of the Free the Slaves model is to engage highly 

vulnerable communities in participatory learning, so that knowledge is gained, 

attitudes shift and new, protective behaviors emerge. This is accompanied by 

the development of anti-slavery committees that serve as a neighborhood 

watch—a trained and organized group that organizes the community, monitors 

risks, advises community members and serves as the community’s advocate 

with police and other government authorities. 

This process of educating and mobilizing communities can be enormously 

powerful and was perhaps best captured by the man in a rural Haitian village 

who said, ‘‘We were in the dark, now we are in the light.’’ 

2. Enhancing legal protections: The persistence of slavery reflects a failure of the 

rule of law, including weak penalties for the crime, denial of access to basic civil 

rights and protections for women and discriminatory access to entitlement programs, whether for prevention or as restitution for survivors. 

In response, Free the Slaves and its partners mobilize advocacy with government authorities and build the capacity of the responsible government 

agencies to undertake their responsibilities. We work with coalitions of 

anti-slavery and human rights organizations to strengthen law and law enforcement. For example, we support the Alliance Against Trafficking in 

Women and Children in Nepal (AATWIN), Aba Sistem Restavek (Down 

with Child Slavery) in Haiti and catalyzed the creation of an advocacy coalition, COSCAE, in eastern Congo. 

We encourage the community anti-slavery committees to be vigorous advocates with local governments, demanding law enforcement and creating a political voice for bonded laborers and other trafficking victims. This is often a huge 

step for communities that have been historically alienated from their own local 

governments. 

We support our partners in training police and other government officials, so 

that they are better able to enforce the law. We also train journalists on slavery, so that their reporting can cast a spotlight on neglect and complicity by 

local authorities. 

3. Increasing access to basic social and economic services: While poverty alone does 

not explain slavery, the conditions of poverty render households more vulnerable to predators. Children who are out of school are more likely to end up in 

slavery. Families that lack access to basic, affordable health care will experience 

a financial crisis coping with illness. Loan sharks exploit the absence of legitimate sources of credit and put families in debt bondage. In the absence of even 

very modest savings, income generation alternatives or social safety nets, families can be thrown into crisis by the inevitable vicissitudes of life. Free the 

Slaves and its partners help connect vulnerable communities and families to 

these core services of schooling, health, credit and income generation. Doing so 

reduces the risk of trafficking and enslavement. 

4. Liberating and reintegrating slaves: The process of community empowerment 

leads to the rescue, liberation and reintegration of those in slavery. As partners 

work with communities and communities become emboldened, cases of slavery, 

whether of individuals or groups, are uncovered. This sets up a chain of events 


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leading to self-liberation through community resistance, appeals to government 

authorities or raids that free slaves from work places and brothels. Because resistance has developed at the community level, the syndrome of replacing liberated slaves with the newly enslaved is avoided. Hence, we believe that the appropriate focus for planning and measurement is the community. 

As liberation occurs, Free the Slaves and its partners work with communities 

and other service providers to ensure that slavery survivors receive the support 

they need to reclaim lives of freedom and become fully reintegrated into their 

communities and families. For example, we support a shelter in India that provides care for women and girls victimized by sex trafficking and a self-help network of survivors in Nepal. 

The liberation process also leads to legal action against perpetrators, including arrests, convictions and civil action to compensate victims. 

The triumphs of survivors are inspiring. I think of people like Ravi Kumar in 

India, who was born a bonded laborer and is now a lawyer advocating for the rights 

of other survivors. 

We know the Free the Slaves Community-Based Abolition Model is effective. Our 

work has led to the liberation of well over 11,000 slaves. The 2015 data are still 

being compiled. In 2014, our collaboration with partners reached 1,977 villages, 

where more than 82,500 people were educated to protect themselves and their families from traffickers. Almost 1,300 government officials were trained on how to fight 

slavery. The collaboration with partners led to the arrest of 163 alleged traffickers 

and slaveholders. We did this on a budget of about $3.2 million. 

An independent evaluation of our program in the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo, which was funded in part by the State Department Trafficking in Person Office (J/TIP) concluded, ‘‘(The) results clearly demonstrate that the project led to increased community-led resistance to slavery in eastern DR Congo mining zones.’’ 

We take great pride in what has been accomplished with the resources available 

to us. 

The power of the Community Based Abolition Model was crystallized for me when 

I visited the village of Sakdouri in northern India. Sakdouri is a village where 52 

men, women and children had been rescued from slavery in a brick-making factory. 

One year later, the villagers were earning a living from farming, children were 

going to school, they were getting health care and new homes had been built. They 

said, ‘‘We know what happened to us and why. We know how to protect ourselves. 

No one will ever make slaves of us again.’’ They were going to surrounding villages 

and educating others about how to protect themselves. 

When we got up to leave, the villagers said, ‘‘No, you can’t leave yet, we have to 

sing you our freedom song.’’ So they took out their instruments and here is what 

they sang, ‘‘We are not afraid. We do not fear sticks or guns or slave owners. We 

know our rights. We keep our rights. We will achieve our destiny.’’ 

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we seek—to have every village and neighborhood afflicted by slavery rise up and sing its own song of freedom. 

The anti-slavery movement has now accumulated a substantial body of experience 

and evidence as to how to fight slavery. Eliminate demand for slave made goods. 

Make the perpetration of slavery a high-risk business. Cut off the supply of highly 

vulnerable workers in at-risk communities. Support survivors. 

There is, of course, much more to be learned and the movement would benefit 

from additional investments in research. But the foundation has been laid for effective action against slavery. 

The most important barrier to progress against slavery is the diminutive scale of 

the response to a great global crime against humanity. Without entering into the 

fruitless debate about the exact number of slaves in the world, every estimate points 

to tens of millions affected. We frequently see entire villages and hamlets that are 

in thrall to slaveholders. 

According to the International Labor Organization, traffickers and slaveholders 

are pocketing a $150 billion per year from their exploitation of people. 

It must be candidly acknowledged that the scale of the response to slavery has 

been a tiny fraction of the benefits to traffickers. The anti-slavery movement is 

fighting a raging elephant with a popgun. We have the experience and the knowledge to make a difference, but not the resources or political support to deploy our 

tools and methods. This is a great tragedy and deeply frustrating for my staff, our 

partners and me. We are holding a vaccine that could immunize villages against 

slavery but cannot deploy it. 

The time has come for the third phase of the anti-slavery movement, which is 

going to scale. We must match the nobility of our intentions and words with the 

actions and resources that will change the lives of millions. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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With that in mind, we propose the following policy agenda for the Foreign Relations: 

• Dramatically increase resources: There is no escaping the fact that only a qualitative leap in available resources will allow for the necessary scaling up. Investing two cents—just two cents!—in fighting slavery for every dollar that the traffickers put in their pockets would be a huge gain in the resources to support 

the organizations fighting slavery. This would give heart to the afflicted communities and instill fear in the traffickers. The End Modern Slavery Initiative 

would be a very strong beginning down this path of increased commitment. 

• Invest consistently and wisely: There is no quick fix to slavery. It will require 

tenacity. Funds should be allocated strategically and over the long term in the 

countries most afflicted by slavery. The programs should sustain support for a 

comprehensive approach that combines supply chain, criminal justice and community-based strategies. 

• Fully implement the USAID Counter-Trafficking in Persons Policy: We applaud 

USAID’s C-TIP policy. However, it is hard to obtain information on the implementation of this polciy. We suggest that this Committee would be well served 

to require regular, publically available reporting by USAID on the implementation of the C-TIP policy. We bring to the attention of the Committee that 

USAID issued one RFA on human trafficking in 2015 and has issued two RFIs 

in 2016; human trafficking is not included in USAID’s 2016 Mission Competitive Forecast, posted February 8th. 

• Leverage the resources of the multilateral development banks: Almost by definition, the development banks are supporting large-scale programs that reach 

into the communities where slavery is prevalent. However, they neither see nor 

act upon the slavery in their midst, which is a huge missed opportunity. To our 

knowledge, slavery reduction is not even on the agenda of the multilateral development banks. At modest cost, poverty alleviation programs could integrate 

an anti-slavery component so that they would both detect slavery and know how 

to respond. 

• Consistently include slavery on the agenda at the highest levels of diplomatic 

discourse: Everyone expects the TIP Ambassador to advocate for strenuous antitrafficking efforts whenever he or she is in dialogue with the foreign governments. It’s quite another matter when the Secretary of State or President raises 

the issue at the highest levels. This high level diplomacy is an effective strategy 

and should reflect our core values. An unimpeachable Trafficking in Persons Report should undergird our diplomatic efforts to eradicate slavery. To that end, 

the J/TIP office should be ensconced in a structure and culture that is fully supportive of its Congressionally mandated mission. 

• Invest in context-specific research to guide policy and program design: Good policies and programs depend upon research that elucidates that the magnitude 

and dynamics of slavery in specific contexts. Investing in evaluation is also essential to learning and accountability. Our experience has been a demand for 

accountability and assessment, without investing in the requisite analyses. 

Slavery eradication would be enormously advanced by this combination of measures, all of which are eminently feasible. They would allow for the scaling up of 

anti-slavery interventions, which is the essential challenge over the coming years. 

An agenda for change exists. We must now choose whether to pursue this agenda. 

I have spent more than 33 years working on issues of global health, poverty alleviation and social justice. That experience has left me an optimist, largely because 

of the incredible power of the United States in the service of a great moral purpose. 

Over the least thirty years, child mortality has plummeted, maternal mortality has 

been dramatically reduced, antiretrovirals have stemmed the HIV pandemic and incredible progress has been made against dreadful, insidious tropical disease. These 

and other fundamental changes have helped hundreds of millions people live 

healthier, safer, more prosperous lives. 

The leadership role of the United States in these changes is undeniable and of 

incalculable importance. The Congress, successive administrations and the American people should take great pride in the investments and sacrifices that have 

made the world a better place. So I have a profound faith borne of experience in 

the ability of my country to be a force for good in the world. 

I believe that the radical reduction of slavery is a cause worthy of our nation and 

resonant with our history. This cause is not too hard for us if we are tenacious in 

its pursuit and build upon what has been learned. 

The next President of the United States, whoever that might be, will have the 

opportunity to become the Great Emancipator of the 21st century by asserting U.S. 


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leadership and galvanizing global action against slavery. This would be an enduring 

legacy. I am confident that this assertion of leadership in the struggle against slavery would have the support of the American people. There is no better place than 

the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to create a political environment conducive 

to bold action. It can do so by supporting an audacious agenda, such as the one I 

have suggested. 

Let me close on a personal note. My wife is a direct descendant of the Lovejoy 

family, who were very prominent abolitionists in the pre-Civil War era; Owen 

Lovejoy served in Congress and was a fierce advocate of slavery abolition. My grandfather, a jeweler and watchmaker by profession, survived Auschwitz as a slave laborer, repairing that which had been stolen by the Nazis. I think our forebears 

would be surprised to see me testifying before this committee, with slavery still a 

pressing issue. I like to think that they would also be gratified that the testimony 

of their lives, as advocates and survivors, continues to resonate. My most fervent 

wish is that your grandchildren and mine have a very different discussion, looking 

back on an evil that we helped eradicate. 

Thank you for your kind attention. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Ms. Chumbow. 

STATEMENT OF EVELYN CHUMBOW, SURVIVOR 

ADVOCATE, COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Thank you. Thank you for having me here. 

Again, my name is Evelyn Chumbow. I am a survivor activist for 

anti-human trafficking. 

I was trafficked from Cameroon to Silver Spring, Maryland, at 

the age of 9. My trafficker told my parents that I would receive a 

better education in the United States. However, instead of attending school, I was forced to cook, clean, and care for children of my 

captor. I would go days and weeks at a time without eating. Sometimes I would even have to stand throughout the whole night. 

Other times, my trafficker would beat me until she was too tired 

to continued. I was not allowed to sleep on a bed. I had to sleep 

on the floor. 

At 17, I discovered that I had a family member that lived in the 

area, which I ran into, which was my aunt—my auntie. She abused 

me and forced me to care for her daughter also. Eventually, I ran 

away from that and went to a local church, where I told a priest 

my story. Then I got in contact with Catholic Charities. My trafficker was investigated, and criminal charges were brought against 

my trafficker. I was placed into foster care and became a ward of 

state in D.C. 

I was happy to be in foster care, but the situation there was challenging. I was too old to go to high school, but I went to a public 

charter school. I was happy for the opportunity, but hated the 

school because of the other students. Most of them were either in 

gangs or were drug dealers. 

I refused to let the environment stop me from what I came here 

to achieve. Eventually, I earned my associate degree at the Community College of Baltimore County, and I just graduated from 

University of Maryland college with a bachelor in science in homeland security. 

When I turned 21 years old, I was no longer considered ward of 

state. I got in a house in Maryland, but still faced many struggles. 

For example, even though I was a green-card holder, I still did not 

have document necessary for many social services, including food 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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stamp. For me, many others in my situation, there is no additional 

help available after the foster care system. 

There are three main messages I want to leave with you today: 

First, a lot of people are really interested in trafficking survivor 

stories and want to help victim escape trafficking situation once 

the trafficking victim become a survivor, like me. Most continue to 

suffer and struggle. The difference is, few people pay attention or 

even care. I hope you will help change the situation. 

I have physical scars that I carry with me, scars that I have to 

explain to my husband and my young son. I also have many emotional scars. Survivor need psychological services. If I had the 

money to go to therapy, I would go. Access services is hard. Finding 

long-term care is hard. Our life were taken away from us. We need 

help getting back into everyday life. Some of us are able to do, but 

some are not able. Important for survivors to have long-term care 

for their trauma that we have gone through. 

Second, I want to ask you to dedicate your effort toward ending 

modern-day slavery. That means addressing sex trafficking and 

labor trafficking, and not separating the issue. There is still a bill 

in Congress right now, that just passed in the House, called the 

H.R. 4058 Preventing Sex Trafficking and Improving Opportunities 

for Youth in Foster Care. This legislation address the child welfare 

system, but does not include children like me, you know, and children trafficked for labor. It only include children trafficked for sex 

trafficking. As an advocate, I have seen many other example of policymakers focusing attention on sex trafficking while ignoring labor 

trafficking. This is painful for me, for anyone who have been exploited for labor. 

My last message as an anti-trafficking advocate is that we can 

make a long-term change. My hope is that you will reach out other 

survivors to hear and understand what they believe in importance. 

Here are a few things on my priority list: 

One, providing long-term assistant, including education and job 

opportunity for human trafficking survivors. 

Two, employing foreign-born survivors to educate law enforcement on cultural dynamics and to provide interpretations to help 

prevent misunderstanding when assisting foreign victims of human 

trafficking. 

The key to preventing modern-day slavery is education. Many 

victim come from impoverished area overseas, like Mr. Maurice 

mentioned, where there is little to no opportunity for advancement. 

People find themself in situation out of the need and do not understand the potential implications of their decision to leave or to go 

to another country. 

I am now a mother, a wife. I just recently fulfilled my long-term 

dream of getting my degree. I am also working at the biggest law 

firm in the world, Baker McKenzie law firm. I am helping survivors of trafficking to get jobs. 

I am proud of all my accomplishment and proud that I can be 

here today to speak out on behalf of human trafficking survivors. 

Thank you for this opportunity. 

[Ms. Chumbow’s prepared statement follows:] 


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17 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF EVELYN CHUMBOW

My name is Evelyn Chumbow. I am a survivor of human trafficking and an active 

anti-human trafficking advocate. I also serve on the United States Advisory Council 

on Human Trafficking, following my nomination by President Obama in 2015, where 

I advise the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 

in Persons (PITF). 

I was trafficked from Cameroon to Silver Spring at age 10. My trafficker told my 

parents that I would receive a better education in the United States. However, instead of attending school, I was forced to cook, clean and care for the children of 

my captor. Every time I would ask to go to school, my trafficker said I couldn’t go 

because I was too stupid. I would go days and weeks at a time without eating. 

Sometimes I would have to stand throughout the whole night. Other times, my trafficker would beat me until she was too tired to continue. She would call me ‘‘fat,’’ 

‘‘ugly,’’ and ‘‘dirty.’’ So dirty that I wasn’t allowed to sleep on a bed and had to sleep 

on the floor. 

At seventeen I discovered I had family living in the area and ran away to my 

aunt’s house. She also abused me and forced me to care for her daughter. Eventually, I ran away again and went to a local church, where the priest helped to put 

in contact with Catholic Charities. My trafficking was investigated, and criminal 

charges were brought against my trafficker. I was placed in foster care and became 

a ward of D.C. 

Foster care was a different, but also a difficult challenge. I was happy to be in 

foster care, but the situation there was also dangerous. I was placed in a low income 

neighborhood, and a lot of the other kids in the system were bad influences: drug 

dealers, prostitutes, gang members. I really wanted to get the education that was 

taken from me. I was too old to go to high school, but I went to a public charter 

school. I was happy for the opportunity to get an education, but hated school so 

much because the other students were gang members and drug dealers. But I refused to let that environment take over. I got my Associates degree from the Community College of Baltimore County and just graduated from the University of 

Maryland University College with a BS in Homeland Security. 

At age 21, I was no longer considered a ward of the state. I got a house in Maryland, but still faced many struggles. For example, even though I was a green card 

holder, I still didn’t have the documents necessary for many social services, including food stamps. There is no additional help available after you leave the foster care 

system. A lot of people are really interested in your story and getting you out of 

your situation, but after we are rescued, nobody cares what you do. 

Survivors need more help once they escape their traffickers. We continue to suffer. 

When I left my trafficker, I was talking to trees and still insisted on sleeping on 

the floor. I have physical scars that I carry with me, scars that I have to explain 

to my husband and young son. I also have many emotional scars. Survivors need 

psychological services. If I had the money to go to therapy, I would go. Accessing 

services is hard. Finding long-term care is hard. Our lives were taken away from 

us and we need help getting back into everyday life. Some of us are able to do it, 

but some are not able. It’s important for us to have long-term care for the trauma 

that we’ve gone through. 

I get calls everyday from girls who have been trafficked and need help. I don’t 

think that human trafficking should be only sex trafficking but all forms of modern 

day slavery, if not for me, for the next person. As an advocate, I have seen how society and even politicians talk about human trafficking, but it is rare to hear about 

real solutions, informed by survivors, that can make long-term change. We focus so 

much attention to sex trafficking that we lose sight of labor trafficking. We as foreign children that were brought in to the United State and forced to become slavers. 

I don’t see the difference between sex and labor trafficking, there are people that 

are in labor trafficking that also being sexually exploited everyday by their traffickers. I want us to focus on ending modern day slavery instead of separating the 

issue. 

There is a bill in Congress right now that just passed in the House called HR 

4058: Preventing Sex Trafficking and Improving Opportunities for Youth in Foster 

Care Act that is dealing with the child welfare system—but it doesn’t include children like me, children trafficked for labor. It only includes children trafficked for 

sex. 

I would like to recommend long-term assistance for survivors of human trafficking, including education and job opportunities. Additionally, foreign survivors 

should educate law enforcement officials on the cultural dynamics in relation to foreign victims of human trafficking. Language barriers create misunderstanding beVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:18 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\02 24 2016\022416-F

FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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tween foreign victims and law enforcement. Having survivor interpreters may help 

alleviate misunderstandings. 

The key prevention tool for modern day slavery is education. Many victims come 

from impoverished areas where there is little to no opportunity for advancement. 

People find themselves in these situations out of need and do not understand the 

potential implications of their decision to leave and go to another company. They 

have a skewed idea of reality that a foreign country will offer more opportunity, 

however many find themselves enslaved. Additionally, even those that have escaped 

from their situation find themselves re-victimized due to lack of job opportunities. 

With all that I have gone through, I am now a mother and wife, I just recently 

fulfilled my long term dream of getting degree, I am also working at one of the biggest law firms in the world and working to help survivors of trafficking to get a job. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Thank you very much. 

Leah? 

STATEMENT OF LEAH WARNERS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR, SURVIVOR ADVOCATE, SOUTHEASTERN UNITED 

STATES 

Ms. WARNERS. Okay. As Ms. McCain and Mr. Middleberg said 

earlier, I am honored to be here, sitting with all of you all. And I 

genuinely want to thank each and every one of you for the opportunity to let me share a glimpse of my story, something that has 

gone on for far too long that needs to be recognized and totally 

eradicated from our society. 

I was a typical teenager. I came from a loving Christian family, 

had lots of close friends, but one bad decision ultimately changed 

my life forever. I became addicted to drugs, and the one person 

that I thought was going to help me break free of my addiction 

was, in fact, a trafficker of young women for the sex trade. 

It seems strange to even use the term ‘‘modern-day slavery’’ in 

our country, but it went from something that I knew next to nothing about to the way that I was forced to live my life for the next 

7 years. 

I knew of slavery from what my history classes taught me. It 

ended. Unfortunately for so many living today, that is just not true. 

This is a way of life they are forced to live, how to think, when and 

where to eat, sleep, and work. Slavery is alive and well today. Modern-day slavery, or as my pimp referred to it, ‘‘white slavery,’’ it is 

simply a way for monsters to make a very good living. 

Throughout the 7 years of being trafficked, I along with other 

young women were used as a commodity by one pimp and were 

bounced around from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; San Diego, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Scottsdale, Arizona; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and 

Denver, Colorado, for the sake of making money to enable our pimp 

to live the lavish lifestyle that he wanted to live. 

We were used to glamorize and entice more young girls to ultimately feel a sense of initial comfort, only to be brainwashed into 

a dark cult of servitude. We were trained for one thing: to make 

him money. He was, and still is, the most manipulative, calculated 

person that I have ever encountered. 

My heart bleeds for the victims that are still under the control 

of others living similar lives. I was fortunate in the fact that I had 

a loving, caring family and close friends who welcomed me back 

with open arms, helping me to find my new normal. This was all 

done with the assistance of A–21. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
19 

Unfortunately, so many other victims are not as fortunate as I, 

coming from backgrounds that include abuse and neglect, and may 

fall through the cracks of what limited social services may be available to them. With the absence of a strong support system, these 

survivors are more likely than not to find themselves back in similar or even worse situations. 

If you are not familiar with A–21, let me just tell you a little bit 

about what they are doing worldwide. They have been operating for 

8 years, currently working in 10 countries directly with survivors 

of trafficking across four continents; specifically, USA, Thailand, 

Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and South Africa. They have provided 

direct assistance to countless victims, some victims being as young 

as 4 years old. They have provided assistance not only in sex trafficking, but in forced labor, forced begging, domestic servitude, and 

organized theft rings. They have a comprehensive aftercare to 

bring the survivor all the way from the point of rescue to escape 

to independent living. This includes full medical care, trauma rehabilitation programs, education support, and social enterprise opportunities. A–21 also offers legal representation for their survivors 

and have seen significant sentences on human trafficking across 

Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and South Africa, so far. 

Without A–21, I would not have been able to walk this road to 

healing. Without the constant support and dedication of A–21, I am 

not exactly sure where I would be today. Cara Lee Murphy, who 

is the U.S. aftercare manager, has gone above and beyond to ensure that my past does not define my future. She continues to push 

me forward and to excel in whatever endeavor I choose. Without 

her, I could have just been another girl. 

Today, I want to stress the importance of education of human 

trafficking. It does exist, and not only in third-world countries. It 

is a way of life for criminals in the heartland of America. I owe my 

recovery to the A–21 Campaign. 

A–21, which is not only for abolishing and educating our society 

on modern-day slavery, but for the recovery of victims, such as myself, throughout the entire process. And when I tell you that it is 

a process, it is a process, a slow day-by-day process. Coming from 

a situation like I was in and getting thrown back into normal society, you have to find your new normal. 

Now that we know the truth about human trafficking, we cannot 

turn our backs and pretend that this problem does not exist. Therefore, I cannot express to each of you, in these few minutes, how important it is that we concerned citizens, educators, legislators, nonprofits, and law enforcement educate our youth and communities 

on what human trafficking is, how pimps work, who they profile. 

It is a dirty secret in our society, but we can prevent others from 

falling prey to these predators. This was something I was never 

taught. This is a cancer growing stronger each day, and it is up to 

each of us to do our part to stop it. I encourage you to take a serious look at this problem and do everything in your power to assist 

agencies like the A–21 Campaign. 

Thank you for your time, and God bless. 

[Ms. Warners’s prepared statement follows:] 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
20 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LEAH WARNERS

First of all, I want to genuinely thank each and every one of you for the opportunity of letting me share my story in the hopes that something that has gone on 

for far too long will be recognized and totally eradicated from our society. 

I was a typical teenager, came from a loving Christian family and had lots of close 

friends. But one bad decision would ultimately change my life forever. I became addicted to drugs and the one person I thought was helping me break free of my addiction was in fact a trafficker of young women for the sex trade. 

It seems strange to even use the term ‘‘Modern-day slavery’’ in our country, but 

It went from something I knew next to nothing about, to the way I was forced to 

live my life for seven years. I knew of slavery from what my history classes taught 

me, it ended. Unfortunately, for many people today, this is just not the case. This 

is a way of life they are forced to live, how to think, when/where to eat, sleep and 

work. Slavery is alive and well today. Modern Day slavery, or as my pimp referred 

to it, ‘‘white slavery,’’ is simply a way for monsters to make a very good living. 

Throughout the seven years of being trafficked, I—along with other young 

women—were used as a commodity by one pimp and were bounced around from 

Myrtle Beach, SC; Miami, FL; Houston, TX, San Diego, CA; New Orleans, LA; 

Scottsdale, AZ; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH and Denver, CO—for the sake of making 

money to enable our pimp to live the lavish lifestyle he wanted to live. We were 

used to glamorize and entice more young girls to ultimately feel a sense of initial 

comfort, only to be brainwashed into a dark cult of servitude. We were trained for 

one thing, to make him money. He was and still is, the most manipulative, calculated person I’ve ever encountered. 

My heart bleeds for the victims that are still under the control of others, living 

similar lives. I was fortunate in that I had a loving and caring family and close 

friends who welcomed me back with open arms, helping me to find my new normal. 

This was all done with the assistance of A-21. Unfortunately, so many other victims 

are not so fortunate as I, coming from backgrounds that include abuse and neglect 

and may fall through the cracks of what limited social services may be available 

to them. With the absence of a strong support system, these survivors more likely 

than not, will find themselves back in similar or even worse situations. 

If you’re not familiar with A-21, let me just tell you about what they are doing 

worldwide: 

• They’ve been operating for 8 years, currently working in 10 countries directly 

with survivors of trafficking across four continents, specifically USA, Thailand, 

Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine and South Africa. 

• They have provided direct assistance to countless victims, some victims being 

as young as four years old. 

• They have assisted victims not only in sex trafficking, but in forced labor, forced 

begging, domestic servitude and organized theft rings. 

• They have a comprehensive after care to bring the survivor all the way from 

the point of rescue/escape to independent living. This includes full medical care, 

trauma rehabilitation programs, education support and social enterprise opportunities. 

• A-21 also offers legal representation for their survivors and have seen significant sentences on human trafficking across Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria and 

South Africa so far. 

Without A-21, I would not have been able to walk this road to healing. Without 

the constant support and dedication of A-21 I’m not sure exactly where I would be 

today. Cara Lee Murphy, who is the U.S. aftercare manager has gone above and 

beyond to ensure that my past doesn’t define my future. She continues to push me 

forward and to excel in whatever endeavor I choose. Without her, I could have just 

been another girl forgotten. 

Today I want to stress the importance of education on human trafficking—it does 

exist and not only in third world countries. It is a way of life for criminals in the 

heartland of America. I owe my recovery to the A-21 campaign, which is not only 

for abolishing and educating our society on modern day slavery, but for the recovery 

of victims such as myself throughout the entire process. And when I tell you that 

it’s a process, IT IS A SLOW, DAY-BY-DAY, PROCESS. Coming from a situation 

like I was in and getting thrown back into ‘‘normal’’ society, you have to find your 

new normal. 

Now that we know the truth about human trafficking, we cannot turn our backs 

and pretend that this problem does not exist. Therefore, I cannot express to each 

of you in these few minutes, how important it is that we—concerned citizens, eduVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:18 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\02 24 2016\022416-F

FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
21 

cators, legislators, non-profits, and law enforcement—educate our youth and communities on what human trafficking is, how pimps work and who they profile. It’s 

a dirty secret in our society, but we can prevent others from falling prey to these 

predators. This was something I was never taught. This is a cancer, growing stronger each day and it is up to each of us to do our part to stop it. 

I encourage you to take a serious look at this problem and do everything you can 

in your power to assist agencies like the A-21 Campaign. Thank you for your time 

and God bless you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much for your testimony, and to 

both of our victims for their courage in being here. 

And, Leah, was the perpetrator of this crime convicted? 

Ms. WARNERS. Yes, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. And were you in a situation where you were concerned about retribution from him? 

Ms. WARNERS. From him? 

The CHAIRMAN. Yeah. 

Ms. WARNERS. No. 

The CHAIRMAN. So, you were away and were not worried about 

that. 

Ms. WARNERS. Well, I am still worried about it, but, during the 

time, I was just more concerned about him actually facing prison 

time and not walking. 

The CHAIRMAN. And you mentioned education and awareness. 

And again, much of that is occurring today. But, other than making 

people aware of the vulnerability of this occurring, what do you 

think are the most important tools in ending this? 

Ms. WARNERS. Education. And I know you just said that, you 

know, we are educating people, but if we let people know exactly 

what to look for, it will put a stop to it or decrease the chances of 

falling victim to it. 

The CHAIRMAN. Cindy, one of the things that we have seen 

around the world is that slavery is a crime of opportunity, that, in 

every country in the world, slavery is against the law. But, as was 

mentioned by Mr. Middleberg, a lot of times it just goes with the 

culture there, the police departments, the prosecutors are not pursuing it. And we have seen, on the other hand, when there is a 

price to pay, when people know there is a price to pay, that there 

are huge decreases in the amount of slavery that takes place, and 

a culture change within those departments when they see convictions taking place. Has that been your experience? 

Ms. MCCAIN. Very much so. from my own personal experience, 

I think accountability is key here to any of these countries. Many 

of them have great laws on the books, but they just simply either 

do not enforce them or do not care. And so, as was mentioned by 

Mr. Middleberg and others, the importance of making sure that 

these countries are accountable for what they are doing, and that 

they are, indeed, doing what they say they are doing, is really important. And awarding countries a move up on the TIP report because they have some other reason to be generous to the world— 

I mean, it just does not make any sense to me, because these are 

women and children, particularly children, that are at stake. 

The CHAIRMAN. I know Mr. Middleberg mentioned that, and I do 

want you to know there have been reforms relative to the TIP 

issue. And, as Senator Cardin mentioned, all of us are stressing 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
22 

that much more. But, I agree with you, at the highest levels, it 

needs to be dealt with. 

Do the two of you believe that if the United States took leadership and was able to put together, through public/private partnerships and other governments, the resources that you talked about, 

Mr. Middleberg, do you think we could have the same effect on 

modern slavery that we have had on HIV around the world? 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Mr. Chairman, I have been doing this kind of 

work—global health, poverty alleviation, social justice—for well 

over 33 years. And, in that time, I have seen absolutely amazing, 

remarkable, profound, positive change. Child mortality rates plummeted, maternal mortality rates plummeted, the HIV pandemic 

halted, you know, many other amazing changes that we would 

never have expected 35 years ago. And in every instance, it has 

been when the United States of America asserted global leadership. 

There is no substitute for the United States. And I am profoundly 

proud of my country, because of what I have seen. And, because of 

that, I actually have—I am an optimist. I started my remarks by 

saying that my message today is really one of optimism and hope, 

because I know that when the United States of America ties itself 

to great moral purpose and invests tenaciously in that issue, that 

we always, always see profound change. And I believe that the moment has come for the United States to once again assert its moral 

leadership on this issue and make the requisite commitment, which 

will require sacrifice and resources, but the results will be worth 

whatever sacrifice we need to make, and we will live in a safer and 

better world for that. 

The CHAIRMAN. And I would just ask all of you if the resources 

that you are talking about, when you look at it on an international 

basis, is small, when you know that $150 billion each year in profits is being generated, by the way, by mostly smaller businesses— 

most of these are not mafia-oriented entities; they are small 

businesspeople that, unfortunately, because they know they are not 

going to be prosecuted, continue to do what they were doing—so, 

is it your belief that—is there anything that you know of, from the 

standpoint of the American people showing moral leadership 

around the world, that can be solved with a small amount of resources when you think about everybody in the world participating, 

when you think about the philanthropies that exist to support 

these kinds of efforts—can you imagine anything more important 

for the United States to be involved in, in this moment? 

Ms. MCCAIN. No, I cannot, when you are talking about children. 

And, in my belief, I completely agree with what Mr. Middleberg 

said, but I also believe that we have more to do here within our 

own borders. I hesitate again to bring up the Super Bowl, but large 

organizations and large events like that are really important to 

this issue. And yet, somehow we let our NFL chief and the other 

people that are part of all these kind of overlook it and give those 

of us that work in this kind of the ‘‘boys will be boys’’ deal, ‘‘do not 

worry about it’’ attitude. I think, until we can hold ourselves accountable in this, it is going to be difficult, in my opinion, to be 

able to be successful around the world. 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Senator, if I might just add to that, please, 

that clearly with a widely dispersed crime—as you said, a series of 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
23 

small businesses—it requires effort at large scale. And this cannot 

be done with the level of resources that are currently available. I 

would go back to my call for investing 2 cents for every dollar the 

traffickers are putting in their pockets. That would finally begin to 

put the right level of resources on the table to combat this crime. 

And your reference to the fact that these are not mafia—part of 

my optimism is that our experience is that, in some sense, these 

traffickers are incredibly weak. What has been really amazing to 

me is, in fact, how easily they can be toppled when concentrated 

effort is put at them. These are not great chieftains of major organized crime. But, when they are confronted—it is easy for them to 

do their crimes at a small level, when no one is paying attention 

and no one is fighting back. But, when they are pushed, they will 

give up. And that has been our experience, even with the modest 

resources we can bring to bear. 

The CHAIRMAN. I was a bad traffic cop yesterday, and I am going 

to do better today. I just want to ask one last question. 

Is it true that, in the United States and around the world, there 

are numbers of organizations, like yours, like IJM, like A–21 and 

others, that already know what the best practices are in dealing 

with these issues? And if we could just marshal that together in 

an international effort, we have the ability, we just need to pull it 

together and make it happen. Is that true or false? 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Absolutely, sir. That was part of my reference 

to the fact that we have evolved this three-pronged approach. Different organizations specialize in different approaches. But, the 

knowledge and the experience we have gained over the last 15 

years is actually quite remarkable. And we have the ability to 

make a huge different, given what we have learned, if the resources are available. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Thank you very much. 

Senator Cardin. 

Senator CARDIN. Well, first, I want to thank all of our witnesses, 

but I particularly want to thank Leah and Evelyn for putting a face 

on this issue. You know, we hear the millions, but they are real 

people. Each one is a person with a story and a family. 

Evelyn, you point out that parents want a better life for their 

children. And, in many countries around the world, they do not see 

a future for their children. So, they get into a circumstance where 

they think they are doing the best for their child—to be educated 

and an opportunity in the great America—only to find that they 

were fraudulently misled for economic advantage of the trafficker, 

not their child, and to become a circumstance where the child has 

been victimized. 

And, Leah, it happens here in the United States. Here we think 

we are the country that has protected our citizens, and yet the 

vulnerabilities are here, the greed is here. And you put a face on 

it. 

So, for both of you, the courage to come before our committee, 

thank you. It is so important for Americans to understand, beyond 

the numbers, of the lives that have been changed forever as a result of the activities of traffickers. 

And, you know, we could have Rohingya and Cambodian men 

and boys who have been trafficked through the fishing industry in 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
24 

Thailand, and we could have a person here that would show how 

that person’s life was destroyed. And, in a way, we support that by 

the fish we consume in this country. So, we need to draw the lines 

and understand what is involved here. We could certainly understand ISIL and Boko Haram and the terrorist organizations and 

how they traffic in order to support their activities. 

So, I thank you for putting a face on it. 

I just really want to underscore what both, Mr. Middleberg and 

Ms. McCain, you have said about U.S. leadership. Let me take you 

back many years ago, in the Helsinki Commission, where we raised 

the issue, internationally, of trafficking. This is going back 30 years 

ago. And I particularly want to mention Congressman Smith and 

his leadership on this issue. We, in the OSCE, raised the issue and 

brought it to the attention. And OSCE responded and developed 

technical support for all the states of Europe and Central Asia. We 

have a person designated to monitor what is going on. We have developed best practices. And it has made a difference. That was U.S. 

leadership that brought a change. We could use that—by the way, 

we do not have a similar mechanism in Asia, we do not have a 

similar mechanism in Africa, or even in our own hemisphere, as we 

do within the OSCE. 

Second area where U.S. leadership made a huge difference, the 

passage of the legislation to set up the Trafficking in Persons Report. And it is the best standard we have to objectively evaluate 

the efforts being made in every state in the world, including the 

United States. Every state can improve. Many states have yet to 

enact enforceable laws. Many states still looked at the victims as 

criminals rather than as victims. Many states have not set up centers that can protect the victims from trafficking. There is still a 

lot more that we know, on a uniform basis, that can be done. And 

the Trafficking in Person Report establishes the standard. 

And that is why—I think the work we did, Mr. Chairman, this 

past year on the report—I certainly understand the explanations 

givin to us by the State Department on the improved ratings of 

some states. 

But, let me tell you, Mr. Middleberg, your point about high-level 

engagement—I think we got their attention. We let them know 

that trafficking will not be compromised because of a trade agenda 

or because of trying to establish better diplomatic relations with 

other countries. We are not going to sacrifice our principles on trafficking. And I think that was made very clear. And I—as I mentioned, Senator Flake is now here, and Senator Coons—we were 

countries in the southern part of Africa, and I think now the leaders of those countries understand America’s priority on trafficking. 

And the leaders are now better informed about that. It makes a difference. 

So, U.S. leadership, to me, is critically important. It goes to 

whether the President of the United States will have it on the 

agenda when he has a meeting with his counterpart in some other 

country, or the Secretary of State, or that, when our Ambassador 

sets up the contacts in-country, whether that is on that top list. 

And that is leadership. And that is our responsibility, collectively, 

to make sure that that is part of the discussion. And we will continue to use those opportunities. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
25 

And it is what Chairman Corker is talking about. It is amazing 

how little resources it really takes to counter this activity. You said 

2 cents of every dollar that is earned by the profiteers. That would 

make a huge consequential difference on this area. 

So, I really believe we can do a lot better. We have made 

progress, but there is so much more that needs to be done. 

And what concerns me, and the question I will just ask the 

panel—we look at the numbers. We know the numbers. And we 

look to how few have been identified, how few of the victims have 

been identified, how few cases are brought in the courts, how few 

convictions we have. It is a shockingly low number. So, there are 

people today in the United States, in every country in the world, 

who are being victimized that we have not been able to reach, in 

huge numbers. Only a small fraction we have been able to provide 

relief. So, what can we do to have better opportunities to protect 

the people who are currently victimized and to bring successful 

prosecutions against those who are trafficking? 

Ms. MCCAIN. Well, if I can take that a little bit, here. 

I think the best bet, as was mentioned by our two survivors, is 

education and awareness. The approach that we have taken back 

home is, we have compiled a huge task force that is actually educating the community. You know, where we have not been successful integrating the schools on this issue—and, in my opinion, I 

think we should be talking about this issue at the elementary 

level—but, education awareness, education awareness, education 

awareness is the only way we are going to be able to, in my opinion, to be able to really make a difference on this issue within the 

borders of the United States. 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Senator, let me add to Mrs. McCain’s statement with a couple of suggestions that emanate from our work. 

One is to support advocacy coalitions of civil society in the countries that are most affected. We do so in places like Nepal and 

Haiti and Congo. And that becomes a force where civil society begins to hold the government accountable on this issue. It needs— 

this is, again, where—in part, tied to the resource issue—because 

those advocacy coalitions need resources, they need training, they 

need technical assistance about how to mount advocacy campaigns 

where they can hold their own governments accountable. So, that 

would be one important step, is to have loud civil society voices in 

the countries that are most affected. 

Second, the importance of training programs for law enforcement. We should not assume that police know how to address this 

crime. What we have found is that often they do not know what 

their own laws say. They are not well trained. They are terribly 

under-resourced. They do not know how to investigate the crime. 

The judiciary do not know how to deal with the crime. So, there 

is a need for training of the concerned government officials, like police and judges and magistrates, and so on. 

Third is the importance, actually, of training journalists. Part of 

what we have done is actually trained media on how to do stories 

on slavery, because they do not know about it, frankly, any more 

than anybody else. You train reporters. They begin to do stories in 

the local media, and that then shines a spotlight on the problem, 

and it becomes much harder for the local authorities, the local poVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:18 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\02 24 2016\022416-F

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lice captain, to say, ‘‘Well, I do not know.’’ And the reporter says, 

‘‘Well, it took me a week to find all these cases. Why can you not?’’ 

So, there are very concrete steps that can be taken that help accelerate prosecution of the crime. 

Senator CARDIN. Thank you. That is very, very helpful. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. And—sorry—no, just to—I agree with everything 

that Mrs. McCain said and Maurice said. Really, the number-one 

key, I would say, education. And definitely educate, not only the 

law enforcement, but the embassies, especially coming from another country to the United State. A lot of our embassies do not 

know how to deal with us, you know, victims. I think that we need 

to do more training when it comes to a lot of these embassies. I 

just speak, for example, because even though my case was investigated,by my embassy. The government in Cameroon knew my situation, but it really hurt me that I could not go back to my country 

because they thought I was not Cameroonian. You know, that hurt 

me a lot, that I could not get a Cameroonian passport. And I really 

do appreciate everything the United State has done. They have 

definitely done a lot of work when it comes to human trafficking. 

I think Mrs. McCain mentioned you guys are the leaders. All these 

other countries look up to you to implement a lot of their laws, and 

they really do not implement those laws even though you have 

them in those books and in things like that, because it is sad that 

I was brought in this country at a age of 9, but I could not go back 

to see my parents. You know, I had to go to court, I had to face 

so many different obstacles, you know. And my government did 

so—or no—not a lot of things to help me. You know, I am going 

to say I love the fact that I am American, really, because it just 

showed that you guys care a lot for your citizen. 

But, I am fighting to hope that countries in Africa can also fight 

for their citizen, fight for their children, like you guys fight for your 

citizen. I would love my country to fight for me, because that is 

where my parents are. Imagine not seeing your parents from the 

age of 9 until 18, you know, and this is the only place I know. So, 

we need to do more with the embassies and really have this government and this country to be responsible for their citizens. 

Senator CARDIN. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

In order to have the hearing today and get all the witnesses, we 

had to schedule today instead of tomorrow, and I have got to leave 

for something that is been set for a long time. And I think Senator 

Cardin is going to take over. We trust each other eminently. And 

on this issue, who would not? 

Let me just say to the witnesses, the victims, I think all of us 

become aware of this, but, until we meet people like you who have 

gone through this—my experience with this was in the Philippines, 

but it is you that put the face on this crime. And we thank you 

for being here. And I think once people hear stories like yours, it 

is very difficult to turn your back on the issue and move along, do 

your business in an ordinary way and not want to do something 

about this. So, we thank you both for being here. We thank all the 

witnesses for being here. 

And, to that, Senator Gardner. 

Senator GARDNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
27 

I reiterate the thanks. Thank you, to the advocates, thank you, 

to the panelists. Mrs. McCain, welcome to the committee. 

I had, last week during the work period, a conversation with the 

special agent in charge of the FBI of Colorado, Agent Ravenel. And 

we had a conversation about some of the challenges that they were 

facing in Colorado, what some of his top priorities were. And, 

amongst the conversations, we started talking about human trafficking issues, modern-day slavery. And he made a point that, even 

downtown Denver, on the 16th Street Mall—he told a very poignant story about a girl who looked homeless. And he said, in fact, 

if a girl is homeless or appears homeless on the 16th Street Mall, 

that, within 2 hours, that girl is approached, offered food, shelter, 

help—not by somebody who is being kindhearted and good-natured, 

but somebody who wishes to start a lifetime of trafficking. And 

what a dramatic turn in that young person’s life that is. 

And so, it is not something that we talk about enough, I do not 

think. And I am glad that you are here to do it in this committee, 

and this Congress is taking great strides to talk about it as much 

as we can. 

And so, both your statement, Ms. Chumbow, to talk about, ‘‘I 

wish that my country fight for me.’’ I wrote it down when you said 

it, ‘‘I want my country to fight for me.’’ That is a pretty incredible 

and powerful statement. 

And, Mrs. McCain, in your testimony, you said, ‘‘Human trafficking is not just an international issue, and we, as a country, 

need to address it in our own States and communities.’’ 

When we passed the human trafficking bill last year, one of the 

components of it was language that we helped add to talk about, 

you know, while we are addressing the challenge around the globe, 

that we also have to look inward, and we cannot forget that this 

is happening in places like I just mentioned, where the FBI is worried about the 2 hours that somebody is going to be approached 

from the time that they show up on the 16th Street Mall to the 

time somebody comes to try to engage them in human trafficking. 

And so, I guess the question I have is, What more can we be 

doing at the State level to combat human trafficking? What more 

can the Federal Government be partnering to do with the State 

level to combat this scourge? 

Ms. MCCAIN. Well, in my opinion, and from the experience that 

we have had in Arizona, it really comes from within. The Federal 

Government can be very helpful, and already has been very helpful 

on this issue, with funding in certain areas. But, you know, we are 

dealing with a—an epidemic, here. And this epidemic is not just 

something that we see, but it is also something that is on the Internet. And we are going to have to face the fact that, unless we figure out how to deal with organizations like Backpage and others 

that are like that, we are not going to get ahead of this. Education 

was mentioned. All—you know, all the things that we have all 

talked about—treating them like victims, making sure our police 

force knows and understands and are trained in this. But, I—in my 

opinion, I think we need to work collectively, not only as States, 

but nationally, together. I think there are a lot of people doing a 

lot of good things, and I think a lot of things are being duplicated. 

And I think a little—in my opinion, a little better organization 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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would be very helpful, on the ground at least. And that is how I— 

I work on the ground. 

Senator GARDNER. In terms of that duplication, is anybody sort 

of looking at that? Is there a place where we can look at and say, 

‘‘This is being duplicated. This is the service’’? Or is that something 

that maybe it is appropriate role for Congress to take a look at? 

Ms. MCCAIN. I do not know if anyone is doing that. I know, at 

the McCain Institute, we are trying to figure out just who is—you 

know, where all the pieces of the puzzle are with all of this. But, 

I—other organizations, like Mr. Middleberg and others, may have 

a better answer to that. But, just from my own experience, duplication is a problem with this, and people not talking to each other, 

the lack of communications between NGOs and governments and 

local law enforcement, et cetera. 

Senator GARDNER. And feel free, the other panelists, if you would 

like to join in on this. 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Well, I would bring to your attention, actually, 

a report we did with Deloitte, called the Freedom Ecosystem Report. And one of the issues that we actually highlighted in that report is the importance of partnership and collaboration and coordination, that there is a degree of atomization in the efforts against 

slavery, and that we would all benefit from putting in place a better architecture that would allow for partnership and 

complementarity and collaboration. And there are organizations, 

NGOs, that are taking steps, actually, to try to work with each 

other and really have candid conversation about, ‘‘Well, you know, 

what is it that we are not doing, or we should be doing, or we could 

do better in order to work together?’’ 

So, this is not—I mean, forgive me—it is not a U.S. example, but 

we recently entered into a joint venture with an organization called 

Beyond the Border, where we really said, Look, we both work in 

Haiti, we are both addressing the child domestic servitude issue, 

we both have similar philosophies, so we are going—we signed a 

formal agreement to pool our resources so that we could work together truly collaboratively and have one integrated structure between the two organizations, you know, in a sense, a real formal 

joint venture, so that we could be more effective with the resources 

each of us can bring to bear. And I think more of those kinds of 

conversations, where we can put aside our organizational egos or, 

frankly, the turfs between different agencies, it would be really 

helpful. 

Senator GARDNER. If the other two would like to, or not, that is 

fine. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. So, yeah, I agree with what Maurice said, you 

know, collaboration and unity, working together, because a lot of 

times when we talk about human trafficking, really, like I mentioned earlier, we often just hear about sex trafficking, you know, 

and the focus is so much on sex trafficking that you forget victims 

like me, other victims. You know, I have always tried to, when I 

advocate, I believe in unity. Labor and sex trafficking, to me, I 

really do not see any difference, because a lot of time people that 

are labor trafficked, they are sexually exploited, too, every day. 

But, we do not get to hear that story, you know. And it is really 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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a lot of these NGOs, like unity is very important. And if you really 

want to work on this crime, helping to end this crime. 

These are human beings we are talking about. You are talking 

about people, people that have family, you know, that their lives 

have been taken away, they have been treated like they are nothing. And it does not really matter what form of trafficking they experience. It is just sad that—to know that they went through that. 

And we need—we—because there is so much separation in this 

movement, when it comes to, like, training. A lot of the people that 

get to train law enforcement are usually survivors of sex trafficking. It would be nice to have survivors that are foreign to train 

law enforcement also, because that way they can also understand 

where we are coming from. I did not ask to be brought in this country. I was just a young lady that had a dream to want to marry 

Will Smith. [Laughter.] 

Ms. CHUMBOW. But, it happened that I was brought here. I did 

not ask to be brought here. And then I am here, I cannot get a lot 

of services, I do not get a lot of help because I am a foreigner, you 

know, and so there are many of us foreigners that were brought 

here without our knowledge. And we really appreciate your help, 

but then I feel like we should also be getting the type of services 

that you offer your citizens, because we were not asked to be 

brought here. If you are not going to offer us those services, then, 

okay, make our country, like I mentioned earlier, to fight for us, 

then, tell them to work on us, to help us, or to bring us back in 

our country and we can get jobs there. 

Senator GARDNER. Thank you. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Thank you. 

Senator CARDIN [presiding]. We have developed special protections for victims who are—come to our country, so there is a process, as you know, for protection. We may need to try to strengthen 

that, because your point about being able to return to your country 

is a issue that we may be able to handle, but, in a way, Cameroon 

also is involved in making those types of decisions, who can visit 

their country. So—but, we do recognize victims of trafficking as a 

special category. 

Senator Coons? 

Senator COONS. Thank you, Senator Cardin. 

Leah and Evelyn, thank you for your courage, for sharing your 

stories today. And I thank God for the volunteers and the activists 

who have helped bring you to safety and helped sustain you and 

support you in your testimony here today and in your return to a 

normal life, whatever that really means, and to your willingness 

and courage to share both about sex trafficking and about domestic 

labor trafficking, and to help encourage all of us, Senators from 

both parties, to focus on this issue, that it is a real problem, a real 

human rights problem here in our own country and around the 

world. 

Also, to the organizations, from ENDIT to A–21 to Free the 

Slaves, Maurice, thank you. And Mrs. McCain, from our first trip 

together to Liberia, I have been hugely impressed with your passion and your persistence, your work across the world. Thank you. 

And, to Senator Cardin, thank you for being a great advocate. In 

the trip that we just concluded, we met with several heads of state, 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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and Senator Cardin was impressive, engaged, focused, and, frankly, 

aggressive about the TIP Report and about trafficking in persons 

in a way that dominated our conversation with one president, and 

clearly got under his skin a little bit, and challenged several other 

heads of state and national leaders. It was an honor to travel with 

you and to see you in action really pushing this issue. 

And, to Senator Corker, who has left, I am proud to be a cosponsor of his bill, and I think all of us are grateful for his initiative 

and his focus, his success in getting a dedicated appropriation and 

now, hopefully, legislation through this Congress, is an encouraging reminder of how bipartisan this committee has been under 

the leadership of Senators Corker and Cardin. 

Let me just ask, if I can, two fairly straightforward questions: 

For Evelyn and for Leah, if you might, what was the most important resource or support, what helped sort of bring you back to the 

world of the living and the free more than anything else? 

And then, if I might, for Maurice and for Cindy, you have talked 

about community-based abolition as a strategy for helping deliver 

on bold higher-level action and effective partnership. I know A–21 

has four P’s that includes prosecution and prevention, but, Cindy, 

I would be interested in what else you see as key to a strategy that 

will scale this up and make a difference. And if you could just take 

the rest of my 5 minutes and answer in series, I would really appreciate it. 

Thank you. 

Ms. WARNERS. Okay. And I just wanted to mention before, when 

they were speaking about, you know, the the whole thing, it starts 

with education. Okay? We need to educate on what to look for, you 

know, the girl in Denver who was on the streets for 2 hours. If she 

would have known, possibly, what a trafficker would approach her 

with, that education—— 

Senator COONS. It is the prevention education. 

Ms. WARNERS. The prevention education, absolutely. 

And then, for the victim, what has gotten you through the 

most—for me, it has been the constant support of A–21 and the 

therapy that they have been able to help provide, because you cannot go back into society after going through years and years of 

what me and so many other people go through. So, you need a constant support. 

Senator COONS. Thank you. I am grateful for your return. 

Evelyn? 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Same thing. For me, really, I really love all the 

NGOs, because they understand this issue, and they were there at 

firsthand, you know, and it is just one person that was there that— 

like, some of us, like Leah mentioned, is education, not knowing, 

because I did not know I was a survivor of human trafficking. How 

will I know if I was a slave, you know, if it was not for the person 

that was working at that NGO that identified me as that, you 

know? And they really were my backbones, the NGO that helped 

me, helped me to understand that—taken abuse—you know, they 

were abusing me, and like all the scars I have in my body, they 

were firsthand and just knowing that. 

But, knowing that, what kept me going was the fact that I knew 

that my mother sent me here to get an education, because, again, 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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we feel like coming to this country, we would get better education 

than somewhere else. So, never giving up on that education, despite all the obstacles that I went through in foster care, out, and 

everything, I just keep fighting and knowing that I have to be better for myself. Yes, I could get therapy, but a lot of the therapists 

could not understand my situation. 

Senator COONS. Thank you, Evelyn. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Thank you. 

Senator COONS. Maurice? 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Senator, thank you for your question and for 

your support. 

So, what I would refer to are sort of five basic elements that really make these community-based strategies effective: 

The first is to build the capacity of local organizations that are 

known and trusted by the communities that are at risk so that 

they are more capable and have the skills and resources they need 

to protect their communities. 

The second piece is educating and mobilizing the communities 

themselves. They do not know their rights under law, they may not 

know how to migrate safely. So, there is an educational component 

to this. There is a psychological component, because people who 

have lived under oppression for a long time, in a sense, have a selfimposed imprisonment from long histories. Many people are actually born into slavery in different contexts, so you have to sort of 

change the mindset. And part of that is also developing anti-slavery committees at the village level so that there is a sort of neighborhood watch that serves that protective function. 

Add to that enhancing legal protection, as I mentioned before, 

the training of local police, and the other steps that I mentioned 

with regard to enhancing legal protections, increasing access to 

basic services. Children who are out of school are more likely to be 

trafficked. Families that do not have access to basic affordable 

healthcare will encounter a financial crisis. That is actually the 

single most prominent cause, that they encounter a financial crisis 

that drives them to the loan shark. Why do they go to the loan 

shark? Because there is not a legitimate source of credit that is 

available. So, increasing access to schools, healthcare, credit reduces the vulnerabilities that lead people into trafficking. 

And then, as this transformation takes place in communities, 

and I want to tell you, it is incredibly powerful. You see a community that has both a reality and a mindset of servitude undergoes 

this transformational process and begins to assert itself, and that 

is where the liberations begin to occur, because the community 

itself begins to resist the trafficker and the slaveholder. They come 

out of slavery or where they contact authorities, there are raids on 

the workplaces and so forth. 

Then what is important, as my friend Evelyn has been saying, 

is to provide appropriate services to the survivors so, as Leah and 

Evelyn have mentioned, they can come back and live lives in freedom and dignity. 

And part of that, just to add, Senator Cardin, to my earlier response, has to do with providing legal representation for the survivors, because if they get legal representation, then that helps us 

go after the trafficker, because they have their own lawyer or legal 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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aide who is representing them, prepares them to be witnesses, and 

so forth. 

So, if you put this package together, and you apply it consistently, it works. And not only does it work consistently, it is not instantaneous, it may take 3 years to get a community from being 

in servitude to being free. But, it does work, and it can be done efficiently. Our program in India, it costs us about $400 a year per village. So, it takes $1200 to move us—a community from slavery to 

freedom. So, we know this can be done, and we know it can be done 

efficiently. 

Senator COONS. Thank you. 

Ms. MCCAIN. The area that I have worked in has been specifically sex trafficking, so the one area that I think that we have not 

addressed as a community—and I will talk global—as far as the 

United States goes and the world—is the customer and how we 

deal with the customer, and what penalties or how each community 

deals with the customer. Some communities are willing to deal 

with this topic, some are not. And it is—you know, it is across the 

board with all that. But, in my opinion, unless we deal with the 

customer head-on, on—from the sex trafficking side of this, we 

might as well be spinning our wheels in the dirt. 

And most importantly, I am sitting here thinking: If I had one 

wish, what would my wish be with this? It would be to change the 

language and completely take out of our vocabulary the word ‘‘prostitute.’’ I just do not believe that a child or a young woman is a 

prostitute who has been sold into slavery. So, it is those are the 

kind of things that will change attitudes with our first responders 

and, of course, across the board with that. 

Senator COONS. Well, thank you very much. 

Ms. MCCAIN. That is my wish list. 

Senator COONS. Thank you, Cindy. Thank you, Maurice. Thank 

you, Evelyn. Thank you, Leah. 

I am reminded of the long struggle against domestic violence in 

this country, and how it took a basic change in mindset, in training, in prevention, in services and support. Whether it is a wildlife 

products trafficking or human trafficking, drugs, or weapons, there 

are these evil transnational networks, and we need to take a 

stronger step to show that this country, which was founded on liberty, and which had one of its most definitional moments in the abolitionist fight against slavery, has this fight before us again. And 

ending modern human slavery is a challenge that we can and 

should step up to together. 

Thank you, Senator Cardin. 

Senator CARDIN. Thank you. 

Senator Kaine? 

Senator KAINE. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

And thanks to all of the witnesses. 

I would like to start, if I could, Leah and Evelyn, the engagement 

of survivors is really a core piece of what policy should be. And I 

know it is a core piece of U.S. policy. And some of the testimony 

already has kind of gotten at that. But, if you would want to give 

us advice about—as we are, you know, crafting programs or funding, what are the things that can best do to engage survivors in 

this? What would it be? Is it more support of NGOs? Is it support 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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to get legal counsel? What are the things that we should focus on 

to engage survivors in this battle? 

Ms. WARNERS. I think it is a number of things, because, as you 

said, it is—therapy would not work for her. And there is domestic 

servitude, there is sex trafficking, there is forced labor. So, if people 

that are working with agencies are educated on each different type 

of trafficking, I think that that would be a great thing, just, you 

know, what to look for, for each one. 

But, the education—going back to education—what to look for, 

what to stay away from. To me, that is completely important, because it is not something that is taught today. 

Senator KAINE. Right. 

Ms. WARNERS. And, like I said earlier, we were taught that slavery had ended, and I had no idea that I would be spending the next 

7 years of my life enslaved to someone for the sake of money. So, 

for me, education is completely important. 

Being a sex trafficking survivor, the therapy is a vital role that 

is helping me get back into normal society. 

Senator KAINE. Thank you. Thank you. 

Evelyn. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Thank you. Like Leah mentioned, there are so 

many things that can be done, but, you know, what really did help 

me get it was being part of another network, the National Survivor 

Network, just being able to have those other survivors that have 

gone through what I have gone through to understand me. It did 

not matter if it was sex or labor, but just knowing that we were 

forced into something that it was not our own really helped me. 

But, there are just so many things that survivors can help. You 

know, you can start by hiring survivors, giving them a job, because, 

yes, even though they have gone through other situation, but there 

is a possibility that they can be revictimized. 

Senator KAINE. Yeah. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. You know, a lot of this issue is poverty, lack of 

education. And when we do get out of the situation, we do not have 

job, we do not know where to go. Yes, NGOs are there, but there 

is not that long-term care for it. So, really helping us to get jobs. 

Or even in the country that we come from, if we can get jobs in 

that country, we will not have to go to another country and not be 

in traffic and cannot get jobs. So, the number-one key is providing 

jobs for a lot of the survivors. 

Senator KAINE. Great. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Thank you. 

Senator KAINE. Thank you, to both of you. 

And now I will turn to Maurice and Cindy. Thank you guys for 

the great work that you are doing. 

On this committee, I have a kind of particular focus on Latin 

American issues, usually. And so, I would love you talk about, 

maybe, two aspects of what is going on in the Americas these days. 

One is, well, what do you think about the current relationship between the United States and Mexico on human trafficking and 

slavery? You know, are we cooperating in the way we should? We 

know there are problems, but are is it improving, are we going 

backwards? I would love for you to talk about that. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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And, second, as we have seen this uptick in the number of unaccompanied children coming to the United States from the three 

northern triangle countries in Central America, has that also had 

with it, you know, an uptick in slavery and human trafficking from 

those countries? And we just passed a budgetary allocation of $750 

million into those three countries, and we ought to be talking about 

the best way to program those monies to do the most good. And so, 

I would be curious about your thought about the northern triangle 

countries, too. 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Thank you, Senator. 

One of the things I learned in my life is to say, ‘‘I do not know.’’ 

And, particularly, the issue with Mexico is not one that, frankly, 

I feel competent to address, so I will defer in speaking to that. 

I will say, however, with regard to—more to the Central American issue, that I think, in the first instance, it is very important 

that we continue to recognize that these are, in fact, victims of trafficking. They are running away from being pressed into crime by 

the gangs of Central America. And we were disappointed when 

this—there was the first influx—at some of the reaction, which 

seemed to treat them as kinds of criminals rather than as children 

who were fleeing organized crime. And what we would suggest is 

that it is much more about reaching back into the communities 

from which these children are fleeing and working with those communities and with the parents there to understand what are the 

specific vulnerabilities, what are the specific dynamics that are 

leading them to flee. So, there is no magic formula to answer that, 

but this is more about doing that kind of contextual research and 

understanding that dynamic, and then intervening. We have sort 

of a framework for thinking about what those might be, along the 

lines I suggested earlier in response to Senator Coons. But, then 

it is doing that kind of community mobilization so that the community can protect itself, with the cooperation of the local authorities, 

against the ones who are trying to traffic. 

Senator KAINE. Thank you very much. 

Ms. MCCAIN. I guess I have the luxury of having been born in 

a border State. 

Senator KAINE. Yeah. 

Ms. MCCAIN. And so, the issues are very—I mean, I have 

watched this my entire life. I do not think right now the political 

rhetoric is helping this at all, on either side of the aisle. And I am 

talking about the presidential races. 

Senator KAINE. Yeah. 

Ms. MCCAIN. I just do not think that this is helpful in any way, 

shape, or form, and it really bothers me a great deal to see this. 

What I do know, and what I have seen firsthand, is that, first 

and foremost, I believe the United States can be very helpful in 

helping Mexico secure its southern border. We talk a lot about the 

northern border, but the southern border is the weak link, here. 

And more—and just exactly as what Maurice said, we do not 

have all the answers to this, but we know one thing: they are fleeing and they are in danger of losing their lives by not staying—by 

staying in the country. So, a broader dialogue with—in my opinion, 

with, not just the president of the country, but the local leaders, 

is where this begins, because—and, in my opinion, involving more 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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women in the issue, because I think women are really the —in 

Latin America, are the driving force on this, in terms of change. 

I agree with Maurice—so, I do not know all the answers to this. 

But, I do know we cannot continue to just slap people around and 

badmouth them, you know, for a problem that we can be helpful 

with instead. 

Senator KAINE. Thank you very much for what you are doing 

to—— 

Mr. Chair, I would love, at some time—since we did just do the $750 million appropriation, it would be great if the committee, or 

maybe one of the subcommittees, could have a discussion with 

State and others: What is the best way to make that money really 

help solve some of these security challenges? I mean, I think a lot 

of the reason we did the investment was because of the crisis of 

the unaccompanied minors, but we want to make sure that it is 

being used in ways that will promote the right goal. And that 

might be something that the committee could explore at a later 

point. 

Senator CARDIN. It is certainly within our jurisdiction. And, as 

you know, this budget provides an additional billion dollars in that 

regard. So, it is a continuing commitment by the taxpayers in the 

jurisdiction of this committee. 

Senator KAINE. Thank you so much. 

Senator CARDIN. Senator Menendez. 

Senator MENENDEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

And let me thank an incredibly impressive panel. And I want to 

particularly thank Leah and Evelyn, because it is courageous to 

tell these stories in public, on the record. And it is extraordinarily 

powerful. And you are helping the lives of other individuals. Because when we talk about issues here, sometimes we talk about it 

in a way that we do not get the human face to the challenges that 

we are facing, and—in this case, modern-day slavery; in other 

cases, about education or income or whatnot. But—so, I want to 

thank you both, because I think it is incredibly powerful, and I applaud you for doing it. 

And, to Mrs. McCain, your work at the McCain Institute is just 

fantastic. And I appreciate your insights and your commitment. 

And, to Mr. Middleberg, a fantastic organization, what you are 

doing in is changing lives. 

When I worked with Senator Corker originally on this, and certainly felt his passion and believe in it myself, and then Senator 

Cardin, I think about the committee’s jurisdiction. And, while I am 

pleased to hear of many of the domestic things we need to do, including realizing that it is not just about issues abroad, in terms 

of modern-day slavery, that domestically we have to face up to our 

moral responsibility to meet this challenge. But, in terms of the 

committee’s jurisdiction, it is Foreign Relations, and, as part of 

that, I would like to try to pick your brains. I have gotten the sense 

of the conversation before I got to walk in because I was at another 

meeting. But, how do we use the tools of foreign diplomacy in a 

way that can more powerfully direct the attention of other countries to the issue of modern-day slavery? 

And, for example, before I hear your answers, I appreciate Senator Cardin working to make sure that the TIP Report, which I 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
36 

think is one of the most powerful tools we have to cast not only 

a spotlight, but to have countries meet their responsibilities, needs 

to be inviolate. And I am concerned that the last one was not, that 

considerations—and I understand; I have been on either the House 

or Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 24 years, so I understand the totality of issues that we face in relationships in the 

world. But, you cannot, ultimately, mitigate the challenges in a 

country on modern-day human trafficking and slavery because 

other things are far more important. You can maybe meet them in 

tandem, but you should not, ultimately, mitigate them. And I am 

concerned when I see Malaysia, for example, that there is no way 

that anybody is going to convince me that they deserve to be upgraded. Now, maybe that was a result of my amendment that 

passed in the Senate Finance Committee that includes, in the question of trade promotion and TPP, you know, having a prohibition 

on dealing with countries who are in Tier 3 to get access to fast 

track and trade. And I would like to hear whether that or—elements of that—whether using our trade agenda, particularly with 

countries that rate among the worst in the world, in terms of 

human trafficking, is one tool of foreign diplomacy that we should 

use. 

So, I would like to get a sense from you, What can we do in our 

arsenal of foreign diplomacy tools to help your work and to our 

joint commitment to end modern-day slavery? I think there are 

more powerful efforts to use, the use of our aid and our trade, as 

well as international opinion, which the TIP Report certainly is a 

part of, to achieve that, but you are out there doing this, so I would 

like to hear from you. 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Thank you, Senator Menendez. And thank you 

for being so deeply engaged on this issue, for which we are very 

grateful. 

Let me suggest sort of an agenda of tools or methods, one of 

which you have shown great leadership on. I think it is very important that we leverage access to U.S. markets. It is simply unconscionable that we would allow slave-made goods into the United 

States of America. I cannot imagine how anybody could possibly 

countenance that. And it seems to me, in part, that involves dialogue with our leading businesses so that they really begin to pay 

attention to their supply chains. You know, the statement is made 

that, ‘‘Well, the supply chains are enormously complex.’’ I happened 

to listen to somebody who once was chief of procurement for 

ExxonMobil, and she said, ‘‘We knew where every screw and every 

flange came from, because, if we did not, and the oil well blew up, 

that was going to be a serious problem and cost us money.’’ So, I 

think part of this is, What are the incentives that are on the table, 

in terms of whether or not the businesses feel that they really need 

to pay attention to their supply chain? So, I think really thinking 

carefully about leveraging access to U.S. markets, both for the producers and for the consumers on this end, is potentially a very 

powerful tool. 

Second, the role that we play with regard to the array of international institutions, particularly the international financial institutions. Those are very important sources of financing for many 

countries. And that can be, if that was systematically integrated 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
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into the dialogue between the international financial institution 

and the country that is receiving the money, we certainly have 

done so with other issues: the environment, women’s rights, and so 

forth. I cannot imagine why we would not begin to include slavery 

as one of those conditionalities that we really think about, in terms 

of the dialogue, in terms of our being on boards or being at leadership roles in international financial institutions. I mean, ask the 

president of the World Bank, ‘‘What is your stance on slavery? 

What is the World Bank actually doing on this? You are the largest 

development bank in the world, by far.’’ That is probably a useful 

conversation. 

The consistency of high-level diplomacy. You know, we talked 

about it before. When the President is talking to a foreign leader 

where there is an issue, is slavery on the agenda? Because the fact 

that it is not on the agenda is also a signal that we do not care. 

So, it needs to be consistently on the agenda. 

I would ask this committee to pay careful attention to the actual 

implementation of the USAID CTIP policy. There is a policy on 

paper. Is it actually being implemented? Are they reporting on 

what they are actually doing in that regard? Is the TIP office—is 

it in a structure, in a culture, in an environment where it is allowed to do its job and so the products it produces are unimpeachable? 

So, I think there are an array. People do pay attention to that 

TIP Report. You know, that is certainly been our experience. So, 

being sure that that is not swayed by issues other than whether 

or not the country is making progress on slavery is really critical. 

So, those are some things I would suggest, sir. 

Senator MENENDEZ. Ms. McCain. 

Ms. MCCAIN. I completely agree with what Mr. Middleberg just 

said, because what has happened in some cases is, it has made the 

TIP Report meaningless especially with what happened most recently. 

In my opinion, of course putting it on the discussion table at 

every high-level meeting, at everything you all do, because we rely 

on you to carry the U.S. message around the world—I would love 

to be a fly on the wall, Senator Cardin, of the next meeting you 

have talking to a world leader. That would just be great entertainment for me. I would love it. [Laughter.] 

Ms. MCCAIN. But, my point being, those kinds of very frank discussions are necessary, because all too often the people that are 

meeting with you are also making money off these slaves. So, it 

is—we have to be tough on this, because we are talking about children and the lives of human beings. And unless we are—it is like 

good parenting—unless we are consistent and firm, we are not 

going to get anywhere. And that starts at home. 

Senator MENENDEZ. Well, I appreciate your answers. And I think 

they are all important. I very much am interested in the international financial institutions. For example, we have corruption 

initiatives as part of it. There is not any reason this could not be 

included. So, I will raise those with some of the leaders. And the 

supply-chain question, I think, is also very important. If you can 

know everything you need to know to mitigate any tort claim, you 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
38 

should be able to do everything to mitigate any claim on human 

trafficking. 

So, thank you very much. 

Senator CARDIN. I want you, more than the fly on the wall, I 

want you in the room with me as we are talking. [Laughter.] 

Senator CARDIN. It would help a great deal. 

Ms. MCCAIN. I can be tough, too, so I am with you. [Laughter.] 

Senator CARDIN. Senator Markey. 

And let me also say, about Senator Menendez, I really want to 

thank him for his leadership on this issue. He has brought forward 

legislative initiatives, he has been a incredible leader for many, 

many years on this issue. His standing up for the TIP Report during some very difficult moments, where people tried to distract the 

discussion—thank you for staying strong on this issue. 

Senator MENENDEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Maybe we can 

have Mrs. McCain be an honorary senior staff member of the committee so she can sit in on these discussions. [Laughter.] 

Ms. MCCAIN. I like to start fights. [Laughter.] 

Senator CARDIN. Senator Markey. 

Senator MARKEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very, very much. 

And thank you, Mrs. McCain, and thank you, Mr. Middleberg, for 

your leadership on these issues, for everything that you are doing. 

And thank you, to the two victims who are here. Your experiences are harrowing to hear about. It takes a tremendous amount 

of courage for you to then turn that into something which is positive, that is coming here to testify, giving leadership, giving voice 

to these issues. And so, we appreciate the courage it takes for you. 

Many cannot do what you do. You have that extra ingredient of 

courage to come before us. But, you should know that we are listening to you on this committee, that it is worth it for you to step 

out, and it is worth it for you to encourage other people to step out, 

because the more that that happens is the more that this committee and other members of the Senate can help you to have your 

cause be given a voice that is more powerful than yours. But, you 

are inspiring all of us today by your presence. 

And so, here is what I would like to do, if I could. I would like 

to give each of you kind of a minute and a half to just summarize, 

for a minute and a half, each one of the witnesses, What is the one 

and a half minutes that you want us to remember as a committee 

as we are dealing with this issue so that we will not forget the 

charge which you are giving us here today? 

Can I start with you, Leah, and ask for you to tell us what that 

message would be? 

Ms. WARNERS. Absolutely. 

Ms. WARNERS. Yes. One and a half minutes? 

Senator MARKEY. One and a half. [Laughter.] 

Ms. WARNERS. Okay. All right. 

So, for me, what I would like for you guys to take with you from 

this, my experience, from sex trafficking to labor, is education prevention, and then the aftercare for the victim after everything is 

said and done, because it is so easy to prosecute the trafficker and 

then forget about the victim. And that happens more oftentimes 

than not. So, to have an organization that really puts emphasis on 

the aftercare as well as the education and the prosecution is huge. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
39 

There is just so much to be done after a victim is brought back into 

society. It goes from their own education, it goes to healthcare, it 

goes to, in my case and a few others, therapy. So, for me, to let 

you know about education prevention and aftercare, and that is 

huge. And that did not take a minute and a half, so I will let Ms. 

Chumbow speak. [Laughter.] 

Senator MARKEY. But, it was great. Thank you. 

Ms. WARNERS. Thanks. 

Ms. CHUMBOW. I will try, Leah. [Laughter.] 

Ms. CHUMBOW. Thank you very much, Senator. And I do agree 

with what Leah said. But, for me, really the message that I want 

you all to take back to think about is, you are dealing with humans. These are human beings. It could be your brother, your sister, your child. So, whatever we are advocating for here, you have 

to think about, What if it is your family member? We really want 

this law to really be implemented and help all these people to get 

out of the situation. And, most importantly, for people to understand that traffic—human trafficking is not only sex. It is everything. It is all. And if we can just work together as one, and just 

know that we want to save of life of human beings, you know. 

Being a victim at such a young age, I have trauma. But, think 

about that. It can be your child. It can be your sister. So, just focus 

on that. 

Thank you. 

Senator MARKEY. Thank you. 

And again, thank the two of you. You are a force in nature here 

in the committee today. It is so powerful to have you here. 

Mr. Middleberg. 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. Thank you, Senator. 

Here is the message I would like to leave with the committee, if 

I might. I am here, actually, with my wife, Fran. Fran is a direct 

descendant of the Lovejoy family. And the Lovejoys were very 

prominent abolitionists in the pre-Civil War era. Owen Lovejoy was 

a Member of Congress, in fact, and a fierce advocate for the abolition of slavery. 

My own grandfather, Reuben Robert Middleberg, survived 

Auschwitz as slave labor. He was a jeweler and a watchmaker by 

profession. And the reason he was kept alive was to fix what the 

Nazis were stealing from the Jews in the camp. 

And I think that my grandfather and Fran’s ancestors would be 

shocked that we are here before this committee today still talking 

about slavery, and it still exists. And what I would ask of this committee, of the Congress, of the next President, is that we should not 

allow our grandchildren to be having this same conversation. We 

need to act with a desperate sense of urgency so that, when our 

grandchildren talk about slavery, they are going to talk about it as 

an historic relic, and they will look back on us with admiration and 

say we were the generation that brought it to an end. 

Senator MARKEY. Thank you so much, Mr. Middleberg. 

Mrs. McCain. 

Ms. MCCAIN. First of all, thank you very much for having me 

today. This issue is extremely important to all of us that are sitting 

here today, but it is extremely important to a generation of children that we may lose to this. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
40 

As Mr. Middleberg so eloquently said, the United States is the 

beacon. We are the beacon around the world. And if I could instill 

anything in all of you, continue that. But, not only continue the 

message that we have, but also continue holding the United States 

accountable for this. We cannot very well run around the world and 

say, ‘‘You need to stop doing this,’’ when we are not doing it ourselves. So, I so appreciate the work that all of you do. And, more 

importantly, I appreciate your voice around the world. So, every 

time you go, talk about this issue. Every time you go. And I know 

you do. But, this issue is too important not to talk about. 

Senator MARKEY. Thank you. 

And again, we thank each of you for your contribution to this effort. 

And thank you, Mrs. McCain, because you add the spotlight to 

the issue that it otherwise would never receive. 

And what State was Congressman Lovejoy from? 

Mr. MIDDLEBERG. He was from Illinois, sir. 

Senator MARKEY. Illinois. Interesting. 

But, the reality is that we had to fight a civil war in order to 

eradicate slavery. That is how hard it was. And we had to fight 

World War II to stop the Nazis from exterminating the Jews and 

the gypsies and all the others. And that is not so long ago. So, we 

understand how deeply ingrained it is in the cultures of many 

countries. And the United States once again has to be the leader, 

as we were in our own country and as we were during World War 

II, to be the beacon of hope. And by your being here today, you remind us that that is our role. 

Thank you so much. 

Senator CARDIN. Well, let me just join Senator Markey. I can assure you that this hearing is going to have an impact on action in 

this committee. Senator Corker and I are dedicated to changing the 

landscape here, and recognize that we have to take it to the next 

level. We are proud of what we have been able to do, U.S. leadership. But, we want to take it to the next level. And I know that 

Senator Corker has expressed some interest in some legislation and 

appropriations. We have already, Senator Kaine’s point about using 

the appropriation process, we are going to do everything in our 

power to exert U.S. leadership and to have our leaders be bolder 

on this issue on their international engagements. 

The committee record will remain open until noon on Friday for 

questions for the record. If there are questions asked, we would ask 

that you respond promptly to questions that are made by members 

of our committee. 

And, with that, the hearing will stand adjourned. 

Thank you all again. 

[Whereupon, at 11:46 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

Additional Material Submitted for the Record 

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD SUBMITTED BY SENATOR MARCO RUBIO

I would like to thank Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin for holding 

this hearing on human trafficking. I would also like to thank the witnesses for their 

testimony today and their dedication to this important issue. 


FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER
41 

Every day, innocent people are being trafficked in Florida, across the United 

States, and around the world. It is hard to imagine slavery like this still exists 

today, but it does. Fortunately, greater public awareness and improved law-enforcement efforts have helped combat the problem, saved countless victims, and brought 

human traffickers to justice. But there is much more work to be done, at home and 

abroad. 

One of the best tools the U.S. government has to combat trafficking is its annual 

Trafficking In Persons Report (TIP Report). For over fifteen years, the report has 

encouraged foreign governments to tackle human trafficking, if for no other reason 

than to avoid being named and shamed by the U.S. government. However, the 2015 

TIP Report was marred by controversy that it was manipulated by other political 

considerations. The most glaring example is the politically driven elevation of Cuba 

from the ‘‘Tier 3’’ category to the ‘‘Tier 2 Watch List’’. Since the State Department 

began evaluating Cuba in 2003, it has been placed on Tier 3 every year. Over the 

past year, Cuba has done almost nothing to combat human trafficking. In fact, while 

the 2015 trafficking report claims there were improvements in certain areas, Cuba 

still has not even bothered to create a single law that identifies labor trafficking as 

a crime. 

It is important that the TIP report remain a true reflection of the trafficking situation on the ground and that a country’s rating not be determined by political considerations but by the country’s true record on this issue. I will continue to work 

with the State Department to address this issue. 

Additionally, the United States needs to enforce its own trafficking laws. In 2008, 

Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, in part to 

address diplomatic trafficking. In that statute, Congress provided a significant tool 

to combat these crimes. Section 203(a)(2) of the Act states that the Secretary of 

State ‘‘shall suspend’’ the issuance of A-3 or G-5 visas to applicants ‘‘seeking to work 

for officials of a diplomatic mission or an international organization, if the Secretary 

determines that there is credible evidence that one or more employees’’ have abused 

or exploited one or more non-immigrants holding an A-3 or G-5 visa, where the diplomatic mission or international organization tolerated such actions. 

It is inexplicable to me that in the eight years since passage of this law, not a 

single country or mission has been suspended from the A-3/G-5 visa program. This 

failure to enforce the law is particularly troubling in light of multiple cases of diplomatic trafficking of domestic workers into the United States. No American should 

rest easy knowing that modern-day slavery exists in the form of human trafficking. 

With this hearing today, the United States Senate should renew our commitment 

to fighting this rampant human-rights violation everywhere that it exists. 

Æ 


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