January 2021
This January, SAFE Center staff team was actively involved in promoting Human Trafficking Awareness Month within the community—delivering presentations during numerous anti-trafficking events, providing independent trainings to community organizations, and raising awareness through media appearances.
Human Trafficking Conversation with Senator Ben Cardin
On January 22, the SAFE Center partnered with the Prince George’s County Human Trafficking Task Force to co-host U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland for a virtual conversation about human trafficking efforts in Maryland. Following opening remarks by Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, Senator Cardin heard brief presentations from numerous representatives from the Prince George’s County Task Force—including the SAFE Center Founder and Director Susan Esserman—who advocated for increased federal support for anti-trafficking efforts and highlighted collective endeavors to identify and respond to survivors of trafficking, detect and prosecute traffickers, and raise community awareness of local trafficking issues.
Pictured above, (Top Left to Right) SAFE Center Director Susan Esserman joins with Prince George’s County Human Trafficking Task Force Chair Renee Battle-Brooks in co-hosting a conversation with (Bottom Left to Right) Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Senator of Maryland Ben Cardin
Human Trafficking Conferences
The SAFE Center team presented during two sessions at the 4th annual Maryland Child Trafficking Conference held by the University of Maryland School of Social Work, in collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services, the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force and the Maryland Department of Human Services. Director of Research & Programs Amelia Rubenstein moderated a discussion titled “A Safe Place to Lay My Head: Homelessness, Housing Insecurity, and Human Trafficking” that featured Director of Special Specials Heidi Alvarez as an expert panelist. After sharing about their experiences developing and implementing responses to youth homelessness, the two SAFE Center representatives provided information on our newly funded housing grant in collaboration with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. Senior Immigration Counsel Jacqueline Bradley-Chacon was also selected as a panelist for the conference workshop highlighting “National and Local Perspectives on Combating Labor Trafficking” and represented the SAFE Center in outlining forms of forced labor, risk factors for labor trafficking, trends in local and national labor trafficking cases, and resources for victim intervention and support.
At the first annual TRUTH Conferenced hosted by FAIR Girls, Director of Research & Programs Amelia Rubenstein joined human trafficking task force partners Andrea Nunez and Wendy Stickle in offering a workshop on human trafficking research and, together, explored how to be “evidence-based” in anti-trafficking work, the latest in anti-trafficking research, and what to do when there is not yet reliable evidence on an issue.
Both Immigration Attorney Rebeca Garcia Gil and Director of Research & Programs Amelia Rubenstein were invited to present at the Frederick County Human Trafficking Summit held virtually on January 29th. Rebeca Garcia Gil’s presentation, “Trafficked Youth in Immigrant Communities,” was later highlighted in an event review published by The Frederick News Post, and Amelia Rubenstein’s update on trafficking-related state legislation also received a spotlight in the article.
Prince George’s County Code Blue Series
Focusing on Prince George’s County, specifically, Director of Equity & Community Engagement Jatnna Gomez participated on behalf of the SAFE Center in the month-long Code Blue Human Trafficking Awareness Series events hosted by the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Human Trafficking Task Force. In addition to appearing in State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy’s Human Trafficking Virtual Town Hall, Jatnna was also featured in a Code Blue Series episode with our colleagues at Heart to Hand where they discussed the vital role community partnerships play in the fight to combat trafficking. Later in the month, Director of Research & Programs Amelia Rubenstein appeared on a Prince George’s County Human Trafficking Task Force-sponsored community conversation to address the intersections between human trafficking, mental health, and COVID-19.
Other Community Engagement
Seeking to bring awareness of trafficking to audiences outside of anti-trafficking-specific community events, Director of Clinical Services Delmy Alvayero delivered information through a radio program hosted by regional Spanish language station Radio El Zol, and Communications & Outreach Coordinator Ellie Lewis Park also guest appeared on a podcast hosted by a local pastor in Prince George’s County.
Research & Program Coordinator Sophie Aron broadened our network of healthcare professionals trained in human trafficking identification and response by delivering Maryland medical guideline presentations to over 75 medical professionals at the University of Maryland Medical Center and the Howard County General Hospital and an additional 45 clinicians attending the Human Trafficking Professionals Seminar.
In an effort to build preventative protective factors against trafficking in the immigrant youth community, Director of Clinical Services Delmy Alvayero, Prevention Social Worker Tanejah Jones, and Immigration Attorney Rebeca Garcia Gil delivered presentations on human trafficking and the SAFE Center’s services to 40 parents of students at the International High Schools in Langley Park and Largo.
