Source: UMB News | February 2, 2022
While many advances have been made in the last two decades since landmark measures were put into place to combat human trafficking, a lot of work remains to be done and federal and international representation must continue to be involved.
That was the overriding theme of “Critical Updates: The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Federal & International,” a two-panel virtual program held Jan. 20. The conference was a collaboration between two centers at the University of Maryland Graduate School: the University of Maryland SAFE (Support, Advocacy, Freedom, Empowerment) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors led by founder and director Ambassador Susan G. Esserman, JD, and the Center for Global Engagement, under the leadership of assistant vice president Virginia Rowthorn, JD, LLM. The program was also hosted in collaboration with the Montgomery County Human Trafficking Prevention Committee and the Prince George’s County Human Trafficking Task Force.
The purpose of the virtual gathering was to gain insights on recent developments in U.S. anti-trafficking policy and programs from experienced government officials at the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, and to host panel reviews on international issues in anti-trafficking.
“I’m just amazed at the people that we’ve been able to assemble, and I want to thank them,” said University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, as he welcomed panel participants and the virtual audience. “This program is intended to provide you with critical updates in the fight against human trafficking, and there have been many advances. There still remain many challenges, but I think you’ll be pleased to hear what some of the advances, what effects they’ve had in the field, as well as victims of human trafficking.”
Jarrell recalled meeting Esserman five years ago as she discussed the vision she had for creating the SAFE Center.
“This was a center and is a center that was aimed at fighting human trafficking, a crime that we all know is a grave violation of human rights,” Jarrell said. “I learned a lot about this crime from Ambassador Esserman. I learned that it’s a problem in our own backyard. I learned that it’s invisible to most of us. And as a result of her vision and drive, and her convincing me of this, I had the honor to help her establish this center as part of a partnership between two universities, the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.”
An initiative of the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and UMB through their formal collaborative program for innovation, University of Maryland Strategic Partnershp: MPowering the State, the SAFE Center is a direct services, research, and advocacy center that provides a comprehensive and holistic response to help survivors move from crisis to wellness. Its mission is to empower trafficking survivors to heal and reclaim their lives, better support them through research and advocacy, and help prevent human trafficking. Through in-house support and collaborative partnerships, the center provides bilingual social, legal, mental health, economic empowerment, primary medical, and crisis intervention services to survivors of sex and labor trafficking of all genders, nationalities, and ages.
The center has worked with schools across both universities to provide services to several hundred human trafficking survivors and their family members, launched an innovative economic empowerment program for survivors, advocated for state anti-trafficking legislation, promoted state and local efforts to combat labor trafficking, implemented trafficking prevention workshops in local international high schools, and trained more than 5,000 professionals on human trafficking, Jarrell said.
Speakers included officials from the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Labor, as well as survivor leaders and other agencies and organizations. Senior official Kari Johnstone, PhD, MA, principal deputy director of the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, delivered the keynote.
In opening remarks kicking off the event, Esserman noted that 2020 marked the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the U.N. Palermo Protocol to prevent, suppress, and punish trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, and the landmark anti-trafficking legislation the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which established methods of prosecuting traffickers, preventing human trafficking, and protecting victims and survivors of trafficking. The act established human trafficking and related offenses as federal crimes.
“Although much progress has been made over the past two decades, there is broad recognition among government anti-trafficking advocates and survivors that a more comprehensive strategic approach with new tools is necessary to effectively combat trafficking locally, nationally, and internationally,” said Esserman, an international trade partner at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, where she also leads the firm’s pro bono program on behalf of survivors of human trafficking. During the Clinton administration, she served as deputy U.S. trade representative and assistant secretary of commerce.
