By ENACT Africa

In West and North Africa, a variety of criminal actors, geographically scattered from origin to destination countries, benefit from the sex trafficking process. Available information suggests that transnational trafficking is controlled by networks of cells operating in synergy from origin to destination country. Traffickers tend to have the same nationality as their victims. In West Africa, a wide diversity of nationalities of offenders are represented and there is a relatively equal distribution of men and women among offenders. Women offenders, whose role has been expanded through the digitalization of the sex trafficking process, are sometimes depicted as heads of organized crime groups (OCGs). However, it is essential to nuance this representation. While some women do hold leadership positions, others are likely to be working under the control of male-dominated criminal networks. European countries have requested the publication of most INTERPOL Notices and Diffusions targeting West and North African offenders involved in sex trafficking, with a majority of these targeting Nigerian nationals. This suggests strong linkages between OCGs from these countries, notably Nigeria, and sex trafficking in Europe. Information also suggests a possible recent decrease in activity of Nigerian OCGs involved in sex trafficking. However, this apparent decline may also be attributed to the crime becoming more clandestine, making it harder for law enforcement to detect. In West Africa, it is likely that the majority of sex trafficking victims are from Nigeria and other West African countries. To a lesser extent, victims also come from Central Africa and Asia. Due to cultural taboos, informal resolution mechanisms, and underreporting, there are likely more victims of sex trafficking in West Africa. Information indicates that minor victims are trafficked alongside adult victims for sexual exploitation. The West and North Africa regions are characterized by a complex network of domestic, intra-regional and inter-regional flows. Most victims are exploited within their home country and domestic sex trafficking can be considered as a precursor to international sex trafficking. Domestically or internationally, the victims are transported from rural areas to wealthier urban areas or locations of relative economic prosperity such as mines, agricultural sites, and commercial centers. Within West Africa, most countries are identified as either source, transit, or destination countries. Outgoing flows of victims from West Africa are primarily oriented towards North Africa. North and West African victims are also moved to Europe, transiting via countries such as Niger, Mali, Cabo Verde, Mauritania, Senegal, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco to reach Europe. Most West African victims of sexual exploitation identified in Europe are from Nigeria and reportedly transited via Niger and Libya to Italy. There is also a significant flow of victims from West Africa to the Middle East, or towards Central and South African regions. The modus operandi for recruiting victims almost always involves false promises of a better life abroad disseminated online through mainstream social media platforms. Technology also facilitates the control and sexual exploitation of the victims.

Lyon, France, INTERPOL/Impact Africa, 2025. 42p.

By The Interrnational Organization for Migration

The Regional Counter-Trafficking Learning Note aims to enhance the emulation of good practices and cross-border coordination on victims of trafficking assistance across North Africa, West and Central Africa key migratory routes. The learning note explores some of the promising practices in counter-trafficking interventions currently occurring in North Africa (Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), the Niger and Mauritania. It also explores promising practices across four key areas of counter-trafficking programming: (1) safe and preliminary victim identification, (2) safe referral and formal identification, (3) assistance and protection; and (4) long-term and sustainable solutions. Alongside the discussion of promising practices in each of these four sections, the note explores associated lessons learned and provides recommendations to counter-trafficking actors for strengthening the response to trafficking in persons.

Geneva, SWIT: International Organization for Migration, 2025. 76p.

By Audrey M. Baumgartner

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery.1 However, this same amendment makes an exception to the general rule prohibiting slavery, “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”2 Ratified by the states in 1865, this loophole has resulted in over 150 years of what is known as “convict leasing.”3 Convict leasing was a system in which Southern States leased out prisoners for various forms of manual labor.4 While many thought convict leasing to be a thing of the past, it has reemerged through the privatization of prisons and the consistent denial by courts to ascribe any worker rights to prisoners. Flaws in the institutions that provide agricultural labor have resulted in large amounts of produce left unpicked, increased costs for consumers, and decreased investment in agricultural industries.5 Instead of solving problems plaguing the immigration system or fixing flawed worker protection laws for agricultural laborers, convicts are being used to cover these labor shortages. This Note will first walk through the evolution of convict leasing followed by a discussion of the United States prison system’s problematic history. Next, this Note will address the role immigrants play in the American agricultural industry. Lastly, this Note will focus on convicts as laborers; specifically, the positives and negatives associated with using incarcerated individuals to cover the agricultural labor shortage in the United States. This Note’s ultimate conclusion follows that convict leasing in agriculture can be a rehabilitative and positive solution to the labor shortage so long as inmates are treated with the same respect as other workers in these industries.

Duke Journal of Agricultural Law, 26(3): 2022

By Kate Seymour, Sarah Wendt,Sharyn Goudie

Family and domestic violence (FDV) is a widespread social issue in Australia with significant health, welfare, and economic consequences. While the FDV workforce is increasingly recognised, at both the Commonwealth and state/territory levels, as a key piece of the puzzle in addressing FDV in Australia, there remains limited understanding of the work itself. 

This report describes research exploring the domestic and family violence workforce in Australia and the work that it undertakes. It focuses specifically on how the work is done and experienced, why it is done in particular ways, and the structural and organisational contexts that shape this work.

The aims of the research were to: 

1. generate a coherent, qualitative evidence base on the nature and experiences of domestic and family violence work across three key domains: victim services, perpetrator services and Aboriginal specialist services

2. conceptualise the domestic and family violence workforce with reference to the nature of the work across these three domains

3. recommend workforce development strategies that are responsive to the context and needs of domestic and family violence work.

Key findings

• The diverse sociocultural and institutional contexts within which organisations operated shaped understandings of violence as well as perceptions of the skills and capacities that constitute, or are valued in, domestic and family violence work.

• DFV services (like other social welfare services) are subject to budget rationalisation, narrow funding models, and competition for government contracts and funding. This was evident across all organisations but was especially marked in victim services in the form of an intensified pace & volume of work, and accountability to funding bodies.

• Differences in work conditions were observed across the victim and perpetrator service sectors, suggesting a gendered demarcation between women’s work (victim support – caring work, femininised and devalued) and men’s work (perpetrator accountability – challenging, ‘man-to-man’).

• The weight of responsibility associated with managing risk was especially acute for workers in victim services but relatively absent in perpetrator services where ‘high risk’ matters (i.e. immediate safety concerns) were diverted to a designated partner contact worker.

• Community and social activism were central to the work in Aboriginal FDV services as workers dealt daily with the enduring and deeply entrenched impacts of colonisation.

Adelaide: Flinders University, 2025. 96p.

by Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Sandra Walklate, Ellen Reeves

This project represents the first study in Australia and New Zealand to examine the degree to which a DVDS provides an effective intervention for victim-survivors of intimate partner violence in enhancing their safety. The findings from this project are relevant to current policy discussions and evaluations of the DVDS in all Australian states and territories, as well as in comparable international jurisdictions, including New Zealand, Canada, United States, Scotland, England and Wales.

Monash University and University of Liverpool, 2024; 50p.

By The Legislative Assembly Committee on Law and Safety ,

Parliament of New South Wales

Crime is a serious concern for many regional and rural communities in New South Wales (NSW). Since the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are increasingly involved in certain forms of crime, like motor vehicle theft. Participants in this inquiry emphasised that youth offending is a deeply complex social issue, and one that cannot be solved through increased policing alone. Early intervention is the most effective way to prevent young people from engaging in criminal behaviour. Smart, evidence-based strategies are required to deliver lasting change for communities.

There are excellent programs being delivered across NSW but there are also service gaps, inefficiencies in referral processes, and limitations around government funding that undermine the effectiveness of early intervention efforts.

The report makes a number of recommendations for improvement in areas such as supports for victims of crime; upskilling youth service providers; targeted early intervention programs; and partnering with community and educational organisations.

Key findings

While property crime in regional NSW has fallen over the two decades to 2023, it remains significantly higher compared to Greater Sydney.

Sensationalist media coverage of youth crime in rural and regional NSW heightens public anxiety and encourages negative perceptions of young people.

Youth crime is significantly impacting regional and rural communities, undermining community cohesion and adversely affecting the mental health of victims of crime and their families.

Use of violence is increasing in some cohorts of young people and is linked to offending behaviour.

Youth service providers need targeted training so they can work safely and constructively with young people who use violence.

Sydney: Parliament of New South Wales, 2025. 147p.

By The Victorian Auditor-General

School staff have a right to feel and be safe at work. Work-related violence resulting from student behaviour can negatively impact school staff's health and wellbeing. Work-related violence includes behaviours ranging from verbal abuse to physical assaults. This audit examined students behaving in a violent way toward staff in Victorian government schools.

The Department of Education must provide and maintain a safe workplace for government school staff. This audit examines if the Department provides and maintains a work environment that is safe from work-related violence resulting from student behaviour.

The report presents three key findings and four recommendations. The Department of Education has accepted the recommendations in full or in principle.

Key findings

The Department does not record and report all work-related violence incidents resulting from student behaviour.

The Department's work-related violence policies meet its legislative obligations, but it does not comprehensively review those policies.

The Department provides staff resources and training to manage work-related violence resulting from student behaviour.

Recommendations

Establish a mechanism to better estimate under-recording of work-related violence resulting from student behaviour.

Review and fix data issues to ensure incidents are reported completely to the Department’s executive leadership.

Strengthen the approach to reviewing and updating all policies and procedures for managing work-related violence as an occupational health and safety issue.

Ensure there is consistent criteria on when to conduct post-incident reviews and incorporate the lessons learned into policy reviews.

Melbourne: Victorian Auditor General, 2025. 33p.

By Heather Douglas, Kath Kerr

This review of the evidence focuses on First Nations women’s engagement with the family law system, especially in the context of family violence (FV). It consolidates key considerations gathered from existing research about, and by, First Nations people and their engagement with colonial structures and institutions.

First Nations women face a significantly higher risk of FV than non-First Nations women and are also at greater risk of having their children removed from their care by state-based child protection agencies. The family law system may offer some protection against child removal. As such, identifying barriers and exploring how these barriers to the family law system can be dismantled for First Nations women is a vital component of Australia’s strategy to reduce FV risks and harm.

This review finds that there has been limited research specifically on First Nations women’s engagement with family law in the context of FV. Further research to identify and understand the needs of First Nations women in the family law system, especially in the context of FV, is necessary. This is required to continue to enhance accessibility, equity, inclusiveness and outcomes for First Nations people and to prioritise the identification of systemic reform and to highlight required service changes and other reforms as part of this endeavour.

Canberra: ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 2025. 29p.

By Karlee O’Donnell,  Mulu Woldegiorgis,   Constantine Gasser,   Katrina Scurrah,   Catherine Andersson,   Heather McKay,   Kelsey Hegarty,   Zac Seidler

This research explores the use of intimate partner violence among Australian men, including factors that may reduce the likelihood of such behaviours. A public health approach is taken that considers the power of improving men’s health and wellbeing in relation to preventing intimate partner violence. The report is accompanied by supplementary material.

Programs that support men to develop good quality relationships with their children and partners based on mutual respect and affection – as well as initiatives that encourage men to develop strong social connections and seek support – could contribute to a reduction in use of intimate partner violence.

Key messages

1. In the nationwide survey, around 1 in 3 men (35%) reported they had ever used a form of intimate partner violence, as an adult, by 2022; this is up from 24% who had ever reported use by 2013-14.

2. Emotional-type abuse was the most common form of intimate partner violence, with 32% of men in 2022 reporting they ever made an intimate partner feel ‘frightened or anxious’.

3. Men with moderate or severe depressive symptoms were 62% more likely to use intimate partner violence by 2022, compared to men without these symptoms.

4. By 2022, 25% of men reported ever using and experiencing intimate partner violence, more than twice the proportion who reported using violence but never experiencing it (10%).

5. High levels of social support and high levels of paternal affection both reduced the likelihood of men using intimate partner violence.  

Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2025. 21p..

Ministry of Health (New Zealand)

This strategy sets out New Zealand’s approach to, and budget for, funding and coordinating services to prevent and minimise gambling harm. The strategy was developed following a comprehensive consultation process, which included engagement with people with lived experience of gambling harm, gambling harm service providers, the gambling industry and other stakeholders with an interest in gambling harm.

The strategy strengthens alignment with the government’s mental health priorities by providing additional funding to improve access to services and treatment, strengthen the workforce, focus on prevention and early intervention, and enable more effective service support. This includes funding an impact evaluation of the strategy over time to identify what has been most effective and where investment should be directed to address gambling harm in the future. This strategy also aims to improve monitoring and data collection, to gain further insights into gambling harm and services.

The strategy is accompanied by appendices.

Wellington: New Zealand Ministry of Health, 2025. 27p.

By Jan Breckenridge, et al.

This fifth and final research paper in the series analyses existing research on older people, economic and financial abuse. It identifies a gap in the evidence base relating to the perpetration of economic and financial abuse against older people specifically in the context of domestic and family violence.

To develop this report, GVRN conducted a comprehensive review of academic and relevant policy literature to identify and analyse existing research on older people, economic and financial abuse.

The significant finding from the report is that there is a gap in the evidence base relating to the perpetration of economic and financial abuse against older people in the context of DFV.

Sydney: University of New South Wales, Gendered Violence Research Network: 2022. 75p.

By Lorana Bartels, Karen Gelb, Sally Eales, et al.

Pathways to offending among women and girls are significantly characterised by histories of domestic and family violence, trauma, homelessness, illicit drug use, unemployment and/or mental illness. While the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ is often used as a short-hand description of boys’ pathways to incarceration, a ‘sexual abuse-to-prison pipeline’ is a more apt description of the trajectories for girls and young women. The foregoing issues are compounded for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This literature review outlines current evidence-based research that identifies the needs and experiences of women and girls involved with courts and applies gender and cultural lenses to examine the efficacy of court-based interventions. It includes a series of case studies. Issues covered include:

Canberra: Australian National University,

THE CENTRE FOR SOCIAL POLICY RESEARCH, 2025. 214p.

By Relationships Australia NSW

Elder abuse is a growing and often hidden crisis – affecting one in seven older Australians. This abuse often takes the form of psychological harm, financial exploitation or neglect. Drawing on frontline experience and expert consultation, this policy paper presents a clear path for the New South Wales Government to take real, lasting action. The need for action is urgent, particularly given the scale and projected growth of the issue. Without sustained and targeted intervention, this silent crisis will continue to escalate. The paper outlines five key areas of reform.

Key findings

At least 15% of older Australians are currently experiencing abuse – most commonly from an adult child, partner or friend.

Service providers are seeing increasing demand, often from older people with multiple, intersecting needs.

Reform areas

Strengthening the NSW service system – secure ongoing investment in dedicated elder abuse services.

Legislative reform – review of state coercive control laws, stronger protections and a new information-sharing framework.

Workforce resilience – longer funding cycles, enhanced training and development, and better integration across sectors.

Better data and research – improved data collection, longitudinal research and a focus on the needs of marginalised groups.

National leadership – a push for a 10-year National Plan to end the abuse of older people within a generation.

Relationships Australia, 2025. 9p.

By The Australian Human Rights Commission

This report reveals the systemic barriers faced by people who experience workplace sexual harassment and outlines urgent reforms needed to drive lasting, meaningful change. It calls for real action, accountability and cultural shifts for everyone to be safe and respected at work.

The report marks the delivery of the final recommendation of the Commission’s Respect@Work report. It addresses a gap in what workers from diverse backgrounds think needs to change to make workplaces safer. The Speaking from Experience project brings lived experience insights into the national conversation on workplace sexual harassment.

The report outlines 11 key recommendations to better address workplace sexual harassment. These include amending the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to limit the use of confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, increasing funding for specialist support services and introducing civil penalties for employers who breach their Positive Duty under the Act.

Sydney: Australian Human Rights Commission, 2025. 88p.

By The Yoorrook Justice Commission (Vic)

This is Yoorrook’s second interim report. It considers systemic injustices in the child protection and criminal justice systems. It fulfils the requirement in the amended Letters Patent dated 4 April 2023 to deliver a second interim report by 31 August 2023. This report is divided into seven parts: Part A (this section) includes the Letter of Transmission, Chairperson’s foreword, and this brief introduction to the report’s methodology and terminology. Part B includes an Executive Summary, list of recommendations and key facts. Part C examines the historical foundations of the child protection and criminal justice systems. It explains how current injustices, including systemic racism and human and cultural rights violations created by these systems, are not just historical, but continue to persist today with critical impacts on First Peoples families and communities. It then goes on to discuss matters for Treaty in relation to child protection and criminal justice. In particular, Yoorrook finds that the transformation necessary to end the harms that the child protection and criminal justice systems continue to inflict on First Peoples can only be addressed through self-determination involving the transfer of power, authority and resources to First Peoples via the treaty process. Part C concludes by examining consistent themes in evidence to Yoorrook that span both the child protection and criminal justice systems including accountability and transparency, cultural competence and responsivity, and compliance with cultural and human rights obligations. Whole of government recommendations to address these issues are made. Part D examines critical issues in the child protection system. It begins with a short overview of some of the key policies, laws and human and cultural rights that are engaged by this system. It then examines the pathway into, through and beyond child protection with chapters on early help, child removal, out of home care, permanency and reunification. Findings on critical issues and recommendations for urgent action are made in each chapter

Yoorrook Justice Commission, 2023 445p.

By Brigitte Gilbert

This study aims to track the progression of recorded incidents of domestic assault through the criminal justice system, from initial police report to sentencing. METHOD We used data from the NSW Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS) and the NSW Criminal Courts datasets to follow the progress of domestic assaults recorded by the NSW Police Force in 2022 through the NSW criminal justice system. The attrition of domestic assault incidents at the police investigation phase was examined, along with the attrition of any domestic violence charges associated with these incidents. Attrition rates were tracked separately for intimate partner assault, family assault and “other” domestic assault. RESULTS In 2022, there were 33,811 incidents of domestic assault recorded by the NSW Police. About 57 per cent of these incidents occurred in the context of an intimate relationship. NSW Police proceeded to charge an individual accused of domestic assault in 24,273 incidents (72% of incidents). This varied by relationship type, with 77 per cent of intimate partner assaults, 67 per cent of family assaults, and 58 per cent of “other” domestic assaults resulting in legal action. During the court phase, 68 per cent of court appearances with a domestic violence charge related to the initial recorded domestic assault incident had one of those charges proven. This was consistent across the relationship categories. Of the 12,916 court appearances in which a domestic violence charge was proven the vast majority (81%) were finalised by way of the defendant entering a plea of guilty. Just under 20 per cent of court appearances had all domestic violence charges withdrawn. Seventy-four per cent of court appearances with a proven domestic violence offence received a community correction order, of which half were supervised. Only 14 per cent received a custodial sentence, with this being higher for intimate partner assaults (16%) compared to family assaults (10%) and “other” domestic assaults (12%). Overall, these results indicate that only 39 per cent of the 33,811 domestic assault incidents recorded by NSW Police in 2022 resulted in a proven outcome. CONCLUSION While relationship type has no bearing on the likelihood of a domestic violence charge being proven at court, NSW Police are more likely to charge an individual suspected of intimate partner assault and where the offence is proven, judicial officers are more likely to impose harsher sanctions. Further research examining why non-intimate partner assault incidents receive a different criminal justice system response to intimate partner assault incidents is warranted.

Sydney, NSW: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2025. 19p.

By Kelly M. McMann

Why do ordinary people engage in corruption? In Corruption as a Last Resort, Kelly M. McMann contends that bureaucrats, poverty, and culture do not force individuals in Central Asia to pay bribes, use connections, or sell political support. Rather, corruption is a last resort when relatives, groups in society, the market, and formal government programs cannot provide essential goods and services. Using evidence from her long-term research in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, McMann shows that Islamic institutions, secular charities, entrepreneurs, and banks cannot provide the jobs and credit people need. This drives individuals to illicitly seek employment and loans from government officials.

Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014.

Edited by Maria Antonia Tigre, Melanie Jean Murcott and Susan Ann Samuel

This volume explores climate litigation as a means to tackle the rights and socio-ecological, intergenerational, gender, racial, and other justice implications of the ever-growing vulnerability to climate change, whilst critically engaging with the notions of vulnerability and intersectional climate justice. With insightful analysis, thought-provoking case studies, and a global perspective, the collection illustrates the opportunities and pitfalls of litigation pursued by people from the Global South who face intersecting forms of oppression and marginalisation amidst the climate crisis. Contributors discuss litigation strategy, novel legal arguments, institutional barriers, and unique socio-ecological and political challenges in the Global South. Divided into two parts, the book recognises that climate change is an existential threat to humanity more frequently being tackled in courts worldwide. The first part exposes the limits of litigation as a mechanism for intersectional climate justice for vulnerable people in the Global South. The second part highlights innovations in climate litigation in pursuit of intersectional climate justice. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and policymakers in the areas of human rights law, environmental law, climate law, Latin American studies, South Asian studies, and African studies.

London; New York: Routledge, 2025. 349p.

By Madeline Brashear, Sarah Diaz

Along the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly within California, Arizona, and Texas, exists one of the largest mass graves in the world, both perpetuated and ignored by the U.S. government. Since 1998, the remains of over 7,500 migrants1 have been recovered around the U.S.-Mexico border and over 7,667 are still missing.2 According to data compiled by the Missing Migrants Project, “more lives are known to be lost in the United States of America than in all other countries in the Americas combined.”3 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has found that the Mexico-United States border is the zone of the most border deaths in the Americas, due in large part to the “harsh conditions of the arduous desert trek,” and is the third-highest zone of border deaths in the world.4 These numbers, while incredibly high, are a significant undervaluation, as thousands of migrants are reported missing each year, yet to be discovered.5 Many of these missing perished in the remote regions of the desert, their bodies will never be recovered, and their stories may never be told. An accurate calculation of the death toll will never be known.6 This brutal reality is the product of our nation’s immigration laws and policies: Border Patrol disguises the impact of its current enforcement policy by mobilizing a combination of sterilized discourse, redirected blame, and “natural” environmental processes that erase evidence of what happens in the most remote parts of southern Arizona. The goal is to render invisible the innumerable consequences this socio-political phenomenon has for the lives and bodies of undocumented people.7 In Arizona alone, the remains of approximately 3,500 migrants have been recovered since 1990. 8 Over one third of those recovered remain unidentified due to the state of decomposition in the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert.9 The Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME), located in southern Arizona along the Tucson sector of the border, continues to be the agency that investigates the highest number of migrant deaths in the United States.10 While the local medical examiners work diligently to recover and identify missing migrants, the federal government does nothing to ameliorate the problem they created. It leaves that task to the border communities affected by this silent violence. For over twenty years, humanitarian organizations, NGOs, and scholars have sounded the alarm, expecting the United States government to take action to prevent the preventable.11 Instead of enacting policies to stop the deadly policies, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and within it, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have consistently enacted policies that have only amplified the problem.

CLALS Working Paper Series, No. 44 (Nov. 2023) Washington, DC: American University,

Center for Latin American & Latino Studies, 2023. 38p.

By Sarah J. Diaz, Jenny Lee

In the spring of 2018, United States citizens bore witness to the unfathomable: children, toddlers, and even breastfeeding infants were ripped screaming from their parents’ arms by U.S. immigration officials and then disappeared into government detention. The events that took place shocked the collective conscience, moving American mothers to march with their children to government immigration offices across the country to demand a halt to the program. The policy of family separations, or parent-child separations, was formally announced by the Trump Administration through a memo entitled “Zero Tolerance” and defended by the administration as not only permissible but required by U.S. law. The Biden Administration condemned the phenomenon as a “human tragedy that occurred when our immigration laws were used to intentionally separate children from their parent or legal guardians (families).” However, there have been no pronouncements by the Biden Administration that the Zero Tolerance policy was anything other than a legitimate, albeit unfortunate, immigration policy. The global community cannot allow the Trump Administration’s policy of family separation to be accepted as a legitimate government immigration policy. Instead, it is imperative to recognize that the policy of family separation, and the manner in which parent-child separations were carried out, constitute crimes against humanity. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The following document synthesizes data gathered from litigation, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and publicly available reports written by NGOs, government bodies, and international organizations alike to determine exactly how the Trump Administration’s policy of parent-child separations via Zero Tolerance unfolded. The review uncovered the following key findings of fact explored extensively in the Findings of Fact section of this report: • Throughout the Trump Administration’s four years in power, top government leaders deployed nativist, xenophobic and increasingly inflammatory rhetoric to describe Central American migration. This rhetoric stemmed from the top, emboldening its widespread use amongst rank-and-file officers at the southern border. Trump himself disparaged Central American migration as a “violent invasion” or an “infestation”—at one point calling migrants “animals.” Then-DHS Secretary John Kelly’s rhetoric revealed an attitude of insidious structural racism toward Central American migrants in which he referred to them as “rural people with limited education who don’t have skills nor integrate well.” The rhetoric at the top was replicated by line officials, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was eventually described as having “a pervasive culture of cruelty aimed at immigrants.” • The Trump Administration implemented the policy of family separation with the specific intent to deter migration from Central America (specifically, from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – referred to as the “Northern Triangle”). Then-DHS Secretary John Kelly specifically indicated to the media that family separation was being considered to deter future migration to the southern border by Central American families. The policy was only implemented at the southern border and was never carried out along the northern border, coastal ports of entry, or ports of entry in the interior. • Family separation was first carried out in secret, away from the public eye, and denied by the Trump Administration. In the spring of 2017, long before the formal implementation of Zero Tolerance, the government quietly launched family separation pilots in Yuma and El Paso. The Trump Administration denied the existence of the pilot programs even as immigration and child welfare advocates offered evidence of a sharp increase in the separation of infants and toddlers from their parents. • Terrorizing children and families was central to the government’s policy, not merely an unfortunate byproduct. From the beginning of the Trump Administration, the government openly stated that it was considering family separation as a tool of deterrence. While the Trump Administration repeatedly claimed that separation was merely incidental to a policy of prosecution, recently released government emails show an administration furiously working to enforce separation even when it was not necessary, when it could have been avoided, and even when other government agencies were trying to immediately reunify families. The secret pilot programs demonstrated the inevitable harms to separated children (including losing children into detention systems, protracting separation, exacerbating harm) but these lessons were deliberately ignored by the Trump Administration. • The Trump Administration was at all times aware of the unthinkable and lasting harm that the family separation policy would cause to children. Researchers have documented the harm of parent-child separation for decades. In the midst of the Trump Administration’s separation of families, medical experts were unequivocal in their condemnation: family separation causes lasting and profoundly harmful physical and psychological effects on children. The American Academy of Pediatrics described the practice as “state-sanctioned child abuse.” The medical community denounced the practice as a form of child torture. In fact, the government’s own detention facilities recorded family separations as “abuse in DHS custody.” • The Trump Administration exploited harm to children to employ pervasive and illegal coercive practices to force deportations of separated families. One report contains evidence that U.S. government officials used physical and verbal threats, deception and intimidation to coerce separated parents into signing forms to relinquish their right to request asylum and to opt instead for deportation. The trauma of being separated from their children, as well as the coercive environment created by government officials, made it extremely difficult for parents to participate meaningfully in the legal process. Thirty percent of mothers reported that immigration officers threatened that if the mother did not sign the deportation order, they would never see their children again. • As of the date of this publication, the Trump Administration separated over 5,500 children from their parents pursuant to the policy of family separations via Zero Tolerance; an accurate number will never be known. According to government records, at least 5,569 children were separated from their parents by the Trump Administration as of January 20, 2021. However, these numbers do not paint the complete picture. In addition to the unreported numbers from Yuma, multiple agencies have reported parent-child separations that were not registered in HHS records.

Chicago: Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 2022. 83p.