By BRIAN BLACKWELL, COLIN CAPRARA, JANEY ROUNTREE, ROBERT SANTILLANO, DANA VANDERFORD, CLAIRE BATTIS

Homelessness continues to be a major problem in California, and new approaches to addressing it are urgently needed. This report brings to light an innovative predictive model for homelessness prevention that is showing promising results. The data reveals that this approach — being used for the first time in California and the United States — reaches individuals who are outside of the usual preventive safety net at critical junctures in their lives. Timing is everything — and the Homelessness Prevention Unit connects at-risk people to crucial services and support that could help them avoid homelessness. Consider the scope of the problem: more than 75,000 people experience homelessness in Los Angeles County on any given night in 2024. This represents a 9% increase since 2022 and a 43% increase since 2018. Clearly, long-term solutions to homelessness require not just housing people experiencing homelessness but also preventing homelessness before it occurs. A statewide survey in California revealed that most people experiencing homelessness believe that a one-time payment of $5,000 to $10,000 would have resolved their rapidly escalating financial crises and prevented them from experiencing homelessness. Existing homelessness prevention programs typically include one-time cash assistance ranging on average between $1,000 to $5,000 and short-term direct services such as legal assistance. Several studies have found this approach to be effective at reducing homelessness. Yet research also highlights how difficult it is to ensure that scarce prevention resources primarily reach people who will experience homelessness if they do not receive this help. In partnership with Los Angeles County, the California Policy Lab (CPL) is researching strategies to address this challenge, including developing a data-driven predictive model that can proactively identify people at highest risk of experiencing homelessness. In many prevention programs, participants self-identify as being at risk of homelessness and are then screened into programs based on eligibility criteria or surveys that ask questions about risk factors. CPL’s predictive model, however, analyzes de-identified data to proactively identify people at high risk of homelessness. Our research finds that people identified by the predictive model are not connected to typical prevention programs, indicating that both approaches are valuable and reach different people. To test whether this model could be used to better target prevention resources, in 2020, Los Angeles County created the Homelessness Prevention Unit (HPU) operating out of the Housing for Health division of the Department of Health Services (DHS) in close collaboration with the Chief Information Office (CIO) and Department of Mental Health (DMH). A County seed funding investment in the HPU made it possible to pilot an innovative approach to homelessness prevention that offers flexible cash assistance and tailored case management to individuals and families predicted by CPL’s model to be at the highest risk of experiencing homelessness. Because the HPU is located within the Los Angeles County health system, CPL’s model is focused on people who recently received DHS or DMH services and who are observed as stably housed in County administrative data. This group includes nearly 100,000 people over the course of a year (the “eligible population”). CPL uses the model to produce lists multiple times a year of people with the highest risk of homelessness. The lists are anonymized and rank-ordered from highest to lowest risk of homelessness. CPL sends the high-risk lists to the CIO, where County staff match each person’s anonymized record to a County medical record ID. The CIO then transfers the lists to the HPU so that they can identify names, addresses, and contact info of the patients listed. HPU staff then screen out some people on the risk lists that other data sources indicate are currently experiencing homelessness and are therefore ineligible. For eligible individuals, HPU staff attempt to contact them, and, if they are willing, enroll them in the intervention. The HPU serves between 400 to 600 people per year. The intervention includes rapidly delivered, flexible cash assistance, tailored case management, and referrals to other services, such as mental health care, workforce development, and legal services. This policy report provides an overview of: (1) CPL’s predictive model, including data sources and engineering; (2) the equity of the predictive model; (3) outreach and enrollment in the HPU; (4) the HPU’s design and service model; and (5) how CPL will evaluate the impact of the HPU program in a randomized control trial

Los Angeles: The California Policy Lab , 2024. 50p.

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

In the digital age, technology serves as both a powerful tool for empowerment and a potential instrument for criminal activities, particularly in human trafficking. Traffickers exploit technological advancements for purposes such as online recruitment, victim control, and transferring illicit proceeds. However, these same technologies present opportunities for law enforcement and civil society to combat trafficking and protect victims. This report summarizes a set of policy recommendations discussed and made by anti-trafficking stakeholders from OSCE participating States during a series of sub-regional workshops organized in 2023 by the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.These policy recommendations aim at leveraging technology effectively to counter trafficking.

Vienna: OSCE, 2024. 22p.

By Alexandra Flynn, Estair van Wagner, Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark

Encampments are a vivid illustration of the failure of governments in Canada to meet their human rights obligations to ensure everyone has access to adequate housing. The 2020-2022 point-in-time count showed a 20% increase in homelessness overall and an 88% increase in unsheltered homelessness from 2018. The right to housing is inherently linked with the fulfillment of other human rights and with basic human dignity. Thus, where the right to housing is violated, other human rights are often violated. Advocacy for the human rights of encampment residents then necessarily implicates a wider set of human rights. Legal advocacy is therefore a necessary part of a broader movement to realize human rights for all people. Canadian jurisprudence has centered on the right to life, liberty and security of the person protected by section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, interpreted as freedom from government actions such as encampment removals. However, the rights involved draw from other sources of laws, including Indigenous and international legal frameworks. In this report we focus on the existing case law and legal strategies. Our objective is to identify arguments used to date, as well as opportunities for future legal advocacy on the issue of encampments.

Given the context of colonial dispossession and the vast overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in the unhoused population we highlight the relationship between the right to housing and Indigenous rights, both from a colonial Canadian legal perspective and from an Indigenous legal perspective. While we point to opportunities to engage with legal tools within the Canadian colonial legal system where they may be strategic and useful, we acknowledge the limitations of these tools. Therefore, we also highlight opportunities to connect advocacy about encampments with Indigenous legal orders and jurisdiction, including work being done by groups engaged in or considering litigation or advocacy on encampments. While there is limited research on the role of Indigenous law in encampments at present, in our view, this is an urgent area of advocacy to find long-term, sustainable, and human rights-compliant solutions to homelessness.

This report starts from the recognition that encampment residents are rights-bearers and must be centered in discussions on how to move forward. While it does not include testimony from those with lived experience it is informed by the long history of advocacy inside and outside of courtrooms by people unhoused people themselves and in partnership. This is critical in the context of encampments: when unhoused people claim public or private space to meet their basic needs it is essential that we acknowledge and respect their dignity and agency. Encampment residents are experts in their own lives. As we explain, meaningful engagement is the foundation of any human rights-based response. This includes respecting the structures of decision making that emerge in encampments, the trusted advocacy relationships developed with those around them, and principles of fairness that guarantee particular rights.

This report has been drafted to help inform legal practitioners and advocates about the state of jurisprudence in Canada relevant to homeless encampments. It highlights some of the limitations of jurisprudence to date and points to opportunities for future legal advocacy, highlighting the need to integrate Indigenous legal traditions.

Part One provides a background on the meaning of a human rights approach and the regulation of encampments in Canada.

First, we detail the connections between the right to housing and encampments in the Canadian context. We define what we mean by adequate housing, where the progressive realization of the right to housing comes from under Canadian and Indigenous legal frameworks, and provide a three-part framework for considering the right to adequate housing.

Second, we outline the current system of regulation of encampments in Canada. We explore the regulation of encampments based on international and domestic laws, highlighting that jurisdictionally fractured set of rules each seek to govern encampment residents, exacerbating their vulnerability. In this section, we distinguish between constitutional protections, legislation and bylaws that protect encampment residents, and those that seek to displace them.

Part Two sets out advocacy and litigation strategies in relation to encampments.

Third, we outline advocacy efforts in relation to encampments. In this section we explain the many ways in which advocates are seeking change in local policy-making, law reform, and enforcement. These efforts may - but do not always - rely on court decisions, and legal challenges are but one tactic used to advance the interests of encampment residents.

Next, we set out the case law concerning encampments, explaining the different approaches that have been taken since the seminal case, Adams v Victoria, was decided in 2009 setting out the current framework used by the courts. We explain court decisions in relation to injunction applications mainly brought by municipalities, Charter arguments, judicial review applications, shelter standards, public private property distinctions, and challenging enforcement. These cases were all decided between Adams and 2022.

We conclude by summarizing the legal framework related to encampments, with the gaps and opportunities for realizing a right to housing for those experiencing the most profound violation of that right, homelessness.

Ottawa: Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, Canadian Human Rights Commission, 2024. 56p.

By Tina Magazzini, Marina Eleftheriadou, Anna Triandafyllidou

This open access book explains why southern European countries with significant Muslim communities have experienced few religiously inspired violent attacks – or have avoided the kind of securitised response to such attacks seen in many other Western states. The authors provide a unique contribution to the literature on violent extremism – which has traditionally focused on countries such as France, the US and the UK – by studying the causes of relatively low rates of radicalisation in Greece, Italy and Spain. The book explores many of the dynamics between (non) radicalisation and issues such as socioeconomic inequality, experiences of conflict, and systemic racism and other forms of discrimination. It establishes a new analytical framework for the development of, and resilience against, violent radicalisation in the region and beyond.

Cham: Springer Nature, 2024. 133p.

By American Immigration Council

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship to every child born "within the jurisdiction of the United States.” The 1898 Supreme Court case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark established an important precedent in its interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in that it cemented birthright citizenship for children of all immigrants. For over a century, anyone born on U.S. soil has automatically been conferred citizenship at birth regardless of their parents’ immigration or citizenship status. While most legal scholars across the political spectrum have maintained that the Fourteenth Amendment interpreted through Wong Kim Ark unequivocally extends birthright citizenship to anyone born in the United States, anti-immigrant political factions have pushed to restrict birthright citizenship—primarily, attempting to deny it to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrant parents. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump announced to reporters that he was looking “very seriously” at ending birthright citizenship, a warning that lacked details and did not come to fruition.

This fact sheet explains:

• What Is Birthright Citizenship?

• The Fourteenth Amendment and Its Interpretations.

• Who is Eligible for Birthright Citizenship?

• Can Birthright Citizenship Be Taken Away?

Washington, DC: American Immigration Council, 2024. 12p.

By Alexandra Gannoni and Samantha Bricknell

The Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery National Minimum Dataset (HTMS NMDS) is a national data collection on suspected victim‑survivors and perpetrators of modern slavery in Australia. This report describes the findings of the HTMS NMDS pilot data collection, conducted over six months from 1 July to 31 December 2022.  

Statistical Report no. 48. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.2024. 41p.

Edited by Santino Regilme, Salvador F.

More than three decades have passed since the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet children's rights and dignity still confront profound challenges worldwide. This book delves deep into this complex issue, meticulously examining the causes and consequences of contemporary crises in children's rights and welfare. Distinguishing itself from conventional literature and public discourse on human rights, this multidisciplinary volume offers an unparalleled global and interdisciplinary perspective. It defies traditional disciplinary boundaries, embracing an analytically eclectic and interdisciplinary approach to comprehending the intricate challenges faced by children today. This book wholeheartedly acknowledges that the issues affecting children are intricately interwoven within an intricate web of social, cultural, and historical factors, thereby requiring a holistic and problem-centric viewpoint. Far from the mainstream narrative, this anthology spotlights the frequently overlooked crises in children's rights, bringing to light those thematic and policy blind spots that have languished in obscurity. It champions an unyielding global and transnational outlook, recognizing that the contemporary predicaments confronting children are not solely products of local or national influences but are profoundly shaped by the forces and interactions of a global scale. This book uniquely contributes to children's rights scholarship by exploring children's rights and dignity through a broader lens, emphasizing the impact of politics, culture, social conflicts, and geographic variations. This timely and indispensable work serves as an invaluable resource for scholars, policymakers, and advocates dedicated to advancing the cause of children's rights on the grand stage of global governance.

Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2024.

By Michael Krennerich

The book offers a comprehensive and clear introduction for students and those interested in human rights, written by a renowned human rights expert. It not only provides an introduction to the diversity of issues, actors, and institutions in human rights policy and politics but also offers assistance and suggestions on how the complex reality of human rights politics can be described and analyzed with the help of political science and related disciplines. It deals with civil society engagement in human rights as well as state obligations and international efforts to protect human rights. This is an open-access book.

Cham: Springer Nature, 2024. 180p.

By Sotoudeh, Nasrin

The Laurence and Lynne Brown Democracy Medal, presented by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, recognizes outstanding individuals, groups, and organizations that produce innovations to further democracy in the United States or around the world. Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist who has been called "Iran's Nelson Mandela." Sotoudeh is a longtime opponent of the death penalty, an advocate of improving imprisonment health conditions, and an activist dedicated to fighting for the rights of women, children, religious and ethnic minorities, journalists and artists, and those facing execution. As a result of her advocacy, Sotoudeh has been repeatedly imprisoned by the Iranian government for crimes against the state; she served one sentence from 2010 to 2013 and was sentenced again in 2018 to thirty-eight years and six months in prison and 148 lashes. Her work has been featured in the 2020 documentary Nasrin, by filmmakers Jeff Kaufman and Marcia S. Ross. For this important work, she is the recipient of the 2023 Brown Democracy Medal from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, marking the award's tenth year.

Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2023. 83p.

By U.S. Department of Justice,  Office of Justice Programs,  Bureau of Justice Statistics

This report details ongoing and completed efforts to measure and analyze the nationwide incidence of human trafficking, to describe characteristics of human trafficking victims and offenders, and to describe criminal justice responses to human trafficking offenses. The report provides information on human trafficking investigated and prosecuted by U.S. attorneys, human trafficking defendants convicted and sentenced to federal prison, and admissions to state prison for human trafficking.

Highlights

• A total of 1,912 persons were referred to U.S. attorneys for human trafficking offenses in fiscal year 2022, a 26% increase from the 1,519 persons referred in 2012.  

• The number of persons prosecuted for human trafficking more than doubled from 2012 to 2022 (from 805 to 1,656 persons). The number of persons convicted of a human trafficking offense increased from 578 persons in 2012 to 1,118 persons in 2022. 

• Of the 1,070 defendants charged with any of the three types of human trafficking offenses in U.S. district court in fiscal year 2022, 91% were male, 58% were white, 20% were black, 18% were Hispanic, 95% were U.S. citizens, and 71% had no prior convictions. 

• Of the 203 defendants charged with peonage, slavery, forced labor, and sex trafficking, 69% were male and 53% were black. In comparison, of the 523 defendants charged with sexual exploitation and other abuse of children, 94% were male and 71% were white.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics 2024. 7p.   

Complied by Jane Sinclair

The document is an excerpt from“Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry”by WilliamCarleton, specifically from Volume III. It includes various tales such as“Ned M’Keown,” “The Three Tasks,” “Shane Fadh’sWedding,” and others. The narrative focuses on the lives and interactions of Irish peasants, capturing the essence of rural life in Ireland. Key characters include Ned M’Keown, a speculative merchant known for his failed ventures and humorous dynamics with his wife, Nancy, and Jack Magennis, a dutiful son who faces a series of magical challenges. The stories are rich in dialogue and local color, providing a vivid portrayal of the characters and their environment, highlighting themes of hospitality, community, and the interplay between tradition and change in Irish society.The tales blend humor, superstition, and the supernatural, showcasing the cultural and social dynamics of the Irish peasantry. For instance, Jack Magennis encounters a dark man and a talking dog who offer him a chance to win a fortune, leading to a series of magical tasks that he completes with the help of a mysterious lady. Other stories, like “Shane Fahad's Wedding,”depict traditional customs and the lively social interactions at events love weddings. The narrative style is engaging, with a mix of humorous and serious tones, reflecting the complexities of life in rural Ireland. Overall, the document provides a rich and multifaceted view of Irish peasant life, emphasizing the importance of community, resilience, and the enduring influence of folklore and tradition.

P.F. Collier, 1881, 1,045 pages

Complied by Jane Sinclair

The document is an excerpt from“The Works of William Carleton, Volume I,”which includes multiple novels such as“Willy Reilly,” “Farnborough the Miser,” “The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles of Bally train,”and“The Evil Eye; or, The Black Spectre.”The Specific section provided focuses on“Willy Reilly,”detailing the initial chapters where the protagonist, Willy Reilly, saves Squire Folliard from the Red Rapparee, leading to a developing relationship with Folliard’s daughter, Helen, also known as the Colleen Bawn. The narrative explores themes of love, loyalty, religious conflict, and intrigue, set against the backdrop of rural Ireland In “Willy Reilly,” Squire Folliard and his servant Andy Cumm is key lose their way in a foggy moor and encounter the Red Rapparee, who threatens to kill them. Willy Reilly intervenes and saves them, leading to his introduction to Helen Folliard. Despite the religious and social barriers, Reilly and Helen develop a mutual affection. However, Sir Robert Whitecraft, a suitor of Helen, manipulates Mr. Folliard against Reilly, leading to tension and conflict. Helen declares her love for Reilly, defying her father’s wishes and Sir Robert's Schemes. The narrative hints at future challenges and dangers for Reilly and Helen due to their love and the surrounding political and social tensions.

P.F. Collier, 1881, 638 pages

Complied by Jane Sinclair

The document is an excerpt from“The Works of William Carleton, Volume I,”which includes multiple novels such as“Willy Reilly,” “Farnborough the Miser,” “The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles of Bally train,”and“The Evil Eye; or, The Black Spectre.”The Specific section provided focuses on“Willy Reilly,”detailing the initial chapters where the protagonist, Willy Reilly, saves Squire Folliard from the Red Rapparee, leading to a developing relationship with Folliard’s daughter, Helen, also known as the Colleen Bawn. The narrative explores themes of love, loyalty, religious conflict, and intrigue, set against the backdrop of rural Ireland In “Willy Reilly,” Squire Folliard and his servant Andy Cumm is key lose their way in a foggy moor and encounter the Red Rapparee, who threatens to kill them. Willy Reilly intervenes and saves them, leading to his introduction to Helen Folliard. Despite the religious and social barriers, Reilly and Helen develop a mutual affection. However, Sir Robert Whitecraft, a suitor of Helen, manipulates Mr. Folliard against Reilly, leading to tension and conflict. Helen declares her love for Reilly, defying her father’s wishes and Sir Robert's Schemes. The narrative hints at future challenges and dangers for Reilly and Helen due to their love and the surrounding political and social tensions.

P.F. Collier, 1881, 175 pages

May Contain Markup

By Sir Reginald Coupland

"The British Anti-Slavery Movement" by Sir Reginald Coupland is a comprehensive historical account detailing the efforts to abolish slavery and the slave trade in the British Empire. The book is structured into several chapters, each focusing on different aspects of the movement, from the African slave system to the abolition of slavery in the British Isles and colonies.It highlights the significant contributions of key figures such as William Wilber force, Granville Sharp, and Thomas Clarkson, who played pivotal roles in advocating for the end of slavery. Coupland also discusses the broader implications of the abolitionist movement, including its impact on British Imperial policy and its moral and humanitarian motivations.

The book delves into the various phases of the anti-slavery movement, including the fight against the foreign slave trade and the suppression of theEast African slave trade. Coupland provides a detailed narrative of the challenges and successes faced by the abolitionists, emphasizing the interplay between economic, political, and moral factors. The introduction to the second edition by J.D. Fage offers additional context, reflecting on Coupland's contributions to the field of imperial history and the ongoing relevance of his work. Overall, the book serves as a crucial resource for understanding the complexities and legacy of the British anti-slavery movement.

Frank Cass & Co LTD London, 1933, 255 pages

By John Power,  Sean Phillips, Stuart Carroll

The scale and volume of challenges facing the new ministerial team at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) necessitates a significant turnaround operation to enhance NHS productivity and performance. Indeed, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care used his first public statement to reflect that “the policy of this department is that the NHS is broken”. Amid operational pressures (including long waits for care), poor patient satisfaction (at its lowest levels since the early 1980s), high-profile cases of abuse and anaemic productivity growth since the pandemic, the way that the NHS is managed and led is back firmly in the spotlight. The work of managers – particularly non-clinical, operational managers – working across the NHS is often invisible to the public, but touches almost every aspect of health and care delivery from the implementation of electronic patient records and upgrading the hospital estate to planning rotas for doctors and nurses. Yet the present debate concerning health and care management is often driven by a weak or anecdotal evidential basis. In a recent interview, the Health Secretary reflected he was “unconvinced by the majority of research…which suggests the NHS is under-managed”. A recent study concludes that “there is little existing evidence to support either this narrative or counterclaims.” As the 2015 Smith Review noted, management capacity and capability is “under examined” in healthcare planning. Politicians (of all stripes) alongside commentators in the media have in recent years blamed poor performance on “NHS managers”, whilst holding more positive opinions about “front line” staff. A recent analysis from the Policy Unit at King’s College London reveals half of the public believe there are “too many managers in the NHS”.. Some healthcare professionals also reflect this view, perceiving non-clinical managers to be a challenge to professional autonomy and authority. In the public policy debate, too much emphasis is placed on discussion about the volume of managers working in the NHS: the narrative that either simply expanding the headline numbers of ‘managers’ or in scaling back a ‘bloated bureaucracy’ will deliver the necessary service improvement and efficiency gains. A greater focus on management capability is needed, as is a deeper understanding of the permissions and incentives which enable or inhibit improved performance and productivity. We also need to re are employed between NHS England (NHSE) and DHSC. In addition to this, the recently-published Independent Review of NHS Performance, authored by Lord Darzi, finds that “regulatory type organisations now employ some 7,000 staff, or 35 per provider trust, having doubled in size over the past 20 years”. The “right balance of management resources in different parts of the structure” is needed, he concludes. Such an assessment must not fix its attention solely upon the management of hospitals (as important as this is) but must also consider the requirements of the healthcare system as a whole – particularly primary and community healthcare services whose management and leadership requirements are less frequently discussed in policy debates, but where expectations for the transformation of services are great and there are unique challenges and circumstances to be addressed given these are far more devolved and dispersed care settings. Moreover, we should not solely investigate roles, but must also consider the architecture and “organisational culture” which influences activity within the NHS as well as the NHS’s interaction with Government departments and arms-length bodies. The focus and purpose of this report, therefore, is two-fold: 1. Firstly, to present a more detailed portrait of the state of NHS management today to inform the discussion around about future reform. How is management distributed across the country and across organisations? Would a greater volume of managers overall deliver improved performance? Are there particular skillsets we are lacking? 2. Secondly, to set out the case for change and to make a series of recommendations for reform.  

London: Policy Exchange, 2024. 62p.

By Vinícius Venancio

Inspired by Lélia Gonzalez’s essay “Racism and Sexism in Brazilian Culture”, this working paper turns to another post-colonial nation, Cape Verde, and analyzes two case studies that shed light upon how the intersection between race and gender produces specific forms of violence in the bodies and souls of men and women from continental Africa living in the capital, Praia. The first case examines personal stories of young women who are exploited for their domestic labor; while their relationship with their employer is presented using the discourse of kinship, their situation is more akin to slavery. The second case looks at attacks on and murder of Bissau-Guinean men; the brutality of the violence and the lack of public attention demonstrate how some lives are considered more valuable than others. Both cases illustrate the degree to which race and gender continue to operate as social markers of domination in the lives of immigrant populations who are seen as blacker than the locals in Cape Verde.

Working Papers v. 213 (2024): 1-24.

By Andrea Nichols and  Erin Heil

The current academic discourse examining human trafficking is lacking in focus on survivors with a disability. The increased likelihood of abuse experienced by people with a disability is well documented in the research literature, and a small body of research indicates heightened sex trafficking victimization of minor girls with a disability. Yet, very little research specifically examines sex and/or labor trafficking of people with a disability, and no systematic research analyzes prosecuted cases of trafficking with disability as the focal point of analysis. Drawing from a content analysis of 18 federal and 17 state cases of human trafficking, the current study specifically aimed to increase our understandings of sex and labor trafficking involving survivors with a disability. The findings revealed the following patterns and themes: 1) the type of trafficking experienced (sex, labor, or both), 2) whether state level or federal cases 3) the types of disabilities identified among trafficking survivors, 4) the nature of the relationship between traffickers and survivors, 5) methods of recruitment, 6) case outcomes; and 7) demographic characteristics of traffickers and survivors (e.g., gender/citizenship). Implications include prevention efforts in the form of developmentally grounded sex education and healthy relationships curriculum for survivors with an intellectual disability, as well as specialized anti-trafficking training for those in legal, healthcare, and social services that is inclusive of people with a disability  

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 1.

By American Immigration Council

Under United States law, any person who is physically present in the United States or who “arrives” at the border must be given an opportunity to seek asylum. Despite this clear command, in recent years U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officers stationed at the southern border have turned away thousands of people who come to ports of entry seeking protection, including through a practice known as “metering” (or “queue management”). This has occurred even as officials issued pleas to asylum seekers to go to ports of entry and request asylum, rather than crossing the border between the ports of entry to ask for asylum. Under metering, CBP officers assert a lack of capacity to refuse to inspect and process asylum seekers, requiring them to wait for weeks or months in Mexico just for the opportunity to start the asylum process. This practice began as early as 2016 at certain ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border but its use expanded significantly border-wide during the Trump administration. Metered individuals followed the U.S. government’s instructions to wait to seek asylum without crossing the border between ports of entry but have been left to languish in Mexico indefinitely or return home and abandon their hopes of applying for asylum in the United States.

Washington, DC: American Immigration Council, 2021. 5 p.

By The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, September 2024

This report is authored by the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project (Florence Project) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in 1989 and provides free legal and social services to adults and unaccompanied children facing immigration removal in Arizona. In 2023, the Florence Project served 17,514 unaccompanied immigrant children detained in federal facilities referred to as shelters in Arizona. This report summarizes 314 complaints made by unaccompanied immigrant children ages 5 to 17 in the span of 15 months about conditions they experienced while in U.S. Border Patrol custody, a subagency of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Children reported experiencing a broad range of abuse and mistreatment, including verbal and physical abuse, hunger, a lack of hygiene products and lack of access to medical care. The report makes concerning findings, including a continuation of severe verbal and physical abuse of children. Nearly 4 in 10 children in this report experienced verbal abuse and 1 in 10 experienced physical abuse. Children reported they were subjected to vile language, derogatory names, and threatened with deportation or jail. Children also reported being pushed, kicked, and punched, and that some agents brandished weapons to instill fear. U.S. law defines unaccompanied immigrant children as persons under 18 who lack lawful immigration status and who do not have a parent or legal guardian in the U.S. available to provide care and physical custody.ii In our decades of experience, unaccompanied immigrant children leave their homes and travel to the U.S. for a variety of reasons, including to seek protection from gang or government warfare, violence within their own home, extreme poverty, and/or to reunify with family. Unaccompanied children are generally apprehended by CBP near the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2002, Congress charged the U.S. Department of Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) with the care and custody of unaccompanied immigrant children in order to comply the Flores Settlement Agreement (FSA).iii The FSA requires that unaccompanied children not be placed in adult detention centers and instead must be held in the less restrictive ORR shelters with a prompt process to be placed in the least restrictive setting through reunification with sponsors. In 2008, Congress expanded and codified the rights, including that CBP “shall transfer” an unaccompanied immigrant child to ORR custody “no later than 72 hours” after identifying them.iv Congress understood that CBP, a law enforcement agency, is not equipped to care for children. The Florence Project has long been alarmed by reports of abuse and mistreatment while in Border Patrol custody. We have assisted children in filing hundreds of individual complaints and authored three prior extensive reports in 2009, 2014, and 2022. vi Despite hundreds of complaints about this abuse, the agencies charged with  oversight of CBP have failed to make meaningful change and to stop the ongoing abuse.

Tucson, AZ:  Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project.,  2024. 13p. 

By Rebecca Nhep and Kate van Doore

Orphanage trafficking is a type of child trafficking that involves the recruitment and/ or transfer of children to residential care institutions, for a purpose of exploitation and/ or profit. It typically takes place in developing countries where child protection services systems are highly privatised, under-regulated, and primarily funded by overseas sources. In such circumstances, residential care is used prolifically and inappropriately as a response to child vulnerability, including lack of access to education.

THE RISE AND FALL OF FRAUDULENT INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS

The trafficking of children into orphanages in Cambodia was originally associated with fraudulent intercountry adoptions in the late 1990s. Orphanages were a transit destination where trafficked infants would be transferred, harboured and represented as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption. Each child would attract fees of up to USD $20,000 paid by adoptive parents. A number of stakeholders profit from this practice, including adoption agencies, brokers, buyers, child recruiters, officials involved in issuing fraudulent documentation and the directors of the institutions where children were harboured. Evidence of the widespread practice of trafficking of Cambodian children for intercountry adoption came to light in 2001. The industry was largely shut down as countries, most notably the US, closed their borders to adoptions from Cambodia. The primary US adoption agency and adoption broker at the centre of the largest racket were prosecuted in the US under visa fraud and money laundering charges. In Cambodia, human trafficking charges were brought against three orphanage staff involved in the trafficking; however, none progressed to prosecution, with charges in all three cases ‘quietly dropped’.

Since then, the Law on Intercountry Adoption and supporting regulations have been introduced in Cambodia to meet its obligations under the Hague Convention aimed at eradicating fraudulent international adoptions. Specific offences were also included in the 2008 Criminal Code to enable the prosecution of prohibited conduct with respect to the facilitation of adoption. Adoption was also included as a specific purpose for trafficking offences in the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation 2008 (TSE Law). Intercountry adoption from Cambodia remains largely closed whilst critical child protection and care system reforms are implemented. Such reforms are necessary to ensure intercountry adoption is used as an option of last resort for children for whom all domestic possibilities have been genuinely explored and exhausted.

Brisbane: Law Futures Centre, Griffith University , 2021. 67p.