Other and we forget that were all created in the image of god, how do you prevent people from treating human life like its cheap . This is a systemic issue that weve just got to confront. Its just too big and too hidden. Cbs presents living in the shadows religions response to Human Trafficking. The narrator is ted holmes. The main factor contributing to Human Trafficking is poverty. People looking to better their lives are recruited by agencies offering promises of lucrative work. Too often, its kind of a bait and switch. You live in indonesia. I describe this incredible job thatll pay maybe 150 bucks a week, which sounds like a great deal, come into the United States those people are then forced into manual labor or Sexual Exploitation, for either low wages or no wages at all. You get there and then youre entrapped. Your papers are taken. Youre in a situation where you probably cant get out. In other words, they are enslaved. Some pretty unscrupulous people have figured out that, you know, if i dont pay my workers, im going to save a lot of money and make more profits. I hear all the time, well, if theyre not chained up, then its not really trafficking. But thats not true. You know, if someone says, you owe me 10,000 and if you dont work for me to pay it off while i add more to your debt, im going to kill you, im going to hurt your family. Thats coercion. Thats Human Trafficking, too. According to the International Labor organization, 21 Million People around the world are trafficked. 1. 2 million are children. These arent just immigrants who broke our immigration laws. These are people who were lured here, false promises, brought here and then exploited and theyre victims. People who come to this country, they may want to send money back to their home to feed a grandmother. They may want to send money back home to have a child go to school. But they are vulnerable. They get exploited. They are trafficked. Every 30 seconds another person becomes a victim of Human Trafficking. Its a little bit hard to grasp because the word trafficking seems to imply movement, but a person can be exploited on the block where he or she grew up. The reason that its possible to exploit people in what are heinous, heinous ways is that traffickers psychologically beat them down and really dismantle them. And they wont ask for help because they believe what the traffickers have, you know, brainwashed them into believing, which is im not worth helping. Human trafficking is a crime under u. S. And international law. It is also difficult to trace. Its a very diverse crime. People are victimized in many different industries. The victims themselves are incredibly diverse. It ranges from young teenagers, u. S. Citizens, people here without any status, people here with legal status. While trafficking in human labor makes up the majority of the cases in the u. S. , a significant percentage involve Sexual Exploitation. We know of a lot of cases of people, women in particular, young girls, who are recruited overseas and brought in with promises of legitimate work and then are forced into the commercial sexual industry. Over 200,000 children are at risk for commercial Sexual Exploitation in the u. S. There was actually quite a rigorous study done in new york city, and they estimated that close to 4,000 kids are sexually exploited in new york city alone. The victims of sex trafficking are often themselves arrested. These arent chronic runaways. These arent bad kids. There are kids who were lured, recruited out. Sexually exploited kids come from backgrounds where they dont have trusting, loving adults who want to take care of them. So when a pimp comes along and says, oh, baby, youre the greatest, i love you, were going to make our lives together hes got a lot of money, hes got a fancy car, and he buys her lunch at mcdonalds she thinks this is the best thing in the world. So we fight to change the law to ensure that those kids, when found, must be referred for services and cant be treated in the criminal justice system. We think that they should be offered protection and assistance, not punishment. A major contributor in bringing awareness to the problem of Human Trafficking has been the religious community. In many instances, the first recognition of this issue in any community is an involvement with the Faith Community. It may be that a young runaway goes to someone in a church. It may be that someone in a church has been educated and they then get in contact with authorities about this issue. Here at st. Ignatius Loyola Catholic church in manhattan, concerned citizens, students, and clergy are learning about Human Trafficking. People are being sold as commodities. How it takes place in their own Community One of the ladies brought up a point that most trafficking happens in jackson heights, which is actually my neighborhood, so its just its really shocking. And what steps they can take to stop it. People who are at the front desk of a hotel, they can be trained to look its part of an interfaith Outreach Campaign to educate travel and Tourism Agencies about the reality of trafficking, especially during large sporting events. We find that many Sports Events around the world, super bowls, world cups, the olympics, that Human Trafficking, especially sex tourism theres an amazing increase right before and during a sports event. In the early days, when we were approaching hotels and airlines and they were like this cant be happening, right . Or, certainly not on this property, this doesnt happen here until they Start Talking to their people and realize, yes, there have been incidents. With the upcoming super bowl in february, there is an effort to canvass over 600 hotels in the new york and new jersey area, alerting staff to the potential for trafficking. We have a woman who was 16 when she was first recruited into the industry, and she said that she was taken to some of the best hotels and that the Staff Members would see her, and she said they would look at me and then they would look away. And we dont want them to look away anymore. We want them to be alert to it. Volunteers speak to Hotel Managers about organizing staff training on what to look out for and what to do if they suspect someone is being trafficked. In many cases, these are publicly owned hotel chains with thousands and thousands of properties. And so were asking them to say this is the right thing to do. And there are already people with expertise in this. The Faith Communitys partnership with antitrafficking groups like ecpat has raised awareness about the commercial Sexual Exploitation of children. We have been training volunteers and many of them are catholic sisters who come out in droves to learn about how to do this. Theyve been amazing partners for us. Awareness campaigns have resulted in corporations signing the ecpat code of conduct, which calls for the protection of children from Sexual Exploitation in travel and tourism. Among them are Wyndham Hotels and delta airlines. We were talking with delta and they have trained already 35,000 of their employees. Its remarkable, right . And so were working with them on their connections with the hotels that they work with. Im hoping that in five years every hotel worker will be trained in this. We often hear from Staff Members how proud they are of their company for doing this. We used to hear stories from Staff Members that they would see stuff, but they didnt want to tell their boss because they didnt know what they were supposed to do. And so this gives people the tool to feel empowered to do something to protect a kid. We will return after these messages. ,,,, according to the International Labor organization, over 14 Million People a year are victims of forced labor, a form of modernday slavery. Victims of labor trafficking are often forced to work for little pay in unsafe conditions. On april 24, 2013, an apparel factory collapsed near the capital of bangladesh. Over 1,000 workers were killed and 2,500 injured. It is considered one of the deadliest garment factory accidents in history. And they had decided the day before, april 23, this is unsafe, were leaving. They left the facility. And the owner said, youve got to come back. This was forced labor go back in, and with assurances that it had been inspected, that things were fine. And then, of course, it it collapsed. Reverend David Schilling is a United Methodist minister and the Program Director for the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility or iccr. We have about 300 institutions that are part of us, mostly faithbased, but also socially responsible investors, public Pension Funds and so forth. Iccr uses that leverage to influence corporations on labor and human rights standards, corporations that may not even know that those standards are being violated, since they often outsource their work. Bangladesh is a good example. You have so many brands and retailers from all over the world, but particularly u. S. And europe, that have had work in bangladesh for some time in the apparel sector. And there are some real governance gaps, and the governance gaps come from the Bangladesh Government not really enforcing some of the labor laws, some of the issues related to fire and building safety. If we look at the last 10 years, there have probably been at least a thousand deaths because of fire. And each time it happens, the Bangladesh Government has issued statements that were going to take care of this. The press focuses on it, but then moves away back to business as usual so no change takes place. After the building collapse, iccr and other human Rights Groups pressured retailers to sign an accord improving fire and Safety Standards in bangladesh factories. Its a multistakeholder approach where you have Companies Working with trade unions, global, and local and civil society. Companies who signed the accord must submit to rigorous, independent inspections. Companies make a five year commitment. Thats really rare because often in the apparel youre in one factory and you may be out the next season. So far, over 100 brands and retailers from europe, the u. S. , and australia have signed on. Youre wanting to invest in those companies that are taking the high road, and part of that is willingness to walk with them and, you know, pay a little bit more. And i think that is going to be, in the next five years, thats going to be the issue. I feel like, for jews, the story of redemption from slavery is essential to who we are. We were slaves and weve become a free people. Rabbi Rachel Kahn Troster is the director of north american programs for truah, a jewish Human Rights Organization. Modern slavery today is about finding people who are enslaved and freeing them from those conditions and then helping to rehabilitate them to become free people, to live lives that are productive and lives with dignity. Current Global Economic conditions create opportunities for Human Trafficking to thrive. I think since the Great Recession started, weve seen a lot of conditions that caused worse. Day slavery getting a lot of people are on the move and people who are on the move, especially poor people, are vulnerable to exploitation. Were also seeing Labor Protections getting worse. Its a sort of race to the bottom as labor laws are eroded, a lot of unionization is dropping. People lack the protections of minimum wage of a safe workplace. Since 2011, truah has partnered with the coalition of immokalee workers, a workerbased Human Rights Organization in florida that protects migrants who work on tomato farms. We are the tomato rabbis to the coalition of immokalee workers. We view ourselves as their allies. The coalition is well known for its fight against Human Trafficking and the abuse of migrant farmworkers. We think its important for rabbis to not just learn about an issue, but to really put themselves on the line and say, how can we make people understand this issue, the consumers who buy tomatoes and the stores who sell them . One of the coalitions historic achievements was the implementation of a Fair Food Program with the florida tomato growers association. Corporate buyers pay a premium for the produce, which goes towards a wage increase for the workers. The agreement covers 30,000 workers and has zero tolerance for wage theft and forced labor. It is making a difference. It has given out 11 million in wages over the past three years. Since the Fair Food Program was instituted, they have not found a case of Human Trafficking in the fields affected by the program. So thats 90 of the florida tomato industry. Thats big. With the help of the tomato rabbis, the Coalition Continues to target fast food chains and supermarkets who are not participating in the Fair Food Program. Thats where the voice of the Faith Community and the fight against Human Trafficking is really critical, to say, we expect you to live up to your values. Throughout the year, the rabbis stage prayins at a local publix supermarket in florida. Its never a good headline when it says rabbis protesting outside of your store. And we just want them to take the opportunity to do the right thing. I think its a big challenge when you know that you can be part of the solution. Why wouldnt you choose to be part of it . Publix has said, well, we donate food and money to immokalee, but workers dont want charity. What they want is the right to work with dignity. We will return after these messages. ,, good morning nelly woah. Hey have you ever tried honey nut cheerios . Love em. Neat now you on the other hand. You need some help. Why . Look atchya. What is that . You mean my honey wand . [ shouting ] [ splat ] come on. Matter of fact. [ rustling ] shirt. Shoes. Shades. Ah wow now that voice. My voice . [ autotuned ] whats wrong with my voice . Yeah man, bee got swag be happy be healthy thats gotta go too. Hey must be the honey [ sparkle ] sweet. My name is josie. My name is lydia. My name is ita, and i am a Domestic Worker. Damayan Migrant Workers association is a workerled Grassroots Organization founded in 2002. Their mission is to protect the rights and dignity of filipino Domestic Workers, some of whom are trafficked from their homes in the philippines. I am a Domestic Worker. I am a Domestic Worker. We came to the u. S. From the philippines. Everybody that comes here and works as a Domestic Worker, they are ready to do the work because they have families back home that they need to support. We hear many stories almost weekly, if not sometimes daily. Stories of people who are getting recruited in the philippines with false promises like wellpaying jobs, things like overtime, vacation, days off. So theyll sign the contracts and theyll come here and discover that either theres actually no job available to them whatsoever, or quite the opposite of what was promised in the contracts long hours, low wages, no days off. Many of us were professionals in the philippines. We were educated. Linda oalican, one of damayans founders, migrated to the u. S. 18 years ago and became a Domestic Worker in order to send her children to college in the philippines. Its quite a shame to be a professional in your home country and being a lowwage Domestic Worker here. Domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitation. Being brought into the family and being forced to work and not allowed to leave the house or being held by fear and threats they are often undocumented and work in isolation with the fear of deportation if they do not comply. I was told in two years i can be able to apply for my green card, but it wasnt true. Lydia catina amaya is a Community Organizer for damayan. She shares her own story of indentured servitude to help other Domestic Workers. As soon as i arrive there, they took my passport. I was brought to a very remote area in new jersey. I was working with them for, like, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. I was always hungry over there. Im not allowed to go out. Theres still a very low regard in soc