LINKS   
News   
News Archive   
   

SARASOTA, FL, (June 16, 2005) – Modern-day slavery exists in Florida, according to some experts and will be the focus of a full-day workshop Wednesday, June 22, sponsored by Zonta Club of Sarasota, the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Criminology Department, and the Hispanic Addictions Studies Program.

The workshop, “Slavery: Not Gone, But Overlooked,” is from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in College Hall on the bayfront campus at 5700 N. Tamiami Trail. Anna I. Rodríguez, the founder of the Immigrant Rights Advocacy Center/Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, will address what human trafficking is, where it is, and what can be done to stop it. The $15 admission includes lunch and registration is required. (The Workshop is free with a University ID, but will not include lunch and registration still is required.) To register, call 941-320-2152 or e-mail Zontaclubofsarasota@yahoo.com.

Rodríguez first became interested in human trafficking while working for the Collier Sheriff’s Department. On what seemed like a routine domestic violence case, she encountered a kidnapped Guatemalan woman who was brought to the U.S. to slave in farm fields by day and who endured repeated rapes by night. Rodríguez’s advocacy role was born from her frustration in getting help for the woman. In addition to her nearly 300 hours of training and development through various law enforcement agencies, she regularly presents and trains on human trafficking with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and various other organizations. In 2004, Rodríguez was publicly recognized by President Bush during his speech at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking conference.

Trafficking in persons is a form of modern-day slavery involving men, women and children. An estimated $7-$10 billion global industry, it affects virtually every country as a source, transit, or destination location. Anywhere from 700,000 to 4 million persons worldwide are trafficked across or within national borders every year. According to recent U.S. government estimates, 18,000-20,000 persons are trafficked into the United States each year for purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Victims of human trafficking have been in both rural and urban areas of the United States, and come from diverse demographic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

The difference between smuggling and trafficking is that the former involves the illegal movement of consenting people across a national border for financial or material remuneration, and the smuggler and migrant part ways once it is done. Conversely, trafficking involves the ongoing exploitation of victims forced to work against their will. Victims of trafficking either never consented or their initial consent is suspect due to the coercive, deceptive, or abusive actions of the traffickers. Smuggling invariably entails the crossing of a national border, while trafficking can occur internally and affect U.S. citizens who are held in slavery-like conditions.

The Hispanic Addictions Studies Program (HASP) recognizes the similarities and links between human and drug trafficking. HASP is the only center in the United States focusing on and providing opportunities for professionals and students from both the U.S. and Hispanic countries to understand and experience the cultural differences between Hispanics and U.S. non-Hispanics in relation to addictions prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. These cultural differences, in turn, have an impact upon law enforcement and community expectations. The Hispanic Addictions Studies Program is directed by Dr. Mary Cuadrado, Associate Professor of Criminology and Dr. Louis Lieberman, Research Professor, both at USF Sarasota-Manatee.

USF Sarasota-Manatee is an upper-level campus for those with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree interested in pursuing a baccalaureate or master’s degree, professional certification, or continuing education credit. The campus offers the prestige of a nationally ranked research university with the convenience of a hometown campus, including classes in south Sarasota County at Manatee Community College Venice.