Airports An Important New Front Combating Human Trafficking. This TV story highlighted Superbowl preparations in Phoenix- June 19, 2014
Below: CBS – reports from Oakland Training:
April 15, 2014 7:52 PM
Speaking at a news conference at the Oakland International Airport, Betty Ann Boeving of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition said airport personnel, airline workers and passengers need to be aware that human traffickers use airports to transport their victims around the world.
Boeving said cases have been documented in which traffickers have misrepresented themselves as sports coaches, employers, and family members of trafficked victims. She said airport personnel at ticket counters, gates and other areas of airport operations are in a unique position to identify potential victims and report potential incidents to law enforcement agencies, in order to rescue victims and bring traffickers to justice.
“Airline employees need to send a message to human traffickers that they’re not welcome to do business in the Bay Area,” Boeving said.The news conference was followed by a training session for airport staff to teach them how to recognize and address suspected human trafficking at the airport.
Similar training was conducted at the San Francisco airport in March 2012 and at the San Jose airport in January, Boeving said. Deborah Flint, the Oakland airport’s director of aviation, said, “Human trafficking is a global problem that needs local solutions. We can end human trafficking in our region if we know what to look for.”
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said human trafficking is “the fastest-growing criminal enterprise globally” and described it as “modern day slavery.”
U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, said, “Sex trafficking and human trafficking is big business in this country and region and it’s high time that we got serious about eradicating it.” Speier said the message that needs to be sent to airport workers and airline employees and passengers is, “If you see something, say something” to the appropriate authorities.Boeving said people who see something suspicious should call the trafficking hotline at 1-888-3737-888.
U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said that in addition to forcing people to engage in the sex trade, human traffickers force people to work in agriculture and other lines of work and also keep them in debt bondage.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said the campaign to raise awareness at airports and on airplanes “is a tremendous asset in fighting human trafficking.” O’Malley said, “In our neighborhoods and our businesses we need to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement and humanity” in combating trafficking.
Boeving said, “People need to know what human trafficking victims look like at an airport.”She said possible clues are people who aren’t dressed appropriately, such as wearing warm weather clothes when traveling to a cold weather destination, and passengers who don’t know their destination.“Airline employees are essential” to helping fight human trafficking, Boeving said.
Bay Area airport workers learn how to identify human trafficking victims
By Malaika Fraley Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND — Workers at Oakland International Airport on Tuesday began training on how to spot victims of human trafficking as part of a regional effort to stamp out what’s become the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise.
Thousands of victims of sex and labor trafficking are shepherded through airports, but they are very rarely rescued there, said Betty Ann Boeving, executive director of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition. Officials are sharing this message with airport workers across the board: If you see something, say something.
“The truth is that sex trafficking and human trafficking is big business right here in this country, right here in this region, and it’s high time that we all take notice of it and get serious about eradicating it,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who along with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, is leading an ongoing effort to combat sex trafficking in the Bay Area.
Training airport workers to recognize the signs that a man, woman or child is a victim will save individuals from such modern-day slavery and deter traffickers who masquerade as sports coaches, employers and family members, officials say. Oakland is the last of the Bay Area’s major airports to have workers trained, after San Francisco and San Jose international airports.
“Today is a great day because … we have now circled the Bay in terms of training on sex trafficking, and make sure you appreciate that airports are magnets for sex trafficking,” Speier said. “Conventions, conferences are all ripe for increasing the actual activity that goes on.”
Retraining at Bay Area airports is planned before the 2016 Super Bowl at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium as sex trafficking in any region is at its highest during major sports events, Boeving said.
Oakland, in particular, is known for having a sex trade problem that is being aggressively tackled by O’Malley and the Oakland Police Department. Criminal street gangs are increasingly using sex trafficking as a moneymaking enterprise because, unlike drugs, they can sell the same boy or girl over and over again, O’Malley said. The majority of sex trafficking victims are minors.
In the last five years, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted nearly 400 sex trafficking cases, accounting for almost 50 percent of such prosecutions in the entire state, O’Malley said.
“(Airports are) the No. 1 place we should try to intercept (victims) because they are outside of the hands of the trafficker often,” Boeving said. “These girls are sometimes put on a plane from Chicago to arrive in San Francisco, and so we are hoping that in transit is a place where someone could actually come to their rescue.”
Contact Malaika Fraley at 925-234-1684. Follow her at Twitter.com/malaikafraley.
Oakland airport workers trained to spot sex traffickers
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Congresswoman Jackie Speir addressed the crowd at the airport Tuesday April 15, 2014 in Oakland, Calif. Oakland International airport workers were given special training on spotting human traffickers and sexual exploiters of children. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle | Buy this photo
The red flag might be the way the man makes a point of answering the ticket agent’s questions, so the teenage girl with him doesn’t have to talk.
Or the young boy doesn’t know where his flight is going, and appears to be under the control of the man who claims to be his coach.
Or the girl flying alone insists her boyfriend paid for her flight, though she has never met him in person, but only on Facebook.
These are scenarios that should raise the suspicions of airport workers who are uniquely positioned to help rescue victims of child sex trafficking, local, state and federal officials told a roomful of Oakland International Airport employees on Tuesday.
The workers, from blue-uniformed Transportation Security Administration agents and baggage handlers to restaurant workers and gate agents, were taught how to recognize potential victims and their abusers, who take advantage of the fact that minors can fly without identification.
They heard from Shamere McKenzie, 30, of Chicago, a former sex trafficking victim, who warned that abused children may deny being mistreated and are psychologically unable to escape their predators’ clutches. They won’t, she said, go running to the first TSA agent or officer they see at an airport.
Their abusers, in turn, regard them as “commodities, a product that can be bought and sold,” McKenzie said. She told the airport workers to close their eyes and picture their own children being forced to engage in sex acts. One woman, who appeared to dab at her eyes, got up and left.
Some 10 million people travel through the Oakland airport each year. Similar training was conducted at San Francisco International Airport in 2012 and at Mineta San Jose International Airport in January.
The employees were thanked by a host of leaders, including Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.
“Modern-day slavery should never exist in the world, and especially here at the Oakland International Airport,” Lee said.
Speier noted that big conventions and sporting events like the Super Bowl boost demand in host cities for illicit sexual services.
“Airports are magnets for sex trafficking,” Speier said. “Keep your eyes open, and if you see something, say something.”
More warning signs: a child doesn’t make eye contact with anyone, an adult stares directly at a child, or a teen carries no personal items. In an extreme case, a trafficked child might have a bar code tattoo on her neck, signaling she is owned.
“It might be somebody who’s not dressed for the appropriate weather for the place they’re going to. They’re in shorts in the middle of the winter, flying to Chicago,” said Betty Ann Boeving, executive director of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition.
Boeving said it’s better to be nosy and turn out to be wrong – a child could simply be uncomfortable about flying – than to let a potential victim of abuse elude rescue.
“We encourage anybody, if you see a situation that actually is uncomfortable to you, that you think about that person in the situation who is probably 10 times more uncomfortable, or more,” Boeving said.
Oakland airport workers learn how to identify human trafficking victims – Times-Herald
By Malaika Fraley MediaNews Group/ Posted: 04/16/2014 12:58:21 AM PDT
OAKLAND — Workers at Oakland International Airport on Tuesday began training on how to spot victims of human trafficking as part of a regional effort to stamp out what’s become the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise.
Thousands of victims of sex and labor trafficking are shepherded through airports, but they are very rarely rescued there, said Betty Ann Boeving, executive director of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition. Officials are sharing this message with airport workers across the board: If you see something, say something.
“The truth is that sex trafficking and human trafficking is big business right here in this country, right here in this region, and it’s high time that we all take notice of it and get serious about eradicating it,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who along with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, is leading an ongoing effort to combat sex trafficking in the Bay Area.
Training airport workers to recognize the signs that a man, woman or child is a victim will save individuals from such modern-day slavery and deter traffickers who masquerade as sports coaches, employers and family members, officials say. Oakland is the last of the Bay Area’s major airports to have workers trained, after San Francisco and San Jose international airports.
“Today is a great day because … we have now circled the Bay in terms of training on sex trafficking, and make sure you appreciate that airports are magnets for sex trafficking,” Speier said. “Conventions, conferences are all ripe for increasing the actual activity that goes on.”
Retraining at Bay Area airports is planned before the 2016 Super Bowl at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium as sex trafficking in any region is at its highest during major sports events, Boeving said.
Oakland, in particular, is known for having a sex trade problem that is being aggressively tackled by O’Malley and the Oakland Police Department. Criminal street gangs are increasingly using sex trafficking as a moneymaking enterprise because, unlike drugs, they can sell the same boy or girl over and over again, O’Malley said. The majority of sex trafficking victims are minors.
In the last five years, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted nearly 400 sex trafficking cases, accounting for almost 50 percent of such prosecutions in the entire state, O’Malley said.
“(Airports are) the No. 1 place we should try to intercept (victims) because they are outside of the hands of the trafficker often,” Boeving said. “These girls are sometimes put on a plane from Chicago to arrive in San Francisco, and so we are hoping that in transit is a place where someone could actually come to their rescue.”
KTVU (noon, live) Anti-Human Trafficking Training at Oakland International
KGOTV http://mediacenter.tveyes.com/downloadgateway.aspx?UserID=92542&MDID=3066854&MDSeed=7868&Type=Media
KGO Radio – Human trafficking
Labor and Sex traffickers often smuggle their victims through airports. That’s why Oakland International Airport today lauchned a comprehensive training program for their workers. KGO’s Leslie Brinkley was there.
The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, heavy hitting politicians all underscored a disturbing trend. “Airports are magnets for sex traffickers,” Congresswoman Jackie Speier. “They bring their victims to conferences, conventions, it’s where they make their big bucks.” “What we are doing today is really training the airport workers to start to recognize signs of human trafficking.” Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley says they prosecuted 400 human traffickers in Oakland the last few years. US attorney Melinda Haag says this training already took place at San Francisco and San Jose airports. “so the flight attendants, pilots, baggage handlers see it, recognize it and think about reporting it.” In Oakland, I’m Leslie Brinkley, KGO 810.
Capitol Public Radio – Human Trafficking
A Bay Area Congresswoman told students at UC Berkeley yesterday that she will introduce federal legislation to strengthen laws to protect students in sexual assault on campuses. Congresswoman Jackie Speier said one ways to do that is to require universities to interview every student who has complained they’ve been assaulted.
KCBS – Human Trafficking
Oakland International has become the third major airport in the Bay Area to train its workers to identify victims of human trafficking. KCBS’ Margy Schafer reports from Oakland where dozens of workers learned the warning signs of this modern day slavery.
Among the workers at the Human Trafficking Awareness training was airline employee Isaac who learned that an estimated 200,000 children a year are victims of human trafficking. “It’s amazing. I was blown away by the actual number and that it happens here in the Bay Area.” Red flags include being unusually submissive to the person accompanying them and exhibiting signs of physical abuse. Tatum King with Homeland Security says many victims are transported on commercial aircraft. “DHS has a program called the Blue Campaign where we come out and work with our NGO partners like Airline Ambassadors or the Bay Area Anti Human Trafficking Coalition to get the information out.” Founder of the non-profit Airline Ambassadors Nancy Rivard shared a phone call she received just yesterday from a self-described victim of human trafficking. “All I’m trying to do is move to a different city and I’m having trouble with the people around me. I already had to call the police once.” While this man could speak for himself, many victims do not have the ability to speak out. At Oakland International, I’m Margy Schafer, KCBS.
