On Thursday, July 30, the IRC in Florida is participating in World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by inviting the community to join a live online panel discussion regarding human trafficking in South Florida. Florida ranks in the top three U.S. states for reported incidents of human trafficking, and South Florida hosts the largest percentage of those cases. 

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Photo: IRC

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is held on July 30 each year, and it was first designated by the United Nations in 2013 in an effort to bring global awareness to the issue of human trafficking. The trafficking of people is a global problem that impacts millions of people around the world.

Worldwide, sexual exploitation is the most common form of human trafficking (59% share) followed by forced labor (34% share). 

In the U.S., the National Human Trafficking Hotline reported 11,500 cases of human trafficking in 2019. The U.S. experienced a five percent increase in reported cases from 2018 to 2019, with 10,915 to 11,500 cases respectively. The most prominent type of trafficking in the U.S. is sex trafficking, but other types of trafficking, including labor, accounted for 10 percent all of reported cases in 2019. Florida ranks in the top three U.S. states for reported incidents of human trafficking, and Miami is a key location where traffickers force men, women and particularly children into industries such as the sex trade, domestic servitude and enslavement in agriculture. 

Women make up 49% and girls are 23% of all victims of human trafficking. 

In partnership with the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, the IRC in Miami is hosting two online panel discussions that will cover human trafficking in South Florida and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted survivors and the organizations that provide assistance to them.  

The events will be streamed live on the IRC in Florida’s Facebook page on Thursday, July 30 and will be made available on our YouTube channel on Monday, August 3, 2020.  

Moderator - Caridad Mas-Batchelor - South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force Coordinator 

Thursday, July 30 starting at 11 AM ET. 

Thought Leaders and Practitioners Discuss Human Trafficking in South Florida 

Regina Bernadin - IRC Technical Advisor  

Selma Jasarevic - IRC Human Trafficking Caseworker  

Dr. Gihan Omar - Citrus Health Clinical Supervisor 

Dr. Keisha Grey - Children's Services Council of Broward County Chair  

 

Thursday, July 30 starting at 2 PM ET. 

Exposing the Impacts of COVID-19 on Human Trafficking 

Francesco Duberli - Survivors Pathway CEO 

Cristobal Perez - Department of Children and Families Refugee Services Program Analyst 

Katina Hernandez – Homeland Security Investigator Special Agent 

Tom Tundidor – Miami-Dade Police Department, Retired/Public Agency Training Council Instructor 

To report suspected human trafficking or to obtain resources for victims, please call 1-888-373-7888; text “BeFree” (233733); or live chat at HumanTraffickingHotline.org. The toll-free phone, SMS text lines, and online chat function are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Help is available in English, Spanish, Creole, or in more than 200 additional languages. The National Hotline is not managed by law enforcement, immigration or an investigative agency. Correspondence with the National Hotline is confidential and you may request assistance or report a tip anonymously. 

To learn more about the work of the IRC in Florida and for information on how you can get involved with the IRC as a donor or volunteer, please contact Development Manager, JC Torres, at [email protected] or 786-325-6257.

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