Out of the shadows of modern day slavery

http://clatl.com/atlanta/georgias-human-trafficking-victims-get-relief/Content?oid=3831515

by Gwynedd Stuart | 08.11.11

For years, Atlanta has been among 14 cities the FBI considers the most booming markets for child prostitutes. But forced servitude in the metro region is hardly limited to the sex trade. Women and children — and sometimes men as well — are made to work without pay in fields, restaurant kitchens and even upper-middle-class homes as domestic servants. The factors that make Atlanta a thriving economic center have also made it a hotbed of human trafficking.

On Aug. 1, a variety of local and federal law enforcement agencies, politicians and nonprofit organizations gathered at Georgia State University to powwow about human trafficking, which has been called a growing problem in the Atlanta area.

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following the passage of state legislation giving it investigative and subpoena power, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation formed its own anti-human trafficking unit in July. In the past several months, Yates' office has indicted and/or prosecuted a number of human traffickers, including a man from Marietta who attempted to "purchase" a Guatemalan child for a year of sexual service; a Suwanee woman who lured two young Nigerian women to the U.S. and kept them as domestic slaves; an Ellenwood couple — a preacher and his wife — who forced a young woman from the Kingdom of Swaziland to serve as their housekeeper for two years without pay; and an Atlanta man who pleaded guilty to pimping out young girls on a classified ad website.

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The federal Victim Trafficking Act of 2000 created a channel for victims of human trafficking to obtain temporary immigration documents called T-visas. They're good for four years, and a visa-holder can apply for permanent citizenship after three. The only caveat is that they must agree to cooperate in the prosecution of their perpetrators. Most victims agree to those terms, but occasionally they don't.

Rosa De Kelly of Catholic Charities Atlanta recalls one particularly heartbreaking case in which the victim decided not to cooperate. The young woman, a singer, was brought to the U.S. and was forced to perform without pay. Her three male captors raped her repeatedly. "I think sometimes these people have shame or feel like they need to leave this behind. They're glad they're alive, glad they're free," says De Kelly. "[This girl], she wanted to just leave it behind. So, unfortunately, there was no prosecution."

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Although victims of human trafficking are sometimes able to escape and report their forced servitude, Maja (who requested her last name not be used) of the nonprofit Tapestri says fear can prevent them from coming forward. "They fear law enforcement. They've been told by traffickers that they came in illegally and they are afraid they're going to be prosecuted for it, especially the women forced into commercial sexual exploitation — they're afraid they'll be held in jail for a long time," she says. "Many things are going through these people's minds. They don't realize there's relief and help out there for them."

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