Tag: human trafficking

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Blowin’ Up Documentary to be Broadcast on PBS’s POV on October 21

On Thursday, April 11, AABANY hosted a screening of “Blowin’ Up,” a documentary that explores the complex realities of sex work in New York City and the compassionate approach of a human trafficking court in Queens County.

Now on October 21, 2019, at 10 p.m. the full length feature documentary about the Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Court will be having its national broadcast on PBS’s POV (Point of View).

The film features AABANY member Honorable Toko Serita, Queens Supreme Court, as well as other heroines of the Human Trafficking Intervention Court, that work with victims of sexual exploitation who face prostitution-related charges.

We encourage everyone to mark their calendars to see this powerful film. Check your local PBS station for it’s scheduled air time in your neighborhood by clicking here!

We thank Judge Serita for sharing this information with AABANY.

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Woman forced into teen prostitution weds in ceremony led by judge who prosecuted her traffickers: ‘I believed I would never be able to love a man again’

Woman forced into teen prostitution weds in ceremony led by judge who prosecuted her traffickers: ‘I believed I would never be able to love a man again’

Wow – what a triumphant story of compassion, strength, and justice! Click on the link above to read a story about how human trafficking victim Carmen found love again after being forced into prostitution at age 14. 

Featured in the article is our very own Judge Pamela Chen, who presided over Carmen’s wedding and also prosecuted the human traffickers in federal court. 

Judge Pamela Chen, who prosecuted the human traffickers in federal court, presided over the wedding of Carmen to her husband Luis, praising her “indomitable will to thrive and be happy.”

“No one deserves to find happiness and love more than Carmen,” the judge said. “Carmen’s ability to transcend her prior experiences is breathtaking.”

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Survivor Reentry Project

Survivor Reentry Project

With the support of the Office for Victims of Crime at the Department of Justice, the ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence has launched the Survivor Reentry Project (SRP). SRP provides national training and technical assistance for attorneys working with survivors of human trafficking who have been convicted of a crime as a result of their victimization.

Many trafficking survivors are arrested and prosecuted for acts directly related to having been trafficked.  Survivors are denied employment, housing, and economic assistance due to their criminal histories. Criminal records are used against survivors in family court proceedings involving their children, and can prevent foreign born survivors from attaining lawful immigration status.

Encouragingly, many states have passed vacatur laws allowing survivors relief.  These vacatur laws allow survivors to petition to have their records cleared if they can show that their crimes arose from their victimization.  Most survivors do not know they are potentially eligible for vacatur, and the legal community has not developed the capacity to handle these cases in large numbers.

SRP seeks to raise awareness of vacatur remedies for survivors, and build sustainable vacatur practices across the country.  The project offers national training and technical assistance on vacatur remedies for public defenders, legal services lawyers, pro bono attorneys, law students, judges and prosecutors.  

Click on the link in the title for more information.

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In a Queens Court, Women in Prostitution Cases are Seen as Victims

In a Queens Court, Women in Prostitution Cases are Seen as Victims

Long-time AABANY member Judge Toko Serita discusses victims at risk and Human Trafficking Intervention Court in the latest New York Times article by Liz Robbins, “In a Queens Court, Women in Prostitution Cases are Seen as Victims.”

Robbins discusses at length the less adversarial nature of Human Trafficking Intervention Court and its intention is to change the legal conversation around the multibillion-dollar sex trade by redefining the women in it as victims instead of criminals. “This court is not devised to solve the problems of trafficking,” Judge Serita said of the program, “but to address one of the unfortunate byproducts, which is the arrest of these defendants on prostitution charges.” Click on the link to the article to read more insights from Judge Serita and others.

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NAPABA ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUFFERING OF WWII COMFORT WOMEN AND OTHER HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS

May 27, 2014

WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) acknowledges the suffering of WWII Comfort Women and other victims of human trafficking and opposes human trafficking in all of its forms.

In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 121, which recognized that the Government of Japan, in the 1930’s through the end of World War II, forced women to provide sex to soldiers in its Imperial Armed Forces. The U.S. Department of State in its 2003 Japan Report referenced thousands of these victims of sexual slavery, commonly referred to as “Comfort Women,” who were kidnapped or coerced from countries including China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the Philippines.

Memorials in honor of Comfort Women have been erected in the U.S. and throughout the world. One such Comfort Women memorial was erected in July 2013 in Glendale, California, and a lawsuit, Gingery et al. v. City of Glendale, was filed earlier this year to force its removal, which caused controversy and spurred dialogue, particularly about differing Japanese and Korean viewpoints of the wartime and post-war treatment of Comfort Women.

“NAPABA members and affiliates across the country—including members of Korean American and Japanese American bar associations—have long worked together in multiethnic coalitions to support civil rights and justice for all of our communities,” said Bill Simonitsch, president of NAPABA. “I am heartened to see that the Asian Pacific American legal community refused to allow historical disagreements and the controversy over the Glendale memorial to divide us.”

NAPABA strongly condemns human trafficking, past and present, and supports fact-based measures to educate the public about Comfort Women and other victims of human trafficking.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 68 state and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal service and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.

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In Our Own Backyards: The Need For a Coordinated Judicial Response to Human Trafficking

In Our Own Backyards: The Need For a Coordinated Judicial Response to Human Trafficking

Congratulations to Hon. Toko Serita, New York Criminal Court Judge (and AABANY member), who was recently published in the NYU Review of Law & Social Change, in an important article entitled, “In Our Own Backyards: The Need for a Coordinated Judicial Response to Human Trafficking,” Volume 36, Issue 4, page 635. To read more click on the link in the title.