Ending Human Trafficking

367: Stop Reacting to Events and Start Preparing

Ray Bercini and Sara Elander join Dr. Sandie Morgan to explore what's really at stake when a city like Los Angeles hosts the World Cup — and why the biggest trafficking risk might not be what you think. Chapters * (00:00) - Introduction: What LA's Preparing for and Why It Matters * (01:04) - Meet Ray and Sara: Roles at Saving Innocence and the LA Task Force * (06:19) - Building a Legacy Committee: Planning for FIFA and Beyond * (09:03) - Law Enforcement Readiness: Operations, Agencies, and Coordination * (11:50) - Separating Myth from Reality: What the Data Actually Shows About Trafficking and Major Events * (16:36) - Preparing for the Surge: Tips, Leads, and Victim Services Coordination * (24:18) - Vetting Outside Organizations and Staying in Your Lane * (32:37) - What Does Success Look Like After FIFA? Ray Bercini and Sara Elander Ray Bercini serves as Task Force Coordinator and Law Enforcement Liaison at Saving Innocence. With 31 years at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department — including six years dedicated to human trafficking work — Ray brings deep cross-sector expertise to the intersection of law enforcement and victim services. He has been instrumental in building the LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force into one of the largest co-located task forces in the nation, and has played a key role in preparing Los Angeles for major events including the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, and LA28 Olympics. Sara Elander is Director of Programs at Saving Innocence and Victim Service Coordinator for the LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force. With over six years of experience in program management and trauma-informed care, Sara leads a team of crisis case managers and oversees survivor-centered services across LA County. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community Advocacy and Social Policy from Arizona State University and is committed to healing-centered approaches that empower survivors toward long-term recovery and stability. Key Points * The widely repeated claim that major sporting events dramatically spike sex trafficking lacks supporting data — but the absence of proof isn't proof of absence, and LA is launching a research study around FIFA to finally generate real, local data. * Labor trafficking is the more evidence-based concern around large-scale events, with exploitation rising sharply in the lead-up to events through construction, hospitality, and vendor supply chains. * The LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force launched a Sports and Major Events Committee with roughly 30 members and six subcommittees, designed as a legacy infrastructure that can serve future events beyond just FIFA. * Coordinating tips during a major international event is a complex, unsolved challenge — multiple agencies including FBI, HSI, LAPD, and LASD will all have tip lines, and the team is working to centralize reporting without losing coverage. * One of the most important lessons from the 2022 Super Bowl was that outside organizations parachuting in with good intentions — but without coordination — can undermine local trust and misdirect survivors away from local resources. * Effective multi-agency collaboration requires every organization to clearly define what they uniquely bring to the table, stay in their lane, and go through a vetting process before engaging in high-stakes response work. * Sara's definition of success after FIFA centers on community empowerment — if hospitality workers, transportation staff, and community members leave better equipped to identify and report trafficking indicators, that's a lasting win. * Ray's measure of success is straightforward: survivors of all forms of trafficking — sex and labor — are identified, connected to resources, and treated with dignity, which no single agency can accomplish alone. Resources * Saving Innocence [https://savinginnocence.org] * LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force [https://www.lahumantrafficking.com] * National Human Trafficking Hotline [https://humantraffickinghotline.org] * Compass Connections [https://compassconnections.org] * Blue Campaign [https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign] * LA Regional Crime Stoppers [https://www.lacrimestoppers.org] * Global Center for Women and Justice [https://www.gcwj.org] * Ending Human Trafficking Podcast [https://endinghumantrafficking.org]

366: Why Information Alone Will Never Protect Young People

Dr. Nanyamka Redmond joins guest host Ruthi Hanchett as they explore how everyday adults — parents, teachers, coaches, and neighbors — can become a powerful protective factor in young people's lives by building the kinds of relationships that help youth thrive and navigate risk. Chapters * (00:00) - * (00:00) - Introduction: Why Relationships Matter More Than Programs * (01:02) - Meet Dr. Nanyamka Redmond and the Search Institute * (02:48) - What Are Developmental Assets — and Why Do They Work? * (09:27) - Defining Developmental Relationships: The Five Elements * (14:57) - How Caring Adults Can Protect At-Risk Youth * (20:11) - Building a Culture of Belonging in Schools and Communities * (30:13) - Resilience Is Relational: What Adults Need to Hear Right Now * (32:35) - Supporting Youth Leadership Without Getting Out of the Way * (00:00) - Chapter 10 Dr. Nanyamka Redmond Dr. Nanyamka Redmond is a Research Scientist at the Search Institute, a nationally recognized organization dedicated to advancing research and practical frameworks that help young people thrive. She holds a PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy from Azusa Pacific University. Her work focuses on developmental relationships, youth resilience, and advancing equitable, relationship-centered approaches to youth development and wellbeing. Dr. Redmond specializes in translating developmental science into practical tools for educators, families, youth-serving professionals, and community organizations, emphasizing culturally responsive and strengths-based approaches that center young people's lived experiences. She has also served as Director of School Partnership for Character Lab, co-founded by Angela Duckworth, and is a keynote speaker at the Global Center for Women and Justice's Ensure Justice Conference. Key Points * An anti-trafficking program can teach warning signs, but it cannot replace a caring adult — if a young person doesn't feel seen, safe, and valued, information alone won't protect them. * The Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets framework identifies a combination of internal strengths and external supports that young people need to thrive, and research consistently shows that the more assets a young person has, the better their outcomes. * Developmental relationships go beyond good relationships — they are defined by five specific elements (express care, challenge growth, provide support, share power, and expand possibilities) that research has shown to directly impact positive youth outcomes and reduce risk. * For youth who have experienced trauma, relationships have often been transactional or harmful, so the experience of someone who cares without strings attached can be surprising — which is why consistency and small, repeated moments of connection matter more than grand gestures. * Belonging is not just a buzzword — when adults work to help every young person feel genuinely seen and valued in the spaces meant for them, it builds the sense of dignity that serves as a foundation for resilience. * Sharing power with young people doesn't mean abandoning guidance; it means entering those relationships with a frame that sees adolescence as an age of opportunity rather than a period of storm and stress. * Resilience is relational — it is not something young people build alone, but something that grows when multiple caring adults across their ecosystem show up consistently over time. * Adults who want to support youth leadership can start with incremental steps: invite young people to co-create the questions, let them lead the conversation, and hold the barriers gently without squashing the vision. Resources * Search Institute [https://searchinstitute.org] * The 40 Developmental Assets Framework [https://searchinstitute.org/developmental-assets] * Global Center for Women and Justice [https://www.gcwj.org] * Ending Human Trafficking Podcast [https://endinghumantrafficking.org] * Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence by Laurence Steinberg [https://www.laurencesteinberg.com/books/age-of-opportunity]

365: What 25 Years of Sweden's Sex Purchase Act Revealed

Anna-Carin Svensson joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how Sweden's decision to punish buyers instead of victims has reshaped who feels safe coming forward — and how that same principle is now being applied to hold online exploitation accountable. Chapters * (00:00) - Introduction: Sweden's Principle That Changed Everything * (01:07) - The Equality Model: Why Sweden Criminalized Buyers, Not Sellers * (07:37) - What 25 Years of Data Actually Shows * (09:16) - When Exploitation Moves Online: Updating the Law for the Digital Age * (14:37) - Why Multidisciplinary Collaboration Is Non-Negotiable * (18:41) - The Gap Between Good Laws and Correct Application * (25:02) - Prevention Starts Before the Warning Signs * (29:51) - Hope, Humanity, and the Road Ahead Anna-Carin Svensson Anna-Carin Svensson serves as Sweden's Ambassador to Combat Trafficking in Persons, representing Sweden in multilateral anti-trafficking efforts including at the United Nations. In this role, she has participated in high-level discussions related to the appraisal of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, including the side event "Proactive by Design: Leveraging Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Digital Innovation to Prevent Human Trafficking." Previously, Svensson served as Director-General for International Affairs at the Swedish Ministry of Justice, where she led Swedish delegations in international human rights forums and oversaw Sweden's implementation of international legal obligations, including under the Convention against Torture. Across her career, she has consistently emphasized state responsibility, institutional accountability, cross-government coordination, and the importance of translating legislation into effective practice. Key Points * Sweden's Sex Purchase Act, introduced in 1999, was a landmark legal shift that criminalized the buyer of sexual services rather than the seller, placing the state firmly on the side of the more vulnerable party in the transaction and signaling that prostitution is a harm to all of society — not just to the individual. * A 2010 official evaluation of the law found measurable results: street prostitution decreased, criminal networks were deterred from establishing trafficking operations in Sweden, and public attitudes shifted significantly — evidence that law can have both a direct and a normative effect. * As exploitation moved online, Sweden updated its legislation in 2025 to extend the same principle into the digital space, criminalizing the purchase of live, on-demand sexual acts performed remotely — because if something is illegal offline, it must be illegal online. * Many victims who had been coerced into performing live cam shows said the new law would have made it easier for them to refuse, illustrating how legal frameworks can shift power back to the exploited person even before a crime is prosecuted. * Correct application of the law matters as much as the law itself — broad training across all professions, not just specialized units, is essential so that any first responder can recognize a victim, give an appropriate initial response, and connect them to the right support. * Multidisciplinary collaboration is not optional: criminal justice, social services, civil society, health professionals, schools, and international partners must all work in concert, because victims often feel safer disclosing to a social worker or nonprofit than to law enforcement, and that trust must be honored. * Digital literacy and healthy relationship education must begin before exploitation happens — teaching young people to recognize manipulation, loverboy tactics, and online red flags is one of the most important prevention investments a society can make. * Hope lies in the growing global community of organizations and individuals bringing creative, collaborative solutions to every aspect of this problem — and in the simple recognition that for every challenge, there are many possible answers. Resources * Ending Human Trafficking Podcast [https://endinghumantrafficking.org] * Global Center for Women and Justice (GCWJ) [https://www.gcwj.org] * UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons – 2025 Appraisal [https://www.unodc.org/unodc/TIP_GPA_appraisal/index.html] * Sweden's Sex Purchase Act – Swedish Gender Equality Agency [https://swedishgenderequalityagency.se/men-s-violence-against-women/prostitution-and-human-trafficking/prostitution-policy-in-sweden-targeting-demand/] * Sweden's 2025 Online Sexual Acts Legislation – Library of Congress Summary [https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2025-06-10/sweden-parliament-criminalizes-the-purchase-of-online-sexual-acts/] Transcript Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/3939428a/transcript]

364: Are Our Systems Adapting as Fast as Traffickers Are?

Dr. Kari Johnstone joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they discuss how traffickers adapt fast, moving money, victims, and exploitation through digital systems most of us interact with every day, examining whether our institutions are adapting fast enough to protect victims without them risking everything to testify. Dr. Kari Johnstone Dr. Kari Johnstone is the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, representing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe at the political level on human trafficking issues and coordinating anti-trafficking efforts across the OSCE region. Before joining the OSCE, Dr. Johnstone spent nearly a decade (2014-2023) as Senior Official, Acting Director, and Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), where she advised senior leadership on global trafficking policy and programming and oversaw the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Her extensive U.S. government service also includes senior roles in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Dr. Johnstone holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Key Points * The OSCE survey revealed a 17-fold increase in forced criminality cases over five years across the 57 member states, making it the fastest growing form of human trafficking globally. * Forced scamming, which originated in Southeast Asia, is now being exported to other regions as criminals adopt this lucrative business model that exploits victims with brutal tactics to defraud others. * Technology and artificial intelligence present both challenges and opportunities in combating trafficking, allowing law enforcement to process data more quickly to find victims and perpetrators while also being misused by traffickers for recruitment and exploitation. * Financial intelligence and following the money can supplement or even replace victim testimony in prosecutions, reducing the burden on survivors and providing effective pathways to convict traffickers. * The non-punishment principle remains woefully inadequate in practice worldwide, with victims often arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for crimes directly related to their trafficking experience, creating lifelong consequences that prevent access to housing, employment, and stability. * The United States leads globally on criminal record relief for trafficking survivors, with 48-49 states having vacature or expungement laws and new federal legislation (Trafficking Survivor Relief Act) awaiting presidential signature, though much work remains worldwide. * Victim assistance must be unlinked from the criminal justice process, allowing survivors to receive care and services first before deciding whether to cooperate with law enforcement, which actually increases the likelihood they will come forward and participate. * The demographics of trafficking victims are shifting beyond stereotypes, with forced scamming targeting educated individuals with IT and language skills, while forced criminality increasingly exploits younger children, including those under age 10, for drug-related crimes and violence. Resources * Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) [https://www.osce.org] * OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings [https://cthb.osce.org] * Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (UN Palermo Protocol) [https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/protocol-prevent-suppress-and-punish-trafficking-persons] * UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons [https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/global-plan-of-action.html] * U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons [https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-foreign-assistance-humanitarian-affairs-and-religious-freedom/bureau-of-democracy-human-rights-and-labor/office-to-monitor-and-combat-trafficking-in-persons] * Trafficking in Persons Report [https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/] * Trafficking Survivors Relief Act [https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4214] * Ending Human Trafficking Podcast [https://endinghumantrafficking.org]

363: The Hidden Link Between Romance Scams and Forced Labor

Matthew Friedman joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how pig butchering scams work, why they're so effective, and how they're tied to forced labor and human trafficking, while explaining what prevention can look like from personal red flags to safeguards in financial systems. Matthew Friedman Matthew Friedman is the Founder and CEO of The Mekong Club, a pioneering organization that mobilizes the private sector to fight modern slavery across Asia. A globally recognized expert on human trafficking, Friedman has spent over three decades working at the intersection of business, government, and humanitarian action to combat exploitation and promote ethical leadership. Before founding The Mekong Club, Friedman served as Regional Project Manager for the United Nations International Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP/UNDP), overseeing a six-country initiative spanning China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. He also served as Deputy Director for the USAID Office of Public Health (Asia Region), managing a $100 million annual portfolio. Friedman holds a Master's degree in Health Education from New York University and is a renowned keynote speaker who has delivered more than 900 presentations in 20 countries, inspiring individuals and organizations to take a stand in the fight against modern slavery. Key Points * Pig butchering scams are sophisticated romance scams where criminals build trust over weeks before convincing victims to invest life savings in fake cryptocurrency schemes, with the metaphor referring to "fattening the pig before the slaughter." * An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 young professionals have been trafficked into scam centers across Southeast Asia, where they are forced under extreme violence and coercion to run online scams targeting victims in wealthy nations. * The Prince Group sanctions marked one of the most significant global crackdowns on forced-labor scam centers, with the UK freezing real estate assets and the US freezing $15 billion in cryptocurrency, signaling increased international cooperation. * Financial institutions can help prevent pig butchering by monitoring unusual withdrawal patterns, such as when customers who haven't touched their accounts for 30 years suddenly liquidate everything, and by contacting clients before large transfers are completed. * Victims in scam centers face brutal violence including being tasered, beaten, and in some cases tortured to death with videos sold as "hardcore" content, creating a level of violence unprecedented in modern slavery according to Friedman's 35 years of experience. * Only 0.2% of the 50 million people in modern slavery receive assistance globally, not because counter-trafficking organizations don't care, but because the $236 billion generated by criminals vastly outweighs the $400 million available to fight it. * Public education and awareness are critical for prevention, as people in North America remain largely unaware of pig butchering scams while Asian communities have become more informed through widespread media coverage and victim testimonies. * The Mekong Club has developed multilingual e-learning tools including a three-and-a-half-minute video to help raise awareness about both human trafficking into scam centers and the scams themselves, emphasizing that prevention must be widespread. Resources * The Mekong Club [https://themekongclub.org] * The Mekong Club - Tools & Resources [https://themekongclub.org/tool-resources] * Valid8 Financial [https://www.valid8financial.com] * Ending Human Trafficking Podcast - Episode 269 [https://endinghumantrafficking.org/269/] * Matthew Friedman on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-friedman-9788555] * Contact Matthew Friedman [matt.friedman@themekongclub.org] * Ending Human Trafficking Website [https://endinghumantrafficking.org]