SEASON 2

The Reality of Human Trafficking in the U.S.

Many people in the U.S. think that human trafficking is only a serious problem abroad, but the real story is that it is happening throughout the U.S. today. In this episode, we have the opportunity to talk about the reality of human trafficking with the authors of Child Exploitation and Trafficking: Examining the Global Challenges and U.S. Responses, Judge Virginia M. Kendall and T. Markus Funk.

Now a U.S. District Court Judge, Virginia Kendall previously served as a deputy chief in the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago, where for more than ten years she served as the child exploitation coordinator. Law firm Partner Markus Funk was formerly a federal prosecutor in Chicago for more than ten years, and also spent two years in Kosovo as the USDOJ Resident Legal Advisor.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES

Child Exploitation and Trafficking: Examining the Global Challenges and U.S. Responses 

Each year, more than two million children around the world fall victim to commercial sexual exploitation. The numbers of children sexually abused for non-commercial purposes are even higher. Put simply, the growing, increasingly-organized epidemic of child exploitation demands a coordinated response. This book provides the first comprehensive, practical introduction to the history and present-day reality of child sexual exploitation, as well as to the interconnected web of domestic and transnational federal laws and law enforcement efforts launched in response thereto. It is written from the distinctive perspective of those who have spent their careers in the trenches investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating these intricate and emotional cases.

VIDEO: Authors Virginia M. Kendall and T. Markus Funk on "Child Exploitation and Trafficking"

In celebration of International Women's Day, the Office of the Mayor of the City of New York and Roosevelt House held a book discussion followed by a Q&A and conversation with the audience on: "Child Exploitation and Trafficking: Examining the Global Challenges and U.S. Responses" with authors Virginia M. Kendall and T. Markus Funk. The authors focused on issues surrounding child exploitation and trafficking with a particular focus on interdisciplinary approaches for coordinated responses and solutions, engaging those involved not only in the legal field, but in human rights, public health, social services, politics, and corporate compliance and supply chain management, among others.

Penal Welfare and the New Human Trafficking Intervention Courts

Gruber, Aya and Cohen, Amy J. and Mogulescu, Kate, Penal Welfare and the New Human Trafficking Intervention Courts (May 6, 2016). Florida Law Review, Forthcoming; Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 349.