Human Trafficking vs Human Smuggling: A Letter to the Associated Press

Recently the Associated Press has been publishing many articles referencing human trafficking but actually discussing human smuggling. This misuse of the term not only confuses the public but creates immense difficulties for the hundreds of abolitionist groups trying to bring importance to the crisis of human trafficking. The following is a letter that Project Exodus wrote to the Associated Press urging them to change their rhetoric. Please feel free to use this letter for any other media outlets making the same mistake:

Dear Editor,

Thanks for taking my call earlier. Just to reiterate our conversation on the phone, the reason I am writing is to bring light to the misuse of the term "human trafficking" in many Associated Press articles I have been seeing lately.

As the link to the following article will show, the AP has been using the term "human trafficking" to describe various stories regarding illegal immigration. While this confusion is understandable, the use of the term "human trafficking" for such an instance is simply not accurate. Human trafficking organization busted in Europe

Whereas human smuggling is the act of someone voluntarily paying to being taken illegally across an international boarder, as defined by the US State Department, human trafficking is "the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery." Estimates put the total number of human trafficking victims in the world at 27 million. Simply put, human trafficking = modern day slavery.

While there are similarities between human trafficking and human smuggling (ie both involve organized crime networks, both involve the transportation of humans across borders), human trafficking differs in that the individual or victim who is trafficked has no choice in the matter, being taken against their will and exploited by the trafficker for profit. In short, human smuggling is a political issue; human trafficking is a human rights issue.

Clearly the term "human trafficking" carries with it a lot of weight and should be used correctly. I am therefore asking on behalf of many different people that the Associated Press make a concentrated effort to use the term "human trafficking" only in regards to the human rights issue, properly differentiating it from human smuggling.

Attached to this email you will find numerous resources that will better explain the differences between human trafficking and human smuggling. I ask that you please review this information and make the proper efforts to inform all Associated Press editors of this difference. By you doing this, you will help avoid confusion between human trafficking and human smuggling and thus aid us (anti-trafficking and human rights organizations) in the effort to inform the world of human trafficking.

Human trafficking needs to be recognized as the human rights violation that it is and any news articles that improperly use the term significantly hamper the hundreds of organizations that are trying to bring the human rights violation of human trafficking to the world. Thank you so much for understanding this. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at mike@project-exodus.org.

Veritas et Aequitas,
Mike Masten

Blank Canvas Mike Masten

Project Exodus launches "Summer of Justice"

LOS ANGELES- Ready or not summer is here and with it the summer season of justice seeking! After a short break (from outreaches, not from action) Project Exodus is ready to launch its "Summer of Justice" initiative with a series of summer outreaches that will be rocking the Los Angeles area.

This Monday's "Tip Sweep" in MacArthur Park will be the first of many outreaches in a campaign aimed at recruiting more volunteers to the organization and expanding the organization's reach throughout the Los Angeles area.

Aptly named, "tip sweeps" consist of Project Exodus teams going out into the Los Angeles community and creating dialogue with the community members regarding human trafficking. Having information both in English and in other languages, the goal of the evening will be to inform people of human trafficking and to get reports (or tips) about possible trafficking locations or happenings taking place within that community.

While research and investigations are critical in discovering and exposing traffickign locations, going out and engaging the community in the fight against human trafficking can sometimes be a more effective means of gathering information.

Though in the more affulent sections of the Los Angeles human trafficking is a relatively unknown issue, those who live in the poorer sections of the city are very aware of the existence of trafficking. However, due to mistrust of the police and a lack of understanding of proper legal avenues, trafficking instances often go unreported. Tip Sweeps thus offer a critical service in that they not only let community members know avenues in which they can report human trafficking but they also provide an alternative means of action from the police, thus increasing the odds of a report.

A schedule of upcoming "Summer of Justice" events will be posted soon to the website. If you are interested in joining Project Exodus on June 15th, please contact the organization at freedom@project-exodus.org. You can also feel free to sign up for our email updates in order to learn of future outreach activities.
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