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INSIDE TODAY ................................ Continued on page A-8 Continued on page A-8 Tuesday, December 15, 2015 Salt Lake City, Utah 84104 slcrecord.com Daily $5/copy Annual Subscription .45 cents/copy AND THE SALT LAKE TIMES Volume 58 Number 51-3 Public Notice .................. A-4 Lawyers in Motion ......... A-12 341 Bankruptcy Cal. ..... A-12 Continued on page A-8 Continued on page A-8 Serving Utah’s Legal/Business Community Since 1883 & 1953 ® “Trafficking is online. With just a cell phone, a person can be victimized. All of the arrangements can be done on Craigslist or Twitter. It is much more hidden.” Asian Association of Utah assists victims of human and sex trafficking in Utah .................................................................................. Alicia Knight Cunningham - Part 2 of 3 SALT LAKE CITY (The Record/Times) E Amy Thurston, Program Coordinator of the Refugee & Immigrant Center of the Asian Association of Utah very week a caseworker of the Asian As- sociation of Utah participates in a street outreach effort to seek out the invisible victims of human and sex trafficking in Utah. “Our case workers try to get to know the women that are in the shelters or on the streets or living in the motels,” according to Amy Thurston, program coordinator of the Refu- gee & Immigrant Center of the Asian Associa- tion of Utah. The United Nations defines human traffick- ing as the recruitment, transportation, trans- fer, harboring, or receipt of a person through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of forced labor or sexual exploitation. “Human trafficking seems to come in spurts,” Thurston said. “Sex trafficking is a continuous problem. Both are exploitation of the most vulnerable among us. And prevent- ing that exploitation in general is something that needs to be a higher priority.” According to Thurston, foreign-born vic- tims of human trafficking come to Utah with the promise of employment that is better than what is available in their home country as well as more opportunities for their family. When the foreign-born workers arrive, they discover their wages are not as promised. “Or they are told that they have a large debt to pay off because of the effort it took to get them to Utah. And they are constantly threatened,” Thurston said. “Some are threatened with de- portation while others are faced with a lan- guage barrier that prevents them from seek- ing help.” Shu Cheng, Ph.D., executive director of the Refugee & Immigrant Center of the Asian As- sociation of Utah, added that exploiting com- panies will hold onto their workers’ documents so that victims of human trafficking feel that they cannot leave. “They are basically held hostage because they do not have their docu- ments,” Cheng said. “And the language bar- rier essentially immobilizes them,” he added. Though these workers are being exploited, because of the culture and language barrier, the problem is hard to fix because it is hard to see and harder to legally prosecute. Thurston understands that human traffick- ing in Utah is not the most well-known prob- lem in Utah. Regardless, the Refugee & Immi- grant Center of the Asian Association of Utah is dedicated to increasing outreach and edu- cation. “We get requests for training, and we will go out and train nonprofits, community groups, business owners or religious groups,” Thurston said. The Center is particularly ac- tive in forming partnerships with other nonprofits who might first come in touch with trafficking survivors, including shelters and even law enforcement. According to Cheng, law enforcement, in particular, is crucial in the training process. “Because at some point of time, law enforce- ment will be involved,” said Cheng. “And their involvement is critical in whether victims later decide to seek help and seek services. We do not want to victimize the victims again. We want to train law enforcement to be aware of how to handle situations and how to approach the situation,” Cheng said. Law enforcement can help by making a vic- tim aware of resources available but first law enforcement must be educated to know what those resources are and where a victim can find them. “Education and awareness is greatly needed. We work together to help meet the needs of the survivors,” Cheng said. “They are being exploited, and they need a lot of ser- vices and help.” Finding the vulnerable among us has been greatly hindered by technology. Devices which have made innumerable resources available with a few swipes or clicks also sell and traffic women, girls and even young boys. What was once visible on the streets has gone under- ground. “Trafficking is online. With just a cell phone, a person can be victimized. All of the arrangements can be done on Craigslist or Twitter. It is much more hidden,” Cheng said. In this fight, Cheng appreciates the leader- ship of Attorney General Sean Reyes who, he says, has provided leadership in the fight against human and sex trafficking. “The At- torney General has put an emphasis on it, and his leadership allows other things to fall into place,” Cheng said. “Utah has come a long way,” agreed Thurston. “There are more resources available now than there were four years ago. And we have formed more partnerships.” Based on the 2014 State Ratings on Human Trafficking Laws compiled by the Polaris Project, Utah is one of the most improved states, moving from a Tier 4 state to Tier 2. Utah remains a Tier 2 state because it does not have the strictest law to address human and sex trafficking. “But Utah is working on it,” said Thurston. “It’s on the radar of the state legislature.” SEX TRAFFICKING PREVENTION / STREET OUTREACH –Su Cheng, Ph.D. U.S. top court rules for DirecTV in arbi- tration case – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled for DirecTV Inc, backing the satellite television provider’s efforts to enforce arbitration agreements signed by its custom- ers in California. U.S. Supreme Court rejects human rights suit against Occidental – The U.S. Su- preme Court on Monday declined to revive a human rights lawsuit against Occidental Pe- troleum Corp and a security contractor that had accused them of complicity in a deadly 1998 bombing by Colombia’s military of a village in the South American country. U.S. Supreme Court reinstates Ken- tucky inmate’s death sentence – The U.S. Su- preme Court on Monday reinstated the death sentence of a Kentucky man convicted in the 1997 murders of a Louisville couple includ- ing a pregnant woman who was strangled and whose body was found with scissors stick- ing out from her neck. New U.S. FAA rule requires drone own- ers to register by Feb. 19 – The Federal Avia- tion Administration, responding to height- ened concerns about rogue drone flights near airports, unveiled a pre-Christmas rule on Monday requiring drone hobbyists as young as 13 years old to register their unmanned aircraft. In American mosques, growing safety concerns – and more armed guards – From the suburbs of Los Angeles to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., mosques around the United States are warily stepping up security in the face of growing fears about reprisals on American Muslims. Continued on page A-8 Continued on page A-9 U.S. Supreme Court blocks Alabama lesbian mother adoption ruling – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday blocked an Ala- bama judicial ruling that refused to recog- nize a gay woman’s parental rights over three children she adopted with her lesbian part- ner and raised from birth.
