Sponsored  by



Human Trafficking:  Its Impact in the
Hispanic/Latino Community

Huxley Auditorium
New York State Museum
260 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY
2:00 – 3:30 pm

Saturday, March 23, 2013
-- free and open to the public --

Focus and Purpose
The focus of this presentation will be on how Human Trafficking is impacting the Hispanic/Latino community in New York State.  While Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, this demographic continues to be underrepresented in all aspects of society, suffers from high poverty rates, highest High School drop out rates, and also disproportionately affected by Human Trafficking.  The purpose of this presentation is geared at educating the Latino community about not only how to identify a potential situation but also how and where to seek help.  

Presentation
Speakers will address Federal and State Law and how modern-day cases can be found in least-thought of places – not just in NYC but across NYS.  The audience may be able to ask questions if time permits, with guided time limitations.

Issues to be addressed
  • Impact in the Hispanic/Latino Community
  • Ways to combat Human Trafficking in our community
  • Resources available to organizations and victims

Human Trafficking in New York
  • Between 2000 and 2010, 11,268 trafficking victims were provided with social and legal services in New York City alone (of these, 6,580 were minors).
  • Last year in NYS nearly three times as many people in prostitution, many sex trafficking victims, were arrested as johns.
  • In 2011, 3,893 people in prostitution were arrested in New York State.
  • Director of Midtown Community Court identified 70% of the people arrested for prostitution in 
their court as trafficking victims.  

Source:  NYS Anti-Trafficking Coalition, see attached Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet

Current NYS Law:  http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/pio/humantrafficking/humantrafficking_legislation.pdf



MODERATORS

Mariel Fiori, Managing Editor, La Voz magazine
Co-host, ¿Qué cocinaré hoy? at WGXC 90.7FM
Mariel Fiori is the co-founder and managing editor of the monthly independent magazine, La Voz, which seeks to empower the Hispanic population of the Hudson Valley region through actionable information. Fiori is a journalist and translator with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and Latin American and Iberian Studies from Bard College. She has recently earned her MBA from NYU, Stern School of Business. Before coming to the United States in 2003, she lived and worked for two years in Spain, and previously in Buenos Aires, her hometown, where she earned a degree in journalism and studied legal and commercial English-Spanish translation at the Catholic University of Argentina. She has worked for different mass media groups and independent media in Argentina, Spain and the United States as a researcher, writer, translator, editor and radio and television producer. Read her full bio here. 

Antonio Flores-Lobos, Editor, Las Noticias
Co-host, ¿Qué cocinaré hoy? at WGXC 90.7FM

Antonio Flores-Lobos is the editor of Las Noticias, the largest Spanish language weekly newspaper that serves New York’s Hudson Valley, sponsored by the Daily Freeman. Since he began working at the publication, he has won various awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications for his columns and articles, and is recognized for his work by different community organizations. Flores-Lobos began life in Mexicali, a dusty desert town on the California-Mexico border. The 15th child born to his parents, at age of 20, he crossed the border and settled in San Diego. There, he attended San Diego City College and became a reporter and photographer for the Ahora Now, La Prensa San Diego and The City Times. He received a scholarship from the California Chicano News Media Association and graduated with an Associated Arts degree in journalism.  Read full bio here.
La Voz is a free, 20-page monthly publication in Spanish that serves the Hispanic communities of the Mid-Hudson Valley. La Voz, which seeks to empower the Hispanic population of the Hudson Valley region through actionable information. 
 
The largest Spanish language weekly newspaper that serves New York’s Hudson Valley, sponsored by the Daily Freeman. 
Un programa imperdible con noticias, entrevistas, comentarios, humor, y buena musica. ¿Qué cocinaré hoy? also features health advice, food recipes, math puzzles, and community announcements, among others, on this weekly program.



PANEL SPEAKERS

Special Agent Wayne Shuptrine
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Mr. Shuptrine was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas.   Prior to entering the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), he was employed with the United Services Automobile Association in San Antonio, Texas for nearly 10 years. He has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration and a Master’s of Business Administration. He attended the “Program in Advanced Security Studies” at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch, Germany in the summer of 2009, which included a one-week sabbatical in Paris, France. He is currently pursuing a dual on-line Master’s in Public Administration and a Master’s in Science with a concentration in Emergency Management. Mr. Shuptrine is also a Spanish speaker.

Mr. Shuptrine entered on duty with the FBI in 1995, and he has been assigned to the following FBI Divisions: San Francisco, California; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Quantico, Virginia; FBI Headquarters, Washington, DC; and since 2009, the Burlington, Vermont Resident Agency out of the Albany, New York Division. He has both supervisory and street agent experience with national security and criminal programs, and he currently investigates civil rights violations for the Albany Division. He was a former Special Weapons and Tactics Operator in the San Juan Division, and he currently serves as a Crisis Negotiator for the Albany Division. He has traveled internationally to: Mexico City, Mexico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; The Hague, Netherlands; and Vienna, Austria. He has also participated in the following international temporary duty assignments: Bogota, Colombia; Rabat, Morocco (Africa); and he volunteered for duty in the Iraqi Theater of operations for approximately two months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mr. Shuptrine has been married (HAPPILY) for 16 years, and he is the proud father of a 10 year old son and an eight year old daughter.    

FBI Community Engagement Council

The FBI is working with community organizations and leaders to help identify Civil Rights violations in our communities.  The FBI Working Group on Civil Rights meets on a regular basis to share important information and stay connected with the community at large.  Human Trafficking has been an area of great focus.   

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/human_trafficking

Dania Lopez Beltran, Esq., Staff Attorney
Immigration Intervention Project, Sanctuary for Families
The New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition 

DANIA LOPEZ BELTRAN is a Staff Attorney at Sanctuary for Families' Immigration Intervention Project, a part of their Center for Battered Women's Legal Services. Dania represents survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and other forms of gender-based violence in their immigration matters. She also actively informs New York City immigrants of their rights and changes in immigration law through outreach events and local media. Before coming to Sanctuary, Dania was a Volunteer Assistant Attorney General at the New York State Attorney General’s Office in the Civil Rights Bureau where she worked on various immigration fraud and immigrant’s rights matters. Dania holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in International Management and Political Science from Pepperdine University. 

The New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition

A group of (over 100) organizations that have joined forces to increase public awareness of human trafficking in our communities, enact anti-trafficking laws, improve law enforcement response and increase social services to help women and girls escape trafficking. New York is a leading entry, transit and destination point for trafficking victims. The New York Anti-Trafficking Coalition helped drive the passage of two momentous laws in New York State: The New York Anti-Trafficking Law and the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act.

http://stophumantraffickingny.wordpress.com/coalition-members/

Sanctuary for Families

Sanctuary for Families is the leading nonprofit in New York State dedicated exclusively to serving domestic violence victims, sex trafficking victims, and their children.

Each year, Sanctuary helps thousands of victims and their children build safe lives by offering a range of high quality services to meet their complex needs. These services include clinical, legal, shelter, children’s and economic empowerment services. Sanctuary also works to end domestic violence and its far-reaching impact throughoutreach, education, and advocacy.

http://www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org/






Rebecca Fuentes, Activist
Workers’ Center of Central New York
In 2009 Rebecca Fuentes was responsible for helping a group of H2B workers at the New York State Fair who were working under conditions of extreme abuse and exploitation, experiencing both health & safety and wage & hour violations. As a result of her efforts, the workers received $115,000 in back wages, and the employer received a $50,000 fine and was charged with human trafficking.  Rebecca’s work with the help of other interested activists resulted in an article by the Syracuse newspaper, The Post Standard. Here is the introduction to that article:  "In three booths at last year's New York State Fair, 19 men worked in conditions close to slavery. They made and sold chicken gyros and french fries for 16 to 18 hours a day with a 15-minute break and one meal. They were paid $1 an hour. They slept nine or 10 men to one bug-infested trailer, sometimes two to a bed. Some became ill. They worked like this for 11 days at the fair." 

US District Court Case here:  http://workerscentercny.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/criminal-complaint.pdf

Worker's Center of Central New York

This non-profit organization is committed to helping workers who have been cheated out of wage and overtime pay through direct advocacy and education about services and programs available. The Center documents and helps eradicate human trafficking.  

http://www.workerscentercny.org



María Elena Ferrer, Executive Director, Humanamente
Migratory Mourning Expert

María Elena Ferrer is a national expert on Migratory Mourning, an often-secret suffering many Hispanic-Americans share that can produce acute and chronic mental distress stemming from family and sociocultural separation and losses. She is a featured presenter at major state and national forums, including the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators’ legislative conference and the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference. Originally from Venezuela and then living in Spain, where she studied Migratory Mourning with prominent University of Barcelona transcultural psychiatrist Dr. Joseba Achotegui, she now works with immigrants as a state agency’s family community services coordinator and through her personal- and organizational-development firm, Humanamente (humanamente.org). Humanamente, based in Kingston, also offers professional education and training and organizational consulting. María Elena was the co-host of the Hispanic Coalition NY’s 2012 “40 Under 40 Rising Stars” awards presentation.


http://www.humanamente.org/

RSVP TO ATTEND THE WORKSHOP HERE
(not required but nice to have)