Human Trafficking Spotlighted At Southampton Seminar

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — The "hidden crime" of human trafficking will be under spotlighted Thursday night and Friday at a critical seminar in Southampton.

The East End's indigenous communities seek to take the lead on offering professional awareness and response training to police departments, educators, legal and healthcare professionals, social services, and mental health professionals, organizers of the event said.

"Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked in countries around the world, including the United States. It is estimated that human trafficking generates many billions of dollars of profit per year, second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime," a release announcing the event said.

In addition, organizers said, human trafficking is a "hidden crime," as victims rarely come forward to seek help because of language barriers, fear of the traffickers, and fear of law enforcement.

Traffickers, organizer said, use force, fraud, or coercion to lure victims and force them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation.

Innovations HTC is a human rights organization working to eradicate sex and labor trafficking throughout the nation, with a goal of raising awareness to prevent human trafficking and ensuring that frontline professionals are trained to identify and effectively respond to trafficking victims.

There is a great need to address the issue in tribal communities, organizers said, with Native American women, girls, and boys all vulnerable.

In addition, the issue is critical amongst the immigrant communities on the East End, organizers said.

The conference will focus on not just raising awareness, but also focus on identification and effective and culturally-appropriate techniques for first responders, as well as an understanding of victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches to identifying and supporting victims.

Workshop Presenters will include Jeri Moomaw, executive director, Innovations HTC, Makini Chisolm-Straker, MD MPH, department of emergency medicine, Mount Sinai, and Roxanne White, Indigenous Outreach coordinator, Innovations HTC MMIW.

The conference takes place Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Stony Brook University Southampton campus, at Chancellor's Hall. Tickets cost $35 and are available here.

The event will kick off Thursday night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a free evening session, that will provide a general overview of human trafficking, aimed at helping participants gain increased awareness and understanding of how the crime occurs in the community and resources available for help.

The event is co-hosted by the Shinnecock Community Health Worker Program, the Shinnecock Substance Abuse Mobilization Project, the Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons, Stony Brook School of Social Welfare, OLA of Eastern Long Island, and The Retreat, Inc.

Patch courtesy photo.