Mehlman-Orozco becomes Contributor to The Hill

Fall 2016: Dr. Mehlman-Orozco was invited to become an ‘expert contributor’ to The Hill on issues related to human trafficking and criminal justice. Links to her human trafficking articles will be featured on the Author page, while all other content will be updated monthly through blog posts.

 

The Hill: January 2017

The Hill: November 2016

The Hill: October 2016

Dr. Mehlman-Orozco Delivers Expert Witness Testimony in CA

On September 1, 2016, Dr. Mehlman-Orozco was again admitted as an expert witness on human trafficking, as well as recruitment and control strategies, without Defense Attorney objection, in a California Superior Court. Dr. Mehlman-Orozco testified on trauma bonding, rape trauma syndrome, and research on human trafficker entrapment and enmeshment schemes.

Image © CLYDE ROBINSON

Mehlman-Orozco Publishes Article in The Hill

Dr. Mehlman-Orozco’s article in The Hill was well received by practitioners and experts within the human trafficking field, as well as by survivors themselves. In order to improve anti-trafficking policy, we need to first understand our system’s current failures and work together to address them.

Here are a few examples of the amazing organizations and people who disseminated this important information to their networks:

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FAIR Girls prevents the exploitation of girls worldwide with empowerment and education.

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National Freedom Network is a group of people and organizations around South Africa, who who work together against human trafficking

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Breaking the Chains provides healing and restoration to survivors of sex trafficking

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The Human Trafficking Center uses academic rigor, sound methodology, and reliable data to promote understanding of human trafficking and its causes, conditions, and cures

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Executive Director of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force

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The ArcLight Foundation provides responsive and sustainable solutions to rescue victims of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and/or forced labor. ERASE Child Trafficking is focused on eliminating child trafficking by implementing a holistic approach, from education and recovery to life reclamation.

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H.E.A.T. Watch is an anti-trafficking organization, sponsored by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, that is working towards ending trafficking exploitation in the Bay Area

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Peoria Home provides long-term secure housing with an array of support services for women with a history of sex trafficking

 

Advocating for Evidence-Based Anti-Trafficking Intervention

In 1966, President John F. Kennedy said, “Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their peers, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”

This quote is as true today, as it was forty years ago.

Unfortunately, anti-trafficking advocates and legislators continue to regularly disseminate and rely on myths in their advocacy work. Instead of being open to third party evaluation and correction, they continue to be defensive and recalcitrant to change. Perhaps this is because they are protecting their projected image and access to funding, but the reality is that the perpetuation of misinformation leads to ineffective anti-trafficking policy and wasted resources.

As someone who is deeply committed to anti-trafficking advocacy, I have made it my personal mission to have moral courage and brave the disapproval of my peers, the censure of my colleagues, and the wrath of my society in disseminating evidence based information in my anti-trafficking work. I do this because I truly believe that this is an essential, vital quality for combating the human trafficking scourge in the United States.

Here are a few unsupported facts, which I heard most recently from the keynote speaker at an anti-trafficking summit yesterday. I think everyone is guilty (including myself) of citing them at one point or another; however, we should all strive for improvement.

Please click on the hyperlink for more information on each debunked fact:

MYTH 1: Safe harbor laws protect minor victims of sex trafficking from being criminalized.

MYTH 2: Prevalence of juvenile sex trafficking in the United States (100k or 300k).

MYTH 3: Average age of sex trafficked minors is 12-14 years old.

Other Debunked Facts

MYTH 4: Human trafficking is a ‘$9.5 billion business’ in the United States.

MYTH 5: Prevalence of sex traffickers arrested in the United States.

MYTH 6: Prevalence of human trafficking in the world (27 million).

MYTH 7: We know what intervention strategies work for reducing sex trafficking.

 

 

Obama: TPP Will Reduce Human Trafficking

Today, President Obama told a town-hall of young entrepreneurs in Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will reduce human trafficking in the region. Unfortunately, the leverage and reward elements of this policy haven’t been effective, as implemented with the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report and associated funding.

Read more in Dr. Mehlman-Orozco’s most recent article in the Diplomatic Courier, here.

Praise from Global Centurian

Dr. Mehlman-Orozco’s recent article, Sex Slaves or Prostitutes? How Human Trafficking is Hidden in Plain Sight in America’s Capital, received praise from leading anti-trafficking non-profit Global Centurion.

Global Centurion is led by Laura J. Lederer, former Director of The Protection Project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Senior Advisor on Trafficking in Persons to Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula J. Dobriansky, and then Senior Director of Global Projects in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. Department of State (2001-2009).

Global Centurion is dedicated to eradicating modern slavery by focusing on the demand side of the problem – the perpetrators, exploiters, buyers, and end-users of human beings, seeking to prevent modern slavery at its source.image

Expert Witness Testimony in CA

Dr. Mehlman-Orozco delivered critical expert witness testimony to a Grand Jury for a national sex trafficking enterprise, which allegedly trafficked women from East to West Coast. Her testimony on Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS), Child Sexual Assault Accomodation Syndrome (CSAAS), trauma bonding, and the effects of polyvictimization, was used to bridge the credibility gap of victims.

Contact Dr. Mehlman-Orozco if you are interested in contracting her services as a human trafficking expert witness or consultant.

More information on her expert witness services can be found here.

Human Trafficking Book Sold

Dr. Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco is honored to be represented by renowned literary agent, Ronald Goldfarb. Mr. Goldfarb has represented a long list of highly respected and notable authors, including NPR radio host, DIANE REHM, and Pulitzer Prize winner DAVID VISE.

Dr. Mehlman-Orozco’s book, Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium, sold to academic publisher Praeger/ABC-CLIO. Please contact the author for more information on how to pre-order or stay updated on publication progress by liking the Facebook page for the book here. Forthcoming publication is expected in October 2017, with book signing events to follow.

Below, please find the publication deal announcement:

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SI Alexandria Presentation

Dr. Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco presented on human trafficking at Soroptimist International Alexandria’s speaker dinner meeting on April 26, 2016.

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Reservations Information:
Contact: Sylvia Wintering at sylwint@aol.com
Speaker Dinner Date: April 26, 2016
Location: 8301 Springfield Golf and Country Club
Springfield,VA 22152
Time: 6:00 pm Social
6:30 pm Dinner
Cost: $36.
Reservations deadline: April 22, 2016