Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Ending Human Trafficking
BusinessNon-ProfitReligion & SpiritualityChristianity

Ending Human Trafficking

Dr. Sandra Morgan

The Global Center for Women and Justice launched the Ending Human Trafficking podcast in April 2011. Our mantra is Study the Issues. Be a voice. Make a difference. We believe that if you do not study first, you may say or do the wrong thing. The National Family and Youth Services Clearinghouse promoted EHT as “a good way to get up to speed on human trafficking”. Our audience includes students, community leaders, and even government leaders. EHT listeners come from all corners of the world, which accomplishes our mission of building a global community that works together to end human exploitation.

Play
Open in
  • 23 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 35 min
  • English

Episodes 23

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • #379
    September 14 · 36 min

    379: What Happens to Women's Rights When There Are No Consequences?

    Zahra Nader joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to discuss why, for nearly every five women killed in Afghanistan by their own families, only one man is ever arrested, and how a newsroom of journalists writing under pseudonyms is building the record no one else is keeping. Chapters (00:00) - Why Afghanistan Is the Battleground for Women's Rights (02:07) - Founding a Newsroom in Exile (08:23) - How Zan Times Protects Its Journalists (11:59) - Child Marriage and the Laws That Enable It (19:22) - The Collapse of Maternity Care (24:53) - Afghanistan as a Global Bellwether (29:20) - Femicide, Impunity, and the Zan Times Fellowship (31:35) - What Listeners Can Do About Zahra Nader Zahra Nader is the founder and editor-in-chief of Zan Times, a women-led newsroom in exile reporting on human rights violations in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. She began her journalism career in Kabul in 2011, and in 2016 joined the New York Times bureau there, becoming the first Afghan woman to work with mainstream Western media inside the country. She moved to Canada in 2017 for graduate study and was still a doctoral student in gender and women's studies at York University when the Taliban retook Afghanistan in August 2021. She founded Zan Times in August 2022 with $30,000 she had saved to build a home in Kabul, and now runs it from Edmonton alongside a network of journalists who report from inside Afghanistan under pseudonyms. She briefed the UN Security Council in October 2022, and was a 2024–2025 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, where she studied sustainable funding models for exiled newsrooms. Key Points • Five years of Afghan women losing basic rights with no international consequence lowers the floor for what can be denied to women anywhere. International law has not prevented it, and that is the precedent that travels. • A newsroom reporting under an authoritarian regime protects people by compartmenting them. Zan Times journalists inside Afghanistan publish under pseudonyms, connect only to an editor, and do not know each other, so one arrest cannot expose the rest. • The Taliban's Code on Judicial Separation of Spouses removes any minimum marriage age. A father or grandfather can give a child into marriage without her consent, at any age. • School was the brake on early marriage, and it is gone. Parents used to defer marriage until a daughter finished school; with girls out of classrooms, Zan Times found families selling one-year-olds and two-year-olds for future marriage to settle debts. • The penalties encode the asymmetry. A man who beats his wife to visible injury, a broken bone, serves 15 days if she can prove it in court. A woman who goes to her parents and refuses to return, along with her parents, serves 3 months. Sandie converts it on air: 90 days against 15. • The 2025 US funding cut closed 445 clinics and hospitals and cut more than 3 million people off from healthcare. Rural women lost the mobile teams that were their only access to a midwife or a blood pressure check. • Restrictions push women out of healthcare even where they are still permitted to work. A Kandahar midwife supporting three children and a paralyzed father paid half her salary to a distant relative to pose as her brother, then stopped going in when the Taliban started asking for ID. • The countermeasure is documentation. Zan Times' femicide investigation across 10 provinces found roughly one arrest for every five women killed by a family member, with deaths certified as suicide despite visible signs of abuse. Subscribing to the newsletter at zantimes.com is the step the episode asks for. Resources • Zan Times • 'When she turns eight they will take her': rising number of Afghan girls being sold into child marriage • 'I don't know how to save my daughter from her husband': the brutal reality of the Taliban's new marriage law • Inside the deadly collapse of maternity care in Afghanistan • 'Her face was beaten in': how Taliban rule ushered in a new era of women being killed • Statement by Zahra Nader at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security (NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security)

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #378
    August 31 · 34 min

    378: What Do You Say to a Teen Who Won't Listen to Warnings?

    Cecilia Gonzalez joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to talk about the ten years she spent in an abusive relationship that started at fourteen, and how she now teaches teens to catch the first yellow flag before it happens to them. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction (03:20) - Why Love Has to Start at Home (07:15) - Control That Looked Like Protection (10:42) - Jealousy, La Tóxica, and the Stages of Love (14:29) - The Wrong Bus: Love Bombing and the Phone Cycle (17:56) - Blame, Eggshells, and "I Can Fix It" (24:01) - The Music Video That Made Her Leave (27:51) - Three Skills: Communication, Equality, Rights About Cecilia Gonzalez Cecilia Gonzalez is the Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinator at Higher Ground Youth and Family Services in Orange County. Her students know her as Ceci. She is part of a team that delivers near peer prevention in local middle and high schools, teaching from lived experience rather than from a textbook, and she builds her presentations around quotes and stories that teens recognize from their own lives. She entered an abusive relationship at fourteen with an older partner and stayed in it for ten years, a decade she now uses to show students how control can arrive disguised as protection. She left at twenty-four, when her oldest daughter was two months old. Today she is raising three daughters, and she talks with students about la tóxica, love bombing, the silent treatment, and the rights every young person has: to feel safe at home, to be a kid, and to be loved in a healthy way. Key Points • Control often arrives in the language of protection, which is why it survives the first look. Ceci's partner came to her soccer practices to walk her home safely, and that became the reason she should stop playing. • The silent treatment is the first flag most teens miss. Someone who cares will have the conversation about what went wrong; withholding it is a punishment, and it shows up long before anything physical does. • An apology that arrives as a gift is one more turn of the cycle. He broke her phone whenever he got angry and replaced it within hours with one her parents could not have afforded, which made the next break easier to absorb. • Time in the wrong relationship is the cost that compounds. Ceci tells students, "If you get on the wrong bus, make sure you get off on the first stop," because she stayed on from fourteen to twenty-four. • Blame does its damage by moving the rules off the record. Once she was reading his face for permission he never had to forbid anything out loud, and she started deciding for herself not to see her friends. • A teen's playlist is a way in, and calling it bad music closes the door. Ceci wanted her mother to ask why she loved the sad, heartbroken songs she played loud enough to get told to turn them down. • Home sets the first model of love, so prevention starts before any relationship does. Ceci grew up without a picture of what affection looks like and assembled one from television, the same gap she now watches teens fill with Euphoria. • Teens act on rights before they act on warning signs. Ceci says the first two skills would have been lost on her at fourteen, but "Hey, Ceci, you have rights" would have landed: the right to feel safe at home, to be a kid, and to be loved in a healthy way. Resources • Higher Ground Youth & Family Services • Higher Ground's Human Trafficking Prevention Program (HTPP) • Global Center for Women and Justice • Safe Communities, Safe Kids (GCWJ, Samueli Foundation grant) • Lil Wayne, "How to Love" (official music video)

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #377
    August 17 · 37 min

    377: What Happens to Trafficking Risk When a Hurricane Hits?

    Leanne McCallum Desselle joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore what happens when a hurricane knocks out the very systems built to catch trafficking — from a child abuse hotline down for three weeks after Hurricane Ida to the disaster recovery jobs where exploitation quietly takes hold. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction (01:39) - An International Lens on a Uniquely American Blind Spot (04:17) - The Signal International Case After Katrina (07:36) - From the Ground in Louisiana to a Researcher's Path (11:13) - Why Research Doesn't Reach the People Who Need It (14:50) - Who Disasters Make Vulnerable to Trafficking (20:18) - Responding in the First Days — and How to Prepare Before the Storm (25:22) - Creative Partnerships That Kept Services Running (28:27) - Turning Research Into Policy and Practice (34:32) - Advice for Researchers Entering This Space About Leanne McCallum Desselle Leanne McCallum Desselle is a Research Analyst and Training & Technical Assistance Provider at RTI International, a role she has held since August 2022. She spent nearly a decade in frontline anti-trafficking work in Louisiana, coordinating the Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force for more than three years and later managing a statewide child and youth trafficking initiative for the Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers. In 2018 she was appointed Chair of the Labor Trafficking Committee for the Louisiana Governor's Human Trafficking Prevention Commission and Advisory Board. At RTI, she leads technical assistance for a U.S. Office for Victims of Crime initiative on child and youth trafficking outcomes and contributes to research on labor trafficking prosecutions and the effects of disasters on trafficking vulnerability. She holds a Master of Arts in International Studies, concentrating in Human Rights and Human Trafficking, from the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Linfield University. Key Points • Hurricane Katrina's Signal International case, in which hundreds of Indian guest workers were defrauded and trafficked into labor repairing Gulf oil rigs, became one of the largest labor trafficking settlements at the time and helped drive Louisiana's first designated federal anti-trafficking funding in 2007-2008. • Housing instability is one of the biggest drivers of post-disaster trafficking risk — when people lose their community, school, and church, they become far more vulnerable to someone who says, "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. I'll get you a job." • Disasters disproportionately hit communities already made vulnerable by redlining, the historical practice of confining people of color and poor families to lower-lying land that's more exposed to flooding and severe weather. • In interviews with 46 disaster and trafficking responders, foreign national day laborers doing disaster recovery work and isolated children in disrupted households emerged as two of the populations most vulnerable to exploitation after a storm. • After Hurricane Ida, Louisiana's child abuse hotline — the mandated channel for reporting child trafficking — was down for at least three weeks, leaving responders with no way to report what they saw. • Preparation has to happen before a disaster, not during one: without a plan already tested and rehearsed, coordinating a trafficking response becomes nearly impossible once phones, power, and staff are all unreachable at once. • Louisiana responders found creative workarounds under pressure, from standing up a mobile forensic interview unit in a neighboring parish within 24 hours to running child trafficking response operations out of a partner's building after their own offices were destroyed. • Leanne and her RTI colleagues sent their findings directly to the Louisiana Human Trafficking Prevention Commission and Advisory Board, which is now recommending changes to state labor procurement practices to help prevent forced labor. Resources • RTI International • Human Trafficking in the Wake of Natural Disasters (RTI research project page) • Human Trafficking in the Wake of Natural Disasters: A Case Study of Preparedness and Response in Louisiana (Violence and Victims, 2026) • The Intersection of Human Trafficking and Natural Disasters: A Scoping Review (Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2024) • Advancing the Field: Human Trafficking and Natural Disasters — Recommendations for the Louisiana Human Trafficking Prevention Commission and Advisory Board • Labor Trafficking in Construction During the Recovery and Reconstruction from a Natural Disaster (OPRE Report, Barrick & Pfeffer) • Louisiana Human Trafficking Prevention Commission and Advisory Board • David, et al. v. Signal International, LLC, et al. (ACLU case page)

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #376
    July 27 · 35 min

    376: Why Documents Decide Who Traffickers Can Exploit Next

    Dr. Xanthe Scharff joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to explore how displacement, missing documents, and unequal citizenship laws quietly raise the risk of trafficking, and why prevention starts long before a child is ever exploited. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction (00:55) - Xanthe's Path and the Freedom Fund's Frontline Model (06:08) - The Women's Refugee Commission: Listening to Women (10:19) - How Birth Certificates Prevent Trafficking in Bangladesh (13:17) - Citizenship, Statelessness, and Life in the Shadows (19:13) - Conflict, Trauma, and Women Rebuilding After Displacement (23:46) - Girls' Education and the Story of Anesi (28:14) - Prevention Over Rescue: What the Field Still Misunderstands About Dr. Xanthe Scharff Dr. Xanthe Scharff is President and CEO of the Women's Refugee Commission, which she joined in June 2026 after more than two decades spanning humanitarian action, women's rights, journalism, philanthropy, and nonprofit leadership. She previously served as Managing Director for External Affairs and Editor-at-Large at The Freedom Fund, a global collaborative working to end modern slavery, where she helped elevate the work of hundreds of frontline anti-slavery organizations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Earlier, she co-founded The Fuller Project, a global newsroom reporting on women, served as Associate Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, and founded Advancing Girls' Education in Africa. She has raised more than $200 million for social-impact organizations and reported on Syrian refugees in Turkey, with earlier roles at CARE, Save the Children, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Key Points • The Freedom Fund gets money directly to the front lines, granting to almost 200 frontline organizations, and this past year 47% of them were led by survivors. • Birth certificates are a frontline prevention tool: in Bangladesh, mothers believed they couldn't register children without the father's signature, until Freedom Fund's partners socialized a legal provision and registered over 400 children in about six months. • Twenty-four countries still bar mothers from passing citizenship to their children on equal terms with fathers, and Syria's law can leave a returning mother's child stateless and more vulnerable to exploitation. • When people lack legal status, they have no one to report abuse to, and fear of deportation keeps exploited workers silent even when wages are stolen or they are assaulted. • Immigration and refugee are not synonyms; asylum seekers are specifically people seeking protection, a distinction that gets blurred as legal pathways narrow. • Before larger plans, women's groups like Women of the Sun in Gaza and the West Bank made addressing trauma and supporting one another their first priority. • A scholarship alone did not change Anesi's future; without cultural support structures, she left school for marriage after one year and later regretted it, showing that prevention takes more than money. • Xanthe urges the field to listen to survivors: "Alternative livelihood activities in our community is what's going to protect our children," and "we don't need to wait until the children have been trafficked to do an intervention." Resources • Women's Refugee Commission • At What Cost? Women-Led Organizations, Funding Cuts, and the Price of Survival (WRC & Refugees International report) • Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights • The Freedom Fund • Refugees International • The Fuller Project • AGE Africa (Advancing Girls' Education in Africa)

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #375
    July 13 · 44 min

    375: Is It Ever Ethical to Photograph a Trafficking Survivor?

    Nina Alvarez joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to unpack a question raised after The New York Times published images from Figueroa Street: was legal consent enough to prevent harm? Together they explore the ethical duty of care journalists owe survivors, the lasting life of images, and why covering trafficking responsibly takes more than good intentions. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction: welcoming journalist Nina Alvarez (03:46) - What "ethical duty of care" means for journalists (06:00) - Consent, trauma, and the limits of a release form (16:42) - Why "rescue" is the wrong word for trafficking recovery (22:14) - What editors and organizations should ask before publishing (28:44) - Power, images, and protecting sources long after publication (38:03) - Media narratives, public misunderstanding, and what needs to change (43:14) - Closing thoughts and how to get involved About Nina Alvarez Nina Alvarez is a journalist, documentarian, video photographer, and the CBS Assistant Professor of International Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. She has spent more than twenty-five years reporting breaking news, feature stories, radio reports, broadcast segments, and long-form documentaries around the world. Alvarez began her career at ABC News, working on the documentary series Turning Point before covering the southeast U.S. and Latin America from ABC's Miami Bureau and helping establish the network's Mexico City Bureau in 1997. Her work has aired on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Good Morning America, Nightline, and 20/20, earning three national Emmy Awards. Since 2001, she has reported and produced for Univision, NBC, CNN, NPR, MTV News, and Al Jazeera, with work spanning the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. She produced, directed, and photographed Very Young Girls, a Showtime documentary following New York City girls who had been sexually exploited and trafficked domestically, and was a producer on the Oscar-nominated Which Way Home. Key Points • Nina Alvarez explains that the ethical duty of care means weighing the lasting impact a story will have on the person in it, since a published story is permanent and the subject may not fully grasp what that means when they agree to participate. • Consent is not the same as a signed release form; Alvarez describes consent as an ongoing process that journalists have to revisit before, during, and after a story is published. • Alvarez points out that turning 18 makes someone legally able to consent, but it doesn't erase the effects of years of trauma, so journalists still have to weigh whether a survivor's "yes" is solid. • Morgan and Alvarez agree that "rescue" is the wrong frame for trafficking recovery, since most survivors leave and return to their situations multiple times before they're fully out. • Alvarez explains that rescue-centered narratives draw more funding and legislative attention toward policing, while recovery-centered approaches that give survivors housing and health resources get less support. • Alvarez says editors should be asking why minors' first names and identifying details were included in a story at all, and whether a survivor understood that their words to police would end up published nationally. • Alvarez encourages organizations to set ground rules with journalists, including reviewing the story and images in advance, and warns that survivors who depend on an organization for access may feel pressure to say yes. • Alvarez reflects that Very Young Girls, made in 2007, didn't anticipate how permanently images would circulate online, and the women in that documentary now say they can never fully escape those images. Resources • Figueroa Street and the Ethical Duty of Care (Columbia Journalism Review) • Very Young Girls (documentary) • GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services) • Humanitarian Initiative Bridges • Columbia Journalism School

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #374
    June 29 · 31 min

    374: How Illicit Massage Parlors Really Launder Their Money

    Youngbee Dale joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to explain how traffickers run commercial sexual exploitation as a business, hiding it behind storefronts, shell companies, and cash, and why identifying victims often comes down to asking what they're being charged for. Chapters (00:00) - Trafficking Is a Business, Not Just Exploitation (01:27) - Financial Crime as an Anti-Trafficking Tool (04:26) - Why Trafficking Networks Operate by Culture (08:01) - Following the Cash: KYC and Transaction Patterns (12:23) - Hidden Ties, Shell Companies, and a Real Case (15:07) - The Questions That Reveal Exploitation (20:01) - Updating Training and Building a Collaborative Response (28:00) - The East Asian Crime Newsletter and How to Connect About Youngbee Dale Youngbee Dale is an anti-trafficking consultant, researcher, trainer, and expert witness whose work focuses on the commercial sex market in the United States, with particular expertise in Asian and Korean sex trafficking, illicit massage businesses, organized crime, money laundering, visa fraud, tax evasion, and financial crime indicators connected to exploitation. As CEO of Dale Consulting, LLC, she trains and consults for law enforcement, prosecutors, financial crime professionals, courts, policymakers, government agencies, and victim service providers. Her clients have included the New York State Human Trafficking Intervention Court Conference, the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists, the FBI Southern District of New York, the NYPD Human Trafficking Case Unit, and several state trafficking commissions and task forces. Earlier she served as an NGO liaison to the FBI Norfolk Office and worked with Gonggam Public Law Office in Seoul, Korea. Her peer-reviewed research appears in Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence. She holds an M.A. from Regent University. Key Points • Traffickers treat commercial sexual exploitation as a business model where the goal is profit, so disrupting it means following the money back to the person actually running the operation. • Because anti-trafficking work has centered on victims, there is far less research on the financial crime, immigration fraud, and business structures traffickers rely on to operate. • Networks tend to follow their own cultural business patterns, so Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese operations launder money and handle payment differently, such as cash-only Chinese parlors versus credit-and-cash Korean ones. • "Know your customer" (KYC) analysis helps investigators recognize trafficking transaction patterns, which look different for domestic minor sex trafficking than for Asian illicit massage businesses tied to grocery stores, real estate, title agencies, or restaurants. • Following cash often means tracing it from the parlor through couriers to a profiteer who deposits it into business accounts or shell corporations, sometimes linked through shared addresses or property owned by family. • The questions that surface exploitation today focus on deductions, hidden fees, fines, wages, and debt bondage, since traffickers have moved past older controls like passport confiscation and forced on-site living. • A South Korean trafficker told Dale that operators fear the Department of Labor more than vice units, because wage and deduction questions can make a woman realize she is being exploited. • Stronger cases require offender-focused research, updated training, forensic accounting, and collaboration among prosecutors, the US attorney, and local law enforcement, who often lack funding for complex financial investigations. Resources • Dale Consulting – Youngbee Dale's consulting firm and primary website. • Money Laundering in the Commercial Sex Market in the United States • Visa Fraud in the Commercial Sex Market in the United States: An Overview • Tax Evasion and Fraud in the United States Sex Market • Beyond Massage Parlors: Exposing the Korean Commercial Sex Market in the United States

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #373
    June 15 · 38 min

    373: What Happens to Survivors After They Reach Safety?

    Derek Marsh joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to reflect on what they learned inside refugee communities in Greece — where Sudanese survivors of labor trafficking, and mothers rebuilding after violence, reveal how trust, disclosure, and practical support can change what people are able to name, ask for, and access. Chapters (00:00) - Welcome and What Made This Year's Greece Trip Different (04:51) - Inside the Refugee Camp at Kyllini (08:11) - Why Survivors Hesitate to Disclose — and the Brutality They Described (10:21) - Man to Man: Opening Up About Exploitation That Hasn't Stopped (14:46) - How Greece Identifies Victims While Saving Lives (17:43) - A Day of Respite: The Single-Mothers Camp (23:13) - Building Resilience and the Power of a Positive Presence (29:49) - Taking the Lessons Home: Meeting People Where They Are About Derek Marsh Derek Marsh is Associate Director of the Global Center for Women and Justice at Vanguard University, where his work centers on education, prevention, and labor trafficking awareness. A longtime collaborator with Dr. Sandie Morgan and a recurring voice on the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast, he helps lead the Global Center's annual study-abroad program in Greece, returning to refugee-serving communities there many times over the years. He came to anti-trafficking work through law enforcement, founding the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, and brings that frontline perspective to questions of victim identification and case development. On this trip, his expertise in labor trafficking — and his ability to connect man-to-man with male survivors who are often reluctant to identify themselves as victims — created space for Sudanese refugees to disclose exploitation they had not previously named. Key Points • This year's student group was strikingly independent, and a visit to the Young Diplomat Academy — hosted by Greece's National Human Trafficking Rapporteur — opened the door to a possible future partnership. • For the first time, the team entered a refugee camp in remote Kyllini, where Sudanese men who had been labor trafficked lived three-and-a-half hours from Athens, making access to paperwork and services extremely difficult. • Survivors were hesitant to disclose their trafficking — partly because earlier promises of help had gone unfulfilled — and when they did open up, Derek was struck by how violent and physical their labor trafficking had been. • Having a man speak man-to-man with male survivors lowered their barriers, and they revealed that exploitation was continuing right near the camp, where local actors had quickly learned to target new arrivals. • Greece's EKKA reported 891 identified victims — an admirable number for a nation of under 11 million on the front line of the Mediterranean migration crisis, where authorities must prioritize saving lives before investigating crimes. • At a separate camp for single mothers near Pyrgos, the team hosted a respite event with childcare, art therapy, and resources; the women had walked 45 minutes carrying their children to attend. • A student caring for a three-year-old watched him duck and cover at the sound of a passing plane — a vivid reminder that reaching safety is not enough, and that building resilience is key to a child's recovery. • The closing challenge: you don't need to visit a refugee camp to help — meet displaced people where they are, understand their context, and "look for the handle close to you," whether abroad or in your own community. Resources • Global Center for Women and Justice • Humanitarian Initiative Bridges • A21 • EKKA — National Centre for Social Solidarity (National Referral Mechanism) • Ending Human Trafficking — Episode 371: Dr. Heracles Moskoff

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #372
    June 1 · 30 min

    372: How Traffickers Use TikTok the Same Way Brands Do

    Christa Wiens joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore why the answer to online exploitation isn't the perfect parental control — it's helping young people recognize manipulation, build critical thinking skills, and know who they can safely turn to when something feels off. About Christa Wiens Christa Wiens is the Executive Director of the Central Valley Justice Coalition, a California-based nonprofit focused on preventing human trafficking through education, outreach, and community collaboration. She has spent over a decade in the anti-trafficking field, beginning her career with the Justice Coalition as an Education Coordinator, where she developed and delivered training programs that reached thousands of youth and adults across the Central Valley. She stepped into the Executive Director role in 2022 and has continued to expand the organization's reach and impact. Christa is the author of the Understanding Human Trafficking series and has contributed to multiple publications on trafficking awareness and prevention. Her work frequently intersects with faith communities, education systems, and local stakeholders, where she advocates for proactive, trauma-informed approaches and stronger preventive frameworks. She holds a Master of Arts in Ministry, Leadership, and Culture from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. Chapters Key Points • Traffickers have adopted the exact same cross-platform influencer model that legitimate brands use — and parents who don't recognize it are missing how exploitation actually operates online. • Looking for the "right app" or "right setting" to protect kids is chasing the wind; what's actually needed are better relational tools for conversation, not better technical controls. • Social media platforms are engineered to maximize engagement, which makes our kids the product — and platforms like TikTok deliberately change what they show users the moment they turn 18. • The most effective protective posture isn't imposing rules but asking open-ended hypothetical questions ("What would you do if...?") so kids see parents as safe, curious allies rather than authorities who will punish them. • Building agency means using the language of "when you make a mistake" rather than "if" — signaling that mistakes are expected, that kids won't be abandoned when they happen, and that they can always come back to a trusted adult. • The driver's permit is a powerful analogy for devices: we don't hand teenagers keys and say "best of luck" — we graduate access gradually, narrate the dangers, and teach them to recognize the red flags, like content that makes them feel big, urgent emotions. • Youth in foster care and system involvement are especially vulnerable online because they often lack a trusted adult — equipping care providers with conversation tools and connecting youth to resources like NCMEC's Take It Down are critical protective steps. • Young people who receive trafficking prevention education report a profound sense of relief — they knew something was off but had no language for it — and once equipped, they become peer educators and advocates in their own communities. Resources • Central Valley Justice Coalition • NCMEC Take It Down • National Center for Missing & Exploited Children • PACT 2025 Reignite Convening

    • Transcript
  • #371
    May 15 · 33 min

    371: Why Strong Trafficking Laws Still Miss Real Victims

    Dr. Heracles Moskoff joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to explore what happens after a country builds the laws, shelters, and partnerships meant to protect people — and why outcomes still depend on whether someone, somewhere, recognizes what others overlook. Chapters About Dr. Heracles Moskoff Dr. Heracles Moskoff serves as Secretary General for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection at Greece's Ministry of Migration and Asylum, a role he assumed in July 2023. He previously served as Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors (2021–2023), overseeing the implementation of Greece's National Guardianship System and frameworks for the accommodation and protection of unaccompanied children. With over two decades of experience in migration policy, human security, and anti-trafficking efforts, Dr. Moskoff has held roles within Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2001, including as Expert Counselor on Human Security. In 2013, he was appointed National Rapporteur on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, coordinating Greece's National Referral Mechanism and National Action Plan (2018–2022). He represents Greece at the EU, United Nations, Council of Europe, and OSCE. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics. Key Points • Most countries have robust anti-trafficking legal frameworks, but the real gap is “national ownership” — the capacity of frontline professionals to recognize indicators when victims do not self-identify. • Faith communities and faith-based NGOs are essential partners because they reach both potential victims and the demand side at an existential level that law enforcement cannot. • Greece's National Emergency Response Mechanism — a 24/7 hotline with mobile units — has helped recover more than 10,000 unaccompanied children over the last five years. • A culture of impunity persists worldwide: only a small percentage of victims are identified and only a small percentage of perpetrators face justice; the identification chain has to extend beyond police to medical, migration, and public administration professionals. • Trafficking is not only the textbook case — the “gray area” of dirty, difficult, dangerous informal work for unaccompanied minors is its own form of exploitation, often tolerated by enforcement. • Consumer demand and corporate supply chains require regulation with real teeth; well-intentioned laws like the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act remain under-enforced, and Greece faces the same gap. • A new presidential decree authorizes new departments dedicated to anti-trafficking and gender-based violence, including planned shelters for male victims and victims of forced labor. • Survivors of forced criminality carry trauma alongside extraordinary resilience; with proper mental health support, integration can produce what Dr. Moskoff calls “a miracle of integration.” Resources • Global Center for Women and Justice • Greece Ministry of Migration and Asylum • Greece National Emergency Response Mechanism (for unaccompanied minors) • EU Pact on Migration and Asylum • United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime • California Transparency in Supply Chains Act

    • Transcript
  • #370
    May 11 · 36 min

    370: Why Mentorship Fails Without Shared Lived Experience

    Martha Trujillo joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to ask what changes when communities stop seeing vulnerable youth as problems to be managed and start seeing them as young people in need of support. About Martha Trujillo Martha Trujillo is the founder of Full Circle Orange County, an organization dedicated to supporting risk-impacted and at-risk students through mentorship, education, and community. Her work is informed by lived experience: she grew up in Orange County and faced significant challenges as a young person, including foster care, gang involvement, expulsion from school, juvenile detention, substance use, and victimization. She now uses her story to guide and empower students facing similar obstacles. Trujillo holds a master’s degree in criminology from UC Irvine and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California State University, Fullerton, and is preparing to pursue a doctorate in education at UC Irvine. Through Full Circle, she practices “diversion through mentorship,” combining workshops, re-entry support, and one-on-one guidance for youth in schools, group homes, and detention centers across Orange County and beyond. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction (01:09) - Know More, Do Better and Full Circle Orange County (05:50) - Martha's Journey: Foster Care, Gangs, and Juvenile Hall (12:49) - Feeding Before Teaching: An Approach Built on Lived Experience (15:39) - Why Prevention Must Start Earlier (21:15) - Mentorship, Lived Experience, and Dual Status Kids (27:53) - Hopes for Full Circle and Coming Full Circle Key Points • Full Circle Orange County’s mission is preventing youth incarceration in adulthood by helping kids be identified early as victims rather than written off as criminals. • Martha’s “feeding before teaching” approach — breaking bread with youth before any workshop — builds trust and recognizes the unmet basic needs that often shape kids’ behavior. • Lived experience is one of three pillars (alongside academic training and direct work with youth) that shapes how Martha builds rapport with students no one else has been able to reach. • Early human trafficking prevention should begin between ages 9 and 14, in language that’s age-appropriate but not avoidant — and not reserved only for kids in poverty-stricken environments. • “Dual status” youth (both foster and probation-involved) need support that recognizes them as children first, not as labels — and the juvenile justice system has resources to help them, if we use them well. • Mentors who share appropriate pieces of their own story give kids something to relate to; without that connection, real rapport is rarely possible. • Survivors going through religious rites of passage may be carrying hidden trauma; faith communities have a vital role in trauma-informed prevention conversations. • Coming full circle: Martha was expelled from Nicolas Junior High in eighth grade — and years later returned to receive an honorary promotion certificate alongside its current eighth graders. Resources • Full Circle Orange County • Know More, Do Better (OC Human Trafficking Task Force) • Global Center for Women and Justice (Vanguard University) • CASA of Orange County

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #369
    April 21 · 36 min

    Episode 369: What Should a Nurse Do When a Trafficker Is in the Room

    Dr. Sigrid Burruss and Dr. Adrienne Schlatter join Dr. Sandie Morgan to explore what human trafficking actually looks like in healthcare settings, why safety matters more than rushing to the rescue, and how hospitals can build responses that help patients feel seen, supported, and safer -- with a close look at California's new SB 963, requiring emergency departments to screen every patient for trafficking. Chapters (00:00) - Intro + SB 963: The New California Law (03:08) - How Trafficking Survivors Come to Healthcare (05:51) - Recognizing the Signs and Using Screening Tools (10:00) - The Sticker Method: Creative Strategies for Privacy (14:36) - Planting Seeds Instead of Rushing to Rescue (19:27) - Training the Whole Team — Even the Cleaning Staff (24:40) - Where to Find Resources and Training (28:01) - Consent Laws, Reporting, and Adult Patients Dr. Sigrid Burruss & Dr. Adrienne Schlatter Dr. Sigrid Burruss is a board-certified surgeon at UCI Health specializing in trauma surgery and surgical critical care. She earned her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, completed her general surgery residency at UCLA Medical Center, and a fellowship in surgical critical care at UC San Diego Medical Center. Her professional interests include trauma prevention, reducing trauma recidivism, and understanding the relationship between mental health and physical trauma. She is engaged in connecting patients and families with community support systems to promote long-term recovery, and serves on the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force Healthcare Subcommittee and CSEC steering committee as a leader in clinical response to child sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Dr. Adrienne Schlatter is a board-certified pediatrician at UCI Health, with dual board certification in Pediatrics and Child Abuse Pediatrics. She earned her medical degree from Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, completed her residency in pediatrics at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, and a fellowship in child abuse pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Her clinical work focuses on the care of children who may be affected by abuse or neglect, including evaluation and coordination within multidisciplinary systems. Dr. Schlatter also serves on the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force Healthcare Subcommittee and CSEC steering committee, bringing her expertise in child abuse pediatrics to the intersection of clinical care, consent law, and trauma-informed practice. Key Points • SB 963, effective January 1, 2025, requires all California emergency departments to screen every patient for human trafficking and adopt formal policies for doing so -- regardless of whether risk factors are present. • Trafficking survivors may come to the ED for reasons that appear unrelated to trafficking: physical assault with an inconsistent history, recurrent STIs, or chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes that go unmanaged because the trafficker controls whether they can follow up with a primary care provider. • The triage nurse and check-in staff are often the first point of contact -- not the physician -- making it essential that everyone who encounters a patient, from reception to security to cleaning staff, knows what to look for and how to escalate. • When a potential trafficking survivor arrives with a companion claiming to be a family member, clinical policy and common procedures -- like a separate exam, an X-ray, or a trip to the bathroom for a urine sample -- can create a private moment to ask sensitive questions. • The sticker method gives patients a covert way to signal for help: bathroom posters invite patients to place a sticker on their urine cup if they feel unsafe, prompting staff to create a private conversation even when a trafficker is in the room. • Healthcare providers need to manage the impulse to rescue immediately; many survivors, especially teenagers, may not recognize that they are being trafficked, so the goal is to plant a seed of safety -- not to expect immediate disclosure or departure. • Discharge paperwork can carry covert resources: embedding youth housing, counseling services, and hotline numbers in a generic "age-appropriate resources" sheet means a survivor leaves with something useful even if they are not ready to act on it today. • California consent law gives minors over 12 the right to consent to STI testing, mental health care, and substance use counseling without parental permission -- and anyone can consent to forensic evidence collection after sexual assault -- giving clinicians important tools for trauma-informed care without putting young patients at greater risk. Resources SB 963 -- California Hospital Human Trafficking Screening Law https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB963 Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force -- Healthcare Subcommittee https://www.ochumantrafficking.com/committees/healthcaresubcommittee Quick Youth Indicators for Trafficking (QYIT) https://resources.rhyttac.org/resources/screening-tool/quick-youth-indicators-trafficking-qyit CSE-IT -- Commercial Sexual Exploitation-Identification Tool https://www.westcoastcc.org/cse-it/ National Human Trafficking Hotline https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en

    • Chapters
  • #368
    March 30 · 38 min

    368: What If the Trafficker Lives Inside the Home?

    Zoe Bellatorre joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they reveal why the most common form of child trafficking never makes the missing persons list — and why the quiet, compliant child sitting in the back of the classroom may be the one hiding the most. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction: Why Familial Trafficking Gets Missed (01:07) - Zoe Bellatorre: From Survivor to National Advocate (04:52) - Defining Familial Trafficking and Its Unique Challenges (09:41) - What Teachers and Communities Should Look For (13:12) - Why Children Don't Disclose — and Aren't Believed (15:09) - The Data: Statistics That Reframe the Problem (19:03) - Moving Beyond Stranger Danger: Training Systems to See More (29:23) - Hope for Change: What Every Person Can Do Zoe Bellatorre Zoe Bellatorre is a survivor advocate, trainer, and speaker with over a decade of experience in the anti-trafficking field, specializing in familial trafficking. She holds a Master's in Intercultural Studies with Children at Risk from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Ashland University. Zoe has served as Coordinator of Outreach with The Avery Center and as a Survivor Advocate with CAST LA and Dignity Health, providing crisis intervention within healthcare systems. A recognized subject matter expert, she has consulted with the Office for Victims of Crime Human Trafficking Collective, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC), and the U.S. State Department. Her published contributions include essays in the 2021 and 2023 Trafficking in Persons Reports, the 2024 co-authored work on child trafficking misconceptions, and the anthology Medical Perspectives on Human Trafficking in Adolescents. She serves on the advisory council for the Polaris Project's Resilience Fund and on the board of Ride My Road. Key Points Familial trafficking — in which a family member or caregiver is the trafficker or sells the child to a third party — accounts for 60% of child trafficking cases, making it the most common form of exploitation, yet it remains the most overlooked. Unlike pimp-controlled trafficking, children trafficked by family rarely go missing; they may attend school daily, making the conventional "missing child" framework nearly useless for identifying them. The average age of entry into familial trafficking is four years old — years before most prevention education ever reaches a child — which means abuse becomes normalized long before anyone thinks to intervene. Indicators for familial trafficking look very different from other forms: rather than acting out, these children tend to be unusually quiet, compliant, and eager to please adults, driven by fear of any attention being drawn back to the home. Children in familial trafficking rarely disclose, and when they do, they are often not believed — after one or two failed attempts, most simply stop trying, leaving them isolated with the false belief that no one else experiences what they are living through. 35% of familial trafficking cases are generational, meaning the cycle has repeated across mothers, grandmothers, and siblings — making family members who witnessed it less likely to intervene and more likely to look the other way. The "stranger danger" framework has been one of the most damaging concepts in child protection, because it trains communities to look outward for threats while the exploitation happening inside trusted homes, families, and institutions goes unseen. Research shows that a single trusted adult in a child's life significantly increases the likelihood of earlier disclosure or prevention altogether — meaning every person in a community has a concrete role to play, regardless of their profession. Resources Ending Human Trafficking Podcast EHT Episode 278 – Identifying and Interacting with Minor Victims of Human Trafficking, with Dr. Jodi Quas EHT Episode 353 – Grooming in Trusted Spaces: A Conversation with Dr. Beth Lorance Trafficking in Persons Report – U.S. Department of State Medical Perspectives on Human Trafficking in Adolescents: A Case-Based Guide

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #367
    March 16 · 37 min

    367: Stop Reacting to Events and Start Preparing

    Ray Bercini and Sara Elander join Dr. Sandie Morgan to explore what's really at stake when a city like Los Angeles hosts the World Cup — and why the biggest trafficking risk might not be what you think. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction: What LA's Preparing for and Why It Matters (01:04) - Meet Ray and Sara: Roles at Saving Innocence and the LA Task Force (06:19) - Building a Legacy Committee: Planning for FIFA and Beyond (09:03) - Law Enforcement Readiness: Operations, Agencies, and Coordination (11:50) - Separating Myth from Reality: What the Data Actually Shows About Trafficking and Major Events (16:36) - Preparing for the Surge: Tips, Leads, and Victim Services Coordination (24:18) - Vetting Outside Organizations and Staying in Your Lane (32:37) - What Does Success Look Like After FIFA? Ray Bercini and Sara Elander Ray Bercini serves as Task Force Coordinator and Law Enforcement Liaison at Saving Innocence. With 31 years at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department — including six years dedicated to human trafficking work — Ray brings deep cross-sector expertise to the intersection of law enforcement and victim services. He has been instrumental in building the LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force into one of the largest co-located task forces in the nation, and has played a key role in preparing Los Angeles for major events including the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, and LA28 Olympics. Sara Elander is Director of Programs at Saving Innocence and Victim Service Coordinator for the LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force. With over six years of experience in program management and trauma-informed care, Sara leads a team of crisis case managers and oversees survivor-centered services across LA County. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community Advocacy and Social Policy from Arizona State University and is committed to healing-centered approaches that empower survivors toward long-term recovery and stability. Key Points The widely repeated claim that major sporting events dramatically spike sex trafficking lacks supporting data — but the absence of proof isn't proof of absence, and LA is launching a research study around FIFA to finally generate real, local data. Labor trafficking is the more evidence-based concern around large-scale events, with exploitation rising sharply in the lead-up to events through construction, hospitality, and vendor supply chains. The LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force launched a Sports and Major Events Committee with roughly 30 members and six subcommittees, designed as a legacy infrastructure that can serve future events beyond just FIFA. Coordinating tips during a major international event is a complex, unsolved challenge — multiple agencies including FBI, HSI, LAPD, and LASD will all have tip lines, and the team is working to centralize reporting without losing coverage. One of the most important lessons from the 2022 Super Bowl was that outside organizations parachuting in with good intentions — but without coordination — can undermine local trust and misdirect survivors away from local resources. Effective multi-agency collaboration requires every organization to clearly define what they uniquely bring to the table, stay in their lane, and go through a vetting process before engaging in high-stakes response work. Sara's definition of success after FIFA centers on community empowerment — if hospitality workers, transportation staff, and community members leave better equipped to identify and report trafficking indicators, that's a lasting win. Ray's measure of success is straightforward: survivors of all forms of trafficking — sex and labor — are identified, connected to resources, and treated with dignity, which no single agency can accomplish alone. Resources Saving Innocence LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force National Human Trafficking Hotline Compass Connections Blue Campaign LA Regional Crime Stoppers Global Center for Women and Justice Ending Human Trafficking Podcast

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #366
    February 28 · 38 min

    366: Why Information Alone Will Never Protect Young People

    Dr. Nanyamka Redmond joins guest host Ruthi Hanchett as they explore how everyday adults — parents, teachers, coaches, and neighbors — can become a powerful protective factor in young people's lives by building the kinds of relationships that help youth thrive and navigate risk. Chapters (00:00) - (00:00) - Introduction: Why Relationships Matter More Than Programs (01:02) - Meet Dr. Nanyamka Redmond and the Search Institute (02:48) - What Are Developmental Assets — and Why Do They Work? (09:27) - Defining Developmental Relationships: The Five Elements (14:57) - How Caring Adults Can Protect At-Risk Youth (20:11) - Building a Culture of Belonging in Schools and Communities (30:13) - Resilience Is Relational: What Adults Need to Hear Right Now (32:35) - Supporting Youth Leadership Without Getting Out of the Way (00:00) - Chapter 10 Dr. Nanyamka Redmond Dr. Nanyamka Redmond is a Research Scientist at the Search Institute, a nationally recognized organization dedicated to advancing research and practical frameworks that help young people thrive. She holds a PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy from Azusa Pacific University. Her work focuses on developmental relationships, youth resilience, and advancing equitable, relationship-centered approaches to youth development and wellbeing. Dr. Redmond specializes in translating developmental science into practical tools for educators, families, youth-serving professionals, and community organizations, emphasizing culturally responsive and strengths-based approaches that center young people's lived experiences. She has also served as Director of School Partnership for Character Lab, co-founded by Angela Duckworth, and is a keynote speaker at the Global Center for Women and Justice's Ensure Justice Conference. Key Points An anti-trafficking program can teach warning signs, but it cannot replace a caring adult — if a young person doesn't feel seen, safe, and valued, information alone won't protect them. The Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets framework identifies a combination of internal strengths and external supports that young people need to thrive, and research consistently shows that the more assets a young person has, the better their outcomes. Developmental relationships go beyond good relationships — they are defined by five specific elements (express care, challenge growth, provide support, share power, and expand possibilities) that research has shown to directly impact positive youth outcomes and reduce risk. For youth who have experienced trauma, relationships have often been transactional or harmful, so the experience of someone who cares without strings attached can be surprising — which is why consistency and small, repeated moments of connection matter more than grand gestures. Belonging is not just a buzzword — when adults work to help every young person feel genuinely seen and valued in the spaces meant for them, it builds the sense of dignity that serves as a foundation for resilience. Sharing power with young people doesn't mean abandoning guidance; it means entering those relationships with a frame that sees adolescence as an age of opportunity rather than a period of storm and stress. Resilience is relational — it is not something young people build alone, but something that grows when multiple caring adults across their ecosystem show up consistently over time. Adults who want to support youth leadership can start with incremental steps: invite young people to co-create the questions, let them lead the conversation, and hold the barriers gently without squashing the vision. Resources Search Institute The 40 Developmental Assets Framework Global Center for Women and Justice Ending Human Trafficking Podcast Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence by Laurence Steinberg

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #365
    February 16 · 31 min

    365: What 25 Years of Sweden's Sex Purchase Act Revealed

    Anna-Carin Svensson joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how Sweden's decision to punish buyers instead of victims has reshaped who feels safe coming forward — and how that same principle is now being applied to hold online exploitation accountable. Chapters (00:00) - Introduction: Sweden's Principle That Changed Everything (01:07) - The Equality Model: Why Sweden Criminalized Buyers, Not Sellers (07:37) - What 25 Years of Data Actually Shows (09:16) - When Exploitation Moves Online: Updating the Law for the Digital Age (14:37) - Why Multidisciplinary Collaboration Is Non-Negotiable (18:41) - The Gap Between Good Laws and Correct Application (25:02) - Prevention Starts Before the Warning Signs (29:51) - Hope, Humanity, and the Road Ahead Anna-Carin Svensson Anna-Carin Svensson serves as Sweden's Ambassador to Combat Trafficking in Persons, representing Sweden in multilateral anti-trafficking efforts including at the United Nations. In this role, she has participated in high-level discussions related to the appraisal of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, including the side event "Proactive by Design: Leveraging Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Digital Innovation to Prevent Human Trafficking." Previously, Svensson served as Director-General for International Affairs at the Swedish Ministry of Justice, where she led Swedish delegations in international human rights forums and oversaw Sweden's implementation of international legal obligations, including under the Convention against Torture. Across her career, she has consistently emphasized state responsibility, institutional accountability, cross-government coordination, and the importance of translating legislation into effective practice. Key Points Sweden's Sex Purchase Act, introduced in 1999, was a landmark legal shift that criminalized the buyer of sexual services rather than the seller, placing the state firmly on the side of the more vulnerable party in the transaction and signaling that prostitution is a harm to all of society — not just to the individual. A 2010 official evaluation of the law found measurable results: street prostitution decreased, criminal networks were deterred from establishing trafficking operations in Sweden, and public attitudes shifted significantly — evidence that law can have both a direct and a normative effect. As exploitation moved online, Sweden updated its legislation in 2025 to extend the same principle into the digital space, criminalizing the purchase of live, on-demand sexual acts performed remotely — because if something is illegal offline, it must be illegal online. Many victims who had been coerced into performing live cam shows said the new law would have made it easier for them to refuse, illustrating how legal frameworks can shift power back to the exploited person even before a crime is prosecuted. Correct application of the law matters as much as the law itself — broad training across all professions, not just specialized units, is essential so that any first responder can recognize a victim, give an appropriate initial response, and connect them to the right support. Multidisciplinary collaboration is not optional: criminal justice, social services, civil society, health professionals, schools, and international partners must all work in concert, because victims often feel safer disclosing to a social worker or nonprofit than to law enforcement, and that trust must be honored. Digital literacy and healthy relationship education must begin before exploitation happens — teaching young people to recognize manipulation, loverboy tactics, and online red flags is one of the most important prevention investments a society can make. Hope lies in the growing global community of organizations and individuals bringing creative, collaborative solutions to every aspect of this problem — and in the simple recognition that for every challenge, there are many possible answers. Resources Ending Human Trafficking Podcast Global Center for Women and Justice (GCWJ) UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons – 2025 Appraisal Sweden's Sex Purchase Act – Swedish Gender Equality Agency Sweden's 2025 Online Sexual Acts Legislation – Library of Congress Summary Transcript Click here to view the episode transcript.

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • #364
    February 2 · 31 min

    364: Are Our Systems Adapting as Fast as Traffickers Are?

    Dr. Kari Johnstone joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they discuss how traffickers adapt fast, moving money, victims, and exploitation through digital systems most of us interact with every day, examining whether our institutions are adapting fast enough to protect victims without them risking everything to testify. Dr. Kari Johnstone Dr. Kari Johnstone is the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, representing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe at the political level on human trafficking issues and coordinating anti-trafficking efforts across the OSCE region. Before joining the OSCE, Dr. Johnstone spent nearly a decade (2014-2023) as Senior Official, Acting Director, and Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), where she advised senior leadership on global trafficking policy and programming and oversaw the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Her extensive U.S. government service also includes senior roles in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Dr. Johnstone holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Key Points The OSCE survey revealed a 17-fold increase in forced criminality cases over five years across the 57 member states, making it the fastest growing form of human trafficking globally. Forced scamming, which originated in Southeast Asia, is now being exported to other regions as criminals adopt this lucrative business model that exploits victims with brutal tactics to defraud others. Technology and artificial intelligence present both challenges and opportunities in combating trafficking, allowing law enforcement to process data more quickly to find victims and perpetrators while also being misused by traffickers for recruitment and exploitation. Financial intelligence and following the money can supplement or even replace victim testimony in prosecutions, reducing the burden on survivors and providing effective pathways to convict traffickers. The non-punishment principle remains woefully inadequate in practice worldwide, with victims often arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for crimes directly related to their trafficking experience, creating lifelong consequences that prevent access to housing, employment, and stability. The United States leads globally on criminal record relief for trafficking survivors, with 48-49 states having vacature or expungement laws and new federal legislation (Trafficking Survivor Relief Act) awaiting presidential signature, though much work remains worldwide. Victim assistance must be unlinked from the criminal justice process, allowing survivors to receive care and services first before deciding whether to cooperate with law enforcement, which actually increases the likelihood they will come forward and participate. The demographics of trafficking victims are shifting beyond stereotypes, with forced scamming targeting educated individuals with IT and language skills, while forced criminality increasingly exploits younger children, including those under age 10, for drug-related crimes and violence. Resources Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (UN Palermo Protocol) UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Trafficking in Persons Report Trafficking Survivors Relief Act Ending Human Trafficking Podcast

    • Transcript
  • #363
    January 19 · 38 min

    363: The Hidden Link Between Romance Scams and Forced Labor

    Matthew Friedman joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how pig butchering scams work, why they're so effective, and how they're tied to forced labor and human trafficking, while explaining what prevention can look like from personal red flags to safeguards in financial systems. Matthew Friedman Matthew Friedman is the Founder and CEO of The Mekong Club, a pioneering organization that mobilizes the private sector to fight modern slavery across Asia. A globally recognized expert on human trafficking, Friedman has spent over three decades working at the intersection of business, government, and humanitarian action to combat exploitation and promote ethical leadership. Before founding The Mekong Club, Friedman served as Regional Project Manager for the United Nations International Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP/UNDP), overseeing a six-country initiative spanning China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. He also served as Deputy Director for the USAID Office of Public Health (Asia Region), managing a $100 million annual portfolio. Friedman holds a Master's degree in Health Education from New York University and is a renowned keynote speaker who has delivered more than 900 presentations in 20 countries, inspiring individuals and organizations to take a stand in the fight against modern slavery. Key Points Pig butchering scams are sophisticated romance scams where criminals build trust over weeks before convincing victims to invest life savings in fake cryptocurrency schemes, with the metaphor referring to "fattening the pig before the slaughter." An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 young professionals have been trafficked into scam centers across Southeast Asia, where they are forced under extreme violence and coercion to run online scams targeting victims in wealthy nations. The Prince Group sanctions marked one of the most significant global crackdowns on forced-labor scam centers, with the UK freezing real estate assets and the US freezing $15 billion in cryptocurrency, signaling increased international cooperation. Financial institutions can help prevent pig butchering by monitoring unusual withdrawal patterns, such as when customers who haven't touched their accounts for 30 years suddenly liquidate everything, and by contacting clients before large transfers are completed. Victims in scam centers face brutal violence including being tasered, beaten, and in some cases tortured to death with videos sold as "hardcore" content, creating a level of violence unprecedented in modern slavery according to Friedman's 35 years of experience. Only 0.2% of the 50 million people in modern slavery receive assistance globally, not because counter-trafficking organizations don't care, but because the $236 billion generated by criminals vastly outweighs the $400 million available to fight it. Public education and awareness are critical for prevention, as people in North America remain largely unaware of pig butchering scams while Asian communities have become more informed through widespread media coverage and victim testimonies. The Mekong Club has developed multilingual e-learning tools including a three-and-a-half-minute video to help raise awareness about both human trafficking into scam centers and the scams themselves, emphasizing that prevention must be widespread. Resources The Mekong Club The Mekong Club - Tools & Resources Valid8 Financial Ending Human Trafficking Podcast - Episode 269 Matthew Friedman on LinkedIn Contact Matthew Friedman Ending Human Trafficking Website

    • Transcript
  • #362
    January 5 · 34 min

    362 – Before Teens Hide Online, Youth Pastors Must Build Trust

    Brenton Fessler joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore why teenagers aren't hiding their digital lives because they're rebellious—they're hiding because they don't feel safe talking, and what trusted adults do next can change everything. Brenton Fessler Brenton Fessler is the Lead Pastor of Refuge OC Church in Orange County, California, where he provides vision and leadership for a growing faith community with a strong emphasis on family, discipleship, and community responsibility. With a background in youth ministry and ministry education, Brenton brings deep experience working with adolescents, parents, and church leaders navigating the complexities of formation, trust, and safety in a digital age. In addition to his pastoral leadership, Brenton has taught ministry-related courses and mentored emerging youth pastors, equipping them to build relationally healthy, developmentally appropriate, and ethically grounded ministry environments. As a parent of teenagers himself, he offers a practical, lived perspective on the challenges families face around technology, online identity formation, and risk exposure. Brenton's work reflects a prevention-first, relational approach rooted in grace, accountability, and collaboration between parents, churches, and broader community systems. Key Points Youth pastors hold a unique position of trust with teenagers, making them critical partners in digital safety conversations, as students often confide in them before approaching parents about risky online behavior. The scaffolding metaphor illustrates healthy digital boundaries—parents and church leaders provide temporary support structures that can be removed as young people demonstrate increasing responsibility, rather than permanent fences. When a 14-year-old discloses risky online behavior, youth pastors should offer to walk alongside them in conversations with parents rather than protecting confidentiality at all costs, because these young people need adult guidance to navigate complex situations safely. Youth ministry should focus on spiritual formation and relationship building rather than behavior modification, creating environments where students feel safe to make mistakes and receive grace while learning to live righteously. Churches need to update child protection policies to include digital and virtual environments with the same rigor as physical spaces, including background checks that examine volunteers' online presence and social media activity. Youth pastors serve as cultural missionaries within church staffs, helping senior pastors understand emerging technologies, social media platforms, and the realities of youth culture that shape the next generation's spiritual development. The "talk tech every day" initiative from Ensure Justice emphasizes that digital safety conversations must be ongoing and integrated into daily family life, not reactive responses to scary news articles. Building cross-generational trust requires two-way mentoring where students teach adults about technology while adults provide wisdom and boundaries, creating healthy churches where both generations learn from each other. Resources Influence Magazine Winter 2025 Issue Episode 354: Love Bombs and Long Cons: Understanding Pig Butchering Scams Ensure Justice Conference Royal Family Kids Camp Refuge OC Church Transcript [00:00:00] Brenton Fessler: The youth pastor decided that the best way forward was to actually call her up on stage and have her publicly announce her pregnancy so he could shame her as if behavior modification was gonna be the true path to her healing. [00:00:15] But [00:00:15] Delaney: Teenagers aren't hiding their digital lives because they're rebellious. They're hiding because they don't feel safe talking. What trusted adults do next can change everything. In this episode, you'll hear why talk tech every day matters. How to set guardrails without shame and what to do when a teen says, I can't tell my parents. [00:00:35] Hi, I'm Delaney. I'm a student here at Vanguard University and I help produce this show. Today, Sandie Talks with Dr. Brenton Fessler. He's the lead pastor of Refuge OC in Orange County with years of youth ministry experience and mentoring youth leaders focused on digital safety and trust building with teens. [00:00:54] Now here's their conversation. [00:00:57] [00:01:03] Sandie Morgan: Reverend Dr. Brenton Fessler, welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast. [00:01:10] Brenton Fessler: Thank you, Sandie. It is so good to be with you and I'm delighted. I hope I can add to the conversation, but I'm really honored to be here. [00:01:18] Sandie Morgan: This isn't the way I usually do this, Brenton. But you read the article that they published in Influence Magazine under the youth pastor column, and the concern is digital safety for our kids. [00:01:35] So when you read that, did you have a question? Wow. If I could talk to Dr. Sandie Morgan. This is what I'd ask her. [00:01:45] Brenton Fessler: Ooh, that's a good point. No, I was captivated by the research right off the bat, mainly because in addition to being a pastor that obviously oversees a youth team that interacts with students in junior high and high school. I've got three teenagers in my house. One is about to turn 20 in just a few months. [00:02:02] But I care about this issue deeply because my wife, Rachel, and I are always thinking about where are they being exposed? And you said, so I just highlighted a few things from the article about how they're forming their identity in this online atmosphere in ways that parents don't fully understand or grasp the impact of that. [00:02:23] And I was blown away. [00:02:25] Sandie Morgan: It's difficult for parents to really, truly comprehend because we're not living in that context and we're all in the same house. Yet our challenges are very different. So, and for listeners, I'm gonna put a link to the article in the winter issue of Influence Magazine. So you'll be able to read this and maybe it'll raise some questions and. [00:02:57] I would recommend is you don't necessarily ask me because this is a foreign language for me as well. but talk to your teenagers. We've got to have daily, a couple years ago at Ensure Justice, what everybody was saying by the end of Saturday is talk tech. Every day. Not once a week, not when somebody reads a scary article, but talk tech every day. [00:03:29] Kids, you need to make sure your parents understand. You need to make sure your grandparents, wow, Brenton. If you wanna be concerned, go back and listen to the podcast I did about pig butchering, which is how AI is being used to fraudulently steal from your grandmother [00:03:56] and so grandkids you can have a trade-off day where grandkids, teach grandparents how to be safe online. [00:04:06] Brenton Fessler: Right. Oh, so true. So true. It's a scary world. And even as a parent, I think about the moments where we first dropped our kids off at school when they were in preschool, and we trusted them to this world that we no longer controlled. And it's the same way, even as teenagers, we give them these devices and in a lot of ways, they ...

    • Transcript
  • #1
    Dec 22, 2025 · 36 min

    361 – Prevention Starts with Relationships, Not Programs

    Chris Simonsen joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how communities can close the gap that makes young people vulnerable to trafficking—not with rescue mentalities, but with trauma-informed care, consistent relationships, and spaces where young people feel safe enough to stay. Chris Simonsen Chris Simonsen is the Chief Executive Officer of Orangewood Foundation, one of Orange County’s leading organizations serving youth who have experienced abuse, neglect, homelessness, and exploitation. With more than fifteen years at the helm and over three decades of executive leadership experience, Simonsen oversees a comprehensive continuum of care that includes housing, education, transitional support, wellness services, and specialized programs for youth who have been exploited or trafficked. Under his leadership, Orangewood has expanded its focus on intervention for children and Transitional Age Youth (TAY), emphasizing strategies that prevent revictimization, stabilize immediate crises, and strengthen long-term resilience. Simonsen’s leadership is shaped by a commitment to relationship-based, trauma-informed care and a theory of change rooted in the belief that consistent adult support, safe environments, and practical resources dramatically alter a young person’s trajectory. Key Points Orangewood Foundation made a strategic decision ten years ago to remove all labeling criteria for their programs, allowing them to serve any teen or young adult in need regardless of foster care status or county of residence, which caused the organization to grow from 40 to 250 employees. The number one priority when working with vulnerable youth is building a trusting relationship and creating a safe environment where they feel comfortable, which can take weeks or months before meaningful goal-setting work can begin. Young people without support structures are highly vulnerable to traffickers, and their trauma is so much more complex that Orangewood created dedicated programming including the Lighthouse transitional housing program and Project Choice drop-in center specifically for survivors and at-risk youth. Prevention work must address the developmental realities of youth who haven’t had long-term stability or supportive infrastructure, including implementing social-emotional support in schools through programs like advisory groups that stay together for four years. The role of loneliness and connection is critical—young people need to build their own communities and peer support networks, not just rely on organizational staff, to develop healthy relationships and long-term resilience. For those wanting to help, the most effective approach is to support existing trauma-informed organizations through volunteering, donations, or collaboration rather than starting new nonprofits, and to get educated on what human trafficking really is before attempting direct intervention. Schools need to dedicate more resources to the social-emotional aspects of teenagers’ lives, not just academics, and provide direct education to students about trafficking prevention at appropriate age levels without parental pushback. The Ending Human Trafficking Collaborative led by the Samueli Foundation exemplifies how community education and cross-sector partnerships can strengthen prevention efforts by bringing together experts and philanthropists to direct resources where they’re most needed. Resources Orangewood Foundation Samueli Academy Project Choice (Orangewood Foundation) Lighthouse Transitional Housing Program (Orangewood Foundation) Ending Human Trafficking Podcast Global Center for Women and Justice – Vanguard University Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force Samueli Foundation Transcript [00:00:00] Chris Simonsen: The number one thing we have to do initially with any of our young people is build a trusting relationship with them. [00:00:07] Make them feel comfortable. [00:00:09] Delaney: When young adults don’t have safe housing, trusted adults, or a sense of belonging, prevention fails and traffickers step in to fill that gap. This episode explores how communities can close the gap, not with rescue mentalities, but with trauma-informed care, consistent relationships and spaces where young people feel safe enough to stay. [00:00:30] You’ll hear why prevention often starts long before exploitation is visible, and how schools, nonprofits, and everyday adults can be a part of the solution. Hi, I’m Delaney. I’m a student here at Vanguard University and I help produce this show. Today, Sandie talks with Chris Simonsen, CEO of Orangewood Foundation about how supporting transitional age youth and building community-based responses can reduce vulnerability to trafficking. [00:00:57] And now here’s their conversation. [00:01:06] Sandie Morgan: Chris, I am so grateful to have you on the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast. Welcome. [00:01:12] Chris Simonsen: Happy to join you, Sandie. It’s nice to be here. [00:01:16] Sandie Morgan: We have known each other a pretty long time, and I think one of the highlights in my career was when Orangewood and you in particular, gave me the Crystal Vision Award and I just want to do a thankful shout out for what that meant. So many of us have worked in this space for a long time, and we often do not stop to reflect on our achievements. [00:01:50] I have the feeling we need to find a way to give you that award. [00:01:56] Chris Simonsen: Well, who knows? Maybe that’ll happen someday after I’m retired. [00:02:00] Sandie Morgan: Oh, okay. Well we can’t let that happen too soon. So, let’s provide some context because we know each other well, but for our listeners here, what is the mission of Orangewood? [00:02:16] Chris Simonsen: Yeah, so Orangewood Foundation has been around actually 45 years, this year. And it started out with just one project, which was to collaborate with the county of Orange to build an emergency shelter for foster youth. At the time they had a facility, but it intermingled foster youth that were there on an emergency basis with probation youth. [00:02:41] And so it was quite confusing for these young children that were removed from their homes on a temporary basis to be mixed in with these other children that had committed crimes. So the director at the time, Bill Steiner, went to the county and said I’d like to create a separate facility to house these children that have been removed from their homes until we can find them a suitable placement. [00:03:07] So the county had a piece of land, but they didn’t have any funds to build the facility, so that’s when General William Lyon, who founded our organization, got involved and rallied the community to raise $8 million. And five years later they opened up the Orangewood Children’s Home and turned that over to the county to operate and run. [00:03:30] And they’ve been doing that ever since for the last 40 years. So then our board asked themselves, well, what more could we do? We’ve got all this momentum in the community and awareness around the challenges of foster care and child abuse that’s going on in the county...

    • Chapters
  • #1
    Dec 8, 2025 · 28 min

    360 – Healing Through Community

    Priscilla Ward joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how true healing happens not through fixing or rescuing, but by learning to sit in discomfort, lead with curiosity, and create consistent communities where survivors can feel safe enough to begin their journey at their own pace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFWfVaeCALg Priscilla Ward Priscilla Ward, LCSW, is the Founder and Clinical Director of Compass Rose Psychotherapy in Fullerton, California. With over 18 years in the helping profession and 15 years of clinical experience, she has dedicated her career to supporting youth, young adults, and families through trauma, anxiety, substance use, and grief. A graduate of the University of Southern California with a Master’s in Social Work, Priscilla brings extensive experience from nonprofit agencies, community mental health clinics, correctional facilities, and school-based programs. She has led mental health teams for the Orange County Department of Education, developing trauma-responsive programs and training professionals in high-stress environments. Her bilingual Spanish fluency and cultural responsiveness make her a trusted ally across diverse communities. Beyond direct practice, Priscilla serves as a consultant and trainer, equipping educators, faith leaders, law enforcement personnel, and mental health professionals with trauma-informed, harm reduction, and motivational interviewing frameworks. Key Points People heal in community and relationship, not in isolation, and this healing process is rarely linear—it’s complex and messy, especially for those who have experienced trauma. The shift from “what’s wrong with this person” to “what happened to this person” is foundational to trauma-informed care and creates space for dignity and compassion over judgment. Harm reduction is a philosophy grounded in meeting people where they are, honoring their dignity even when they aren’t ready to stop certain behaviors, and recognizing that small steps matter because keeping people alive and safe creates opportunities for future healing. Faith communities can love people well by learning to sit in discomfort and resist the urge to fix or rescue, instead focusing on building belonging without requiring behavioral compliance as a prerequisite. Understanding the stages of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and sometimes relapse) helps helpers meet survivors appropriately at each stage rather than imposing expectations they’re not ready for. Secondary trauma and burnout are real costs of caring, and taking care of our own wellness is critically important because we need to be healthy people in the room to truly serve others without reinforcing harm. Trust is the bridge for change, and consistency creates safety that literally rewires the brain—centering connection over correction leads to systemic change in how we support survivors. Listening to voices of lived experience is essential; helpers should ask “what do you need” rather than assuming they know what survivors need. Resources Compass Rose Psychotherapy Transcript [00:00:00] Priscilla Ward: what harm reduction looks like in my community might be very different than yours, but the spirit of harm reduction can be applied anywhere and everywhere. [00:00:11] Delaney: You know that uncomfortable space where things aren’t neat or solved, what if that’s where the real healing starts? Today’s conversation leans into that gray area. The space where our instinct to fix meets the deeper need to simply be present. [00:00:25] When we let go of control and step into curiosity, we make room for safety, dignity, and real connection. That kind of community can change everything. Hi, I’m Delaney Mininger. I’m a student here at Vanguard University and I help produce this show. Today, Sandy talks with Priscilla Ward, a licensed clinical social worker who trains faith leaders and community teams in trauma-informed care and harm reduction. [00:00:51] And now here’s their conversation. [00:00:53] [00:00:59] Sandie Morgan: Priscilla Ward, I am so excited to have you here at the ending Human Trafficking Podcast. Welcome. [00:01:08] Priscilla Ward: Thank you. I am very excited to be here. [00:01:11] Sandie Morgan: Well, you and I have served together on the Faith-Based Action Committee for our Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force for a very long time, and we’ve been having this conversation offline and decided it was time to bring it to the podcast. So let’s dive in. [00:01:34] Priscilla, you’ve spent nearly two decades helping individuals and families navigate trauma, anxiety, and loss. What have you learned about people and what they need most in their healing journey? [00:01:50] Priscilla Ward: Great, great and loaded question. I think probably the top thing that I have really taken away from all of the work that I’ve done is that people heal in community. We heal in relationship. Connection is a critical part of the process of the journey, but connection and relationship have a lot of complex elements that are required to really happen. And sometimes it doesn’t look linear. In fact, most of the time it’s not linear at all. It’s very complex. It’s very complicated, especially when we are truly serving those that have been through and are actively going through really challenging, traumatic, tragic things. [00:02:46] Sandie Morgan: So when you talk about healing happens in community, particularly in the faith-based community, we want to welcome in survivors of any kind of abuse. But we’re talking especially about human trafficking today and sometimes our faith communities have a lot of rules really that make the belonging piece a little challenging. [00:03:21] We have the belief piece in place. We all trust God, but the behavior to follow what the community sees as very standard and what is acceptable behavior. And so that kind of a community context for someone who is just starting to engage in a healing journey can be a very challenging circumstance for the survivor, the victim, and for those of us who have really good intentions. [00:04:11] So how can trauma informed practices move beyond therapy rooms and begin shaping our systems, our faith communities? Our schools, our correctional settings, those are the places that survivors encounter every day. [00:04:31] Priscilla Ward: Yeah, absolutely. And I think you’re right. There’s so many structures and expectations that exist in so many environments, including faith-based communities. And the huge shift that really needs to happen internally is understanding that our goal of fixing or rescuing is part of what needs to change. [00:04:58] When we are in service of others, we are not necessarily need to be focused on chasing an outcome. It’s about being in service of somebody who’s hurting in whatever way, and learning to sit in our own discomfort, learning to sit in the messiness, learning to sit in the gray. So much of a prerequisite of belonging for Jesus was not compliance, was not behavior change, and it’s learning to lead with that even when we are uncomfortable. The reality is that oftentimes we approach things with this lens of what’s wrong with this person. When we see a behavior, an action, something that we deem is wrong or bad, what is wrong with them, and making the shift to internally ask ourselves what happened? [00:05:54] What happened to this person? What happened in their life? What...

    • Chapters
Showing 1–20 of 23 episodes