RMIAN Educates the Community About What Constitutes Human Trafficking with a Focus on the Legal Recourses a Survivor Can Take to Pursue Justice

On June 30, 2023, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) is partnering with the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking and working in collaboration with the Larimer County Department of Human Services to provide a training on how labor trafficking presents among youth in Larimer County and impacts their families. Labor trafficking exists in both the formal and informal economy in industries that are prevalent in Colorado. Because both people directly impacted by human trafficking and their communities are often unaware of the crime, we often miss it even when it's happening right in front of us. The way in which the U.S. economy forces immigrants and refugees to work in unregulated spaces, they are disproportionately vulnerable to potential labor or sexual exploitation, which can include wage theft and human trafficking. Immigration status is often used as a form of coercion to elicit compliance and fraudulent promises of work are often used to recruit individuals into an exploitative situation. People who are targets of human trafficking may not fully understand their rights, may have their identification confiscated, and may not feel safe to report. This presentation will cover the complexities of disclosure for systems involved youth, including immigrant communities, as well as the legal recourse a survivor can take to pursue justice. RMAIN attorneys, Caleb Stewart and Christine Dutko, will be sharing their expertise from 10 am - 12 pm at the West Oak Building Hearing Room, 200 West Oak, Fort Collins, Colorado.