Union County Prosecutor Romankow focuses attention on human trafficking (09/19/04)

Union County Prosecutor Romankow focuses attention on human trafficking

by Bozhena Olshaniwsky

NEWARK, N.J. - Theodore J. Romankow, prosecutor of Union County in New Jersey, was an invited guest at the National Conference on Human Trafficking held in Tampa, Fla. by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from July 15 to July 17. Invited guests included Attorney General John Ashcroft and other senior administration officials, along with Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.

Mr. Romankow stated: "The U.S. government estimates that between 18,000 and 20,000 men, women and children are trafficked into United States annually from Asia, Central and South America and Eastern Europe. Victims of this modern-day form of slavery are predominantly women, teenagers and young children - many with lives of abject poverty. They are lured from their homes with promises of good jobs, marriage and a better future for themselves and their families only to find themselves entrapped in a nightmare of violence and brutality."

"Many victims of human trafficking are forced to work in the sex trade," Mr. Romankow continued, "while others are subject to involuntary servitude as domestics, in prison-type factories or forced to perform migrant agricultural work. Victims are kept as slaves, suffering extreme physical and mental abuse including rape, sexual exploitation, torture, beatings, starvation, death threats and threats to their family members. Most do not speak or understand English and are therefore unable to communicate with law enforcement and other agencies who might otherwise help them."

Human trafficking, which includes both sex trafficking and labor trafficking, is the second largest source of profits for organized crime, second only to illegal sales of drugs and guns in generating billions of dollars to the criminal industry.

"The program was a multi-jurisdictional approach geared toward educating state and federal law enforcement and representatives from non-governmental areas about the true extent of this insidious threat, the legal remedies available and of the means to reach out and help its victims," Mr. Romankow explained.

For the past several years Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) has been interested in the problem of human trafficking and has lobbied the U.S. Congress for involvement in fighting this crime. A sum of $95 million has been allocated by U.S. Congress to investigate and prevent this scourge on society. Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton spoke on this subject to people of Ukraine during their visit there. AHRU representatives spoke with Gov. James McGreevey and Prosecutor Theodore Romankow on this issue and encouraged them to act on it.

For fighting these problems, Mr. Romankow advised:

"If you believe you have come in contact with a victim of human trafficking, call the Department of Health and Human Services Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. This hotline will identify local resources to help the victim and let them begin the process of restoring their lives.

"If you know of or become aware of a situation involving human trafficking, contact the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force Hotline at 1-888-428-7581, which will determine whether an investigation is appropriate, assign a prosecutor to the matter and supervise any ensuing investigation and/or prosecution."

| Home Page |