GAIA Moderates US Embassy Public Lecture on Human Trafficking:
by Research Associate Dr. Mu’izz Abdul Khalid
Human trafficking is one of the most pressing issues in the region that affects no race, gender, religion. Southeast Asia is classified as one of the most prominent locations for human trafficking, with an estimated 200,000 women and children trafficked each year for sex work alone. This figure does not include the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people who are being relocated as a result of the region's expanding labor trade. Brunei alongside several other states in the region are currently placed under the level of Tier 3 following the Trafficked in Persons (TIP) Report. As such, efforts relating to reducing and alleviating human trafficking needs to be increased.
On May 4, 2023, Global Awareness and Impact Alliance (GAIA) Research Associate Dr. Mu’izz Abdul Khalid moderated a US Embassy & Youth Against Slavery (YAS) public lecture on the issue of human trafficking by Assistant Sheriff Sasha Larkin from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Assistant Sheriff Sasha provided an informative lecture on how each member of society can all work together to stop human trafficking– a collaborative effort that simply required an “injection of humanity.” She particularly highlighted the importance of community, identity, and purpose due to the fact that most victims of human trafficking lacked the three survival units. According to Sasha, it is an inherent human nature to desire connection, find a place of belonging, and discover a sense of purpose in life. Without these three survival units, individuals have a higher likelihood to fall under manipulation and subsequently become trafficked. More importantly, she elaborated how the digital age not only gave us better access to information, but it has also made human trafficking easier. In fact, online platforms have become sources of human trafficking.
One of the pieces of advice that Assistant Sheriff Sasha Larkin gave during the lecture was to build a more victim-centric approach. Survivors of human trafficking are often treated as suspects or criminals instead of victims, which has led to most hesitant to report on their situation. Based on her experience of working on issues of human trafficking for over a decade, Sasha has seen positive changes only once the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shifted its approach from victim-blaming to victim-defending.
Alongside the eighty attendees, GAIA Research Associate Siu Tzyy Wei and Research Intern Frank attended the eye-opening public lecture and the panel discussion. During the discussion, Sasha shared her personal journey and her involvement in the fight against human trafficking. Another thought-provoking question involved reversing the gender roles of human trafficking, particularly on whether there were female procurers that trafficked men and boys, to which the audience discovered that it is, in actuality, rather common in today’s age. Students from IGS College and JIS eagerly also asked a few questions on the role of media in combating human trafficking and rehabilitation strategies for trafficked victims.
As for the first time moderating a public lecture on such a pressing issue, it was a fun learning experience on my end. I thank Youth Against Slavery (YAS) for putting my name forward to the US Embassy, in which they have decided to try a new moderator for the first time. It was such an honor to have met with Assistant Sasha Larkin in person, who has saved so many lives in the United States, and to moderate her lecture was rather humbling. I hope that GAIA will collaborate more with YAS and the US Embassy to raise more social awareness on the issue of human trafficking, and, of course, be a part of this mission to combat human trafficking with injections of humanity.