Lindsay France/University Photo

Kerry Battenfeld, a community educator and advocate at the International Institute of Buffalo, offered an overview of human trafficking in Western New York at a training workshop July 29.

More than 45 community advocates, law enforcement officials and other professionals gathered on campus this summer for free training offered by the Western New York Human Trafficking Task Force.

The training on July 29, sponsored by the ILR School Outreach Division, was facilitated by Professors Arnab Basu and Nancy Chau of the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Basu and Chau have conducted related research on transnational trafficking of women and children.

Kerry Battenfeld, a community educator and advocate at the International Institute of Buffalo, offered an overview of human trafficking in Western New York.

She described the often overlooked “red flags” of trafficking – dependence on a “friend” or co-worker to answer questions, emotional trauma symptoms and untreated injuries.

Battenfeld acknowledged that recognizing trafficking can be difficult for a variety of reasons.

“Victims tend to be isolated, so they’re not in places where you might come into contact with them … on a farm, a private home, a massage parlor, etc.,” she said.

“There are only certain people that are going to frequent those businesses, and they’re not the ones reporting. Another issue is the climate of fear that the traffickers create so that their victims are fearful of reaching out for help.”

Emma Buckthal, an immigration staff attorney for the Volunteer Lawyers Project, discussed the legal means of redress available to undocumented immigrants.

Undocumented workers comprise the majority of trafficking victims in Western New York, Battenfeld said.

The day concluded with a discussion led by Renan Salgado, a human trafficking specialist at the Worker Justice Center of New York, of the possibility of establishing a task force specifically for the Southern Tier region.

Participants discussed the need for cooperation between different agencies involved in the process, such as social service and legal service providers and federal and local law enforcement.

“When a case comes forward, it’s tricky to navigate the next step … The purpose of gathering a group of people like this and establishing a task force is to make it the most successful process possible,” Salgado said.

Battenfeld echoed Salgado’s sentiments. “Trafficking works differently in different regions. Getting everyone together so there can be a coordinated response specific to the area is really important,” she said. “Just knowing who the other players are and knowing who you can call is necessary for an effective response.”

The training, open to the public at the ILR Conference Center in King-Shaw Hall, was designed for professionals including social service providers, attorneys, court staff, educators and medical personnel.

Laura Carver is a summer intern for the Worker Institute at Cornell.