Introductions: Who we are and just how much can we impress our co-members with how much incredible stuff we do. This was REALLY easy for everyone, hehe!

Our Goals: What are our Goals in being a part of the NYC FHTG.

Ideas to go over:

• Collaborative Work on the Newsletter and Outreach Materials
• Outreach to Schools, Clubs and Community Groups
• Education Days with Speakers from NYC Organizations and Victims of Trafficking
• Film Days

Discussions:

• Gaining access to victims of trafficking is extremely difficult, because they are hidden from view or it is not immediately apparent that they are trafficking victims. One interesting method that has been used is to publicize false blood drives or employment clinics, and use these meetings to talk about trafficking and the options that victims of trafficking have in America.

• Most exploited versus Least exploited: A difficult point of contention between trafficking groups and some women's rights groups is that prostitution can be seen as the right of a woman to choose to sell her body for profit. This causes problems when brothels are raided by the police or by human rights groups and all of the workers are taken into custody. An example to expound on this debate is a brothel in which there are 10 women, 3 have been trafficked while 7 women are prostitutes of their own volition. The 7 women who were not trafficked will suffer a loss of work hours and income because of the women who were trafficked. This is an argument currently debated in the NGO circles. If you have an opinion on this that you would like to include in the next newsletter, or you would like to see a debate on the issue, please contact nycountertrafficking@gmail.com.

• The Stockholm syndrome: Another difficulty in addressing the issue of human trafficking is the idea that we "rescue" people from their current state. However, the notion of rescue can be a false one, as victims of trafficking have to want to leave their traffickers or current owners. This is not always the case for a couple reasons. Firstly, sometimes victims of a kidnapping, or persons detained against their free - prisoners - will develop a relationship with their captor(s). This solidarity can sometimes become a real complicity, with prisoners actually helping the captors to achieve their goals or to escape police. This psychological state is called the Stockholm Syndrome. Also, just removing victims of trafficking from brothels or environments of distress is simply not enough. EVERYTHING must be lined up in advance for the reintegration of victims into a completely foreign society. This includes applications for T Visas, residence, protection, food and water, access to a community, cultural and employment education, and a full course on the resources that are provided in their community. The job is not an easy one, and requires extreme forethought and organization. The term rescue is just not enough.

Goals for the NYC FHTG

• Perform intense community outreach: In disseminating outreach materials we will each focus on an area of NY/NJ. We now cover Northern New Jersey, NYU area, Astoria, Jackson Heights, Union Square, Washington Heights, China Town, Russian Brooklyn, and the greater Park Slope area!

• Create a Brochure: This month we will create a brochure to accompany the newsletter and to distribute on the street. (PLEASE see wish list!)

• Create a Website: To accompany the listserves and Meet-up page that we are already on, we will create a website for the centralization of the NYC FHTG. (PLEASE see wish list!)

• Education Days: Along with leaders of the NYC counter-trafficking community, we will invite people who have been victims of trafficking to speak to the larger New York community.

• Letters to Congress: Following our outreach plan, we will start to focus on policy reform in the simplest manner through letters to congress and our representatives in government.

• Translation: We will produce all of our materials in as many languages as we can to have the most widespread affect. These languages, we gleefully discovered, are: English, Russia, Chinese, Punjabi, Hindi, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese.

• SIMPLIFY: We will do ONE thing at a time, we will focus, and we will have fun!

THE NYC FHTG WISHLIST Website Help: we would really appreciate any technical or advisory support in the creation of our website. Vincent will hopefully be leading this goal, but we all will pitch in and any advice would be most helpful. Also, if anyone has any ideas about how to create websites cheaply, as we are a community group with no funding! Graphic Design Help: We are currently putting together outreach materials, such as flyers, advertisements, brochures, and online graphics for the group. I have a lot of photographs that may work, but some help with the creation and application of graphics would be wonderful! Materials: Does anyone know ways in which we can print outreach materials for low or no-cost? We were told that Kinko's does a limited amount of free printing for nonprofits and community groups? Space: If you have an office space with a computer where around 15 community activists can convene to work on our materials, group, and especially our website, we would be most grateful! Please contact nycountertrafficking@gmail.com if you have any suggestions! Thank you!

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