On April 4, 2017, the Diversity Committee, Minnesota Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, University of Minnesota Law School Division, hosted a CLE event, a panel discussion of human trafficking of people with disabilities. United States District Court Judge Donovan Frank served as moderator for panel members who shared their professional experience with human trafficking, some of the history and evolving legal landscape, and rights and remedies for victims.

One of the panel members was Sarah Bessell, staff attorney at the Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center in Washington, DC. The Legal Center believes that every trafficking victim in the United States should have access to justice.

In this video interview, MS. Bessell identifies some of the types of abuses they are seeing including forced labor (sexual servitude), commercial sexual exploitation, and extreme violence and physical abuse. She presents case law examples involving people with disabilities and trends they are seeing in the types of trafficking.

About Sarah Bessell and the Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center

Disability Rights and the Justice System

Types of Abuse in Human Trafficking

More Human Trafficking Case Examples

The Human Trafficking Legal Center in Washington, DC has just released an updated Fact Sheet on trafficking of individuals with disabilities. The Fact Sheet includes cites to cases that have been successfully prosecuted in the federal courts from 1988 to 2015 (add The Legal Center maintains a data base of all criminal and civil trafficking cases brought in US federal courts. The database can be accessed at www.htlegalcenter.org.