2024 Symposium

On March 20, 2024, Volume 47 of the Suffolk Transnational Law Review held our annual Symposium. Thank you to all our panelists, our moderator Suffolk Law Professor Ragini Shah, and our Symposium Team, James Cronin and Sean Gutierrez-Schieferl, for such a successful event!

This Symposium addressed the “3Ps” of Human Trafficking: Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution. Human trafficking is a critical issue today and lawyers around the world are committed to finding solutions to combat it.

Labor trafficking is an extremely important issue and it is important to bring attention to certain environments that allow those commiting these offenses to thrive undetected and unpunished. Many individuals are forced to work through the use of violence, fraud, threats, and other forms of coercion. According to the National Human trafficking hotline, there are 16 million victoms of labor trafficking in the private sector globally, and 4.1 million people subject to state-imposed forced labor globally. According to the United States Department of Labor, in compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005, as of 2022 it is estimated 159 products originating from 78 countries and areas, spanning five continents including North America, are produced using child or forced labor.

The “3P” paradigm is the framework employed to combat human trafficking around the world. Prevention addresses the tactics human traffickers use in committing these crimes removing vulnerabilities in sectors where labor trafficking is most common. Protection focuses on assisting victims of human trafficking crimes by identifying victims and providing them with resources to ensure their safety. Prosecution focuses on how governments hold human traffickers accountable.

Panelists

Professor Dina Haynes

Professor of Law, Director of Immigration Law Certificate Program

New England School of Law

Nicole Poirier

Assistant Attorney General, Deputy Chief, Human Trafficking Division

Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Massachusetts