The Atlanta Lawyer April 2013 | Page 15

LAW DAY 2013 understandably reluctant to reach out to law enforcement for a variety of reasons – whether fear of the trafficker; distrust of law enforcement; threats of reprisal to the victim and her family; embarrassment and shame; or a simple desire to move on with life and avoid public disclosure of the ordeal. These obstacles are often amplified in cases concerning foreign-born, non-English speaking victims who are unfamiliar with our country’s legal system and fear deportation and prosecution for having entered the United States illegally. Frequently, foreign-born victims do not approach law enforcement on their own initiative, but rather are discovered through reports received by investigators or from concerned citizens. NGOs help to bridge the divide between these victims and law enforcement. For example, during the victims’ initial interviews with investigators, these organizations arrange for housing, medical, and other services for them as a means of quickly stabilizing these victims who almost always have no other support systems available. In this way, NGOs have proven invaluable, given that victims of human trafficking, in particular, feel isolated from and shamed by their own communities as a result of their victimization by the sex trade. According to statistics recently compiled by the FBI, Atlanta is also a hub for trafficking young women from Mexico. Latino brothels advertise on business cards claiming to offer “painting services” or “home repairs.” Young girls and vulnerable women are moved from city to city and brothel to brothel in an informal network of traffickers who want to bring “new girls” to their business. In 2010, our office prosecuted the case of United States v. Cortes Meza, et al. The case involved a ring of five men from Mexico, and one man from Uruguay, who recruited and enticed approximately 10 victims to travel to the Atlanta, Georgia, area from Mexico and compelled them to engage in prostitution with numerous men on a nightly basis. Four of the victims were minors, between 14 and 17 years old; the men also brutally beat several of the victims. The ring-leader of the organization received a sentence of imprisonment of 40 years following a jury trial. While much of our focus is on sex trafficking, we are also pursuing forced labor cases. In one recent case, a victim from