Invisible Shackles: Domestic Workers, Glocalization and the Matrix of
Exploitation
Human trafficking affects every country in the world. Right now, almost 30 million people around the world are enslaved. Lured through desperation, with promises of good jobs, and trapped under the threat of violence, they are forced to work without pay in factories, mines, fields, brick kilns, restaurants, construction, fishing industries and in private homes under deplorable conditions. Economic liberalization has paved the way and spurred an international market for the trade in human beings based on high profits and demand for cheap labor and commercial sex. The Ninth Annual Symposium on Human Traffickingco-organized this year by the Womens Studies Committee of South Texas College, Fuerza del Valle Workers Center and the Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Autnoma de Nuevo Len will focus on the plight of domestic workers and the factors that make such work akin to modern day slavery. The conference covers all aspects of global trafficking with special emphasis on domestic workers. Domestic workers the vast majority of whom are women and girlscontribute substantially to the global economy. Yet, despite their important contributions, domestic workers have suffered from routine exclusion from labor protections that have left them at risk of many abuses including excessive work hours, non-payment of wages, forced confinement, physical and sexual abuse, forced labor, and trafficking. Children, who make up nearly 30 percent of domestic workers and migrant domestic workers, are often the most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Our goals for the conference are to raise community awareness about the pervasiveness of the labor and sex trafficking trades, both around the world and in our own neighborhoods, to provide a forum for networking and training opportunities for professionals and practitioners within related fields, and ultimately to take part in the larger international conversation about how to stop this insidious crime. We hope to address these questions and to consider forms of resistance to this deplorable exploitation of millions, which undermines basic respect for human rights and dignity.
Main Location:
Cooper Center, Pecan Campus South Texas College 3200 W. Pecan Blvd McAllen, Texas
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Tuesday, April 22
LOCATION: Cooper Center, Pecan Campus; South Texas College (STC)
8:30 9:00 am Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 10:00 a.m. KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Domestic Workers: A Global Overview Nancy Donaldson, J.D. Director, International Labor Organization (ILO) United States
10:00 10:50 am Human Trafficking and the Case of Domestic Workers in Cyprus Juliette Dickstein, Ph.D. Bicommunal Coordinator, U.S. Embassy, Nicosia, Cyprus
1:00 1:45 pm Dilemmas in Womens Labor Migration: The Case of Latina Migrants. Fernando Mao Executive Director, RATT International
1: 45 2:30 pm U-Visas: An Overview M. Esther Del Toro Oliver Southwest Regional U Visa Coordinator U.S. Department of Labor/Wage & Hour Division Eden Ramirez McAllen District Director, U.S. Department of Labor
2:30 3:00 pm Enforcing Domestic Workers Rights Kathryn Youker, J.D. Group Coordinator, Employment Group, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA)
3:00 3:10 pm Break
3.10 3:40 pm Problems Facing Women in Guatemala Today Jennifer Harbury, J.D. 3
3:40 4:10 pm Drawing from the Wellspring of Advocacy: Illuminating the Dimensions of Research-Informed Advocacy Practice with and for Women who are Victims of Exploitation Chie Noyori-Cobett, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work University of Oklahoma, Norman David P. Moxley, Ph.D. Professor, Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work University of Oklahoma, Norman
4:10 5:30 Panel: Global Perspective on Human Trafficking and Labor Exploitation
Domestic Workers in Nigeria Ayodeji Ogundele, Ph.D. Political Science Department, South Texas College
"Human Trafficking in Iran: As a departing country and a destination" Roksana Alavi, Ph.D. Assistant Professor College of Liberal Arts University of Oklahoma, Norman
Nannies and Diplomats: Devyani Khobragade, the Tip of the Iceberg Pooja Rishi, Ph.D. Political Science Department, South Texas College
Assessing the Effectiveness of the New Anti-Trafficking Legislation in Mexico Arun Kumar Acharya, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales Universidad Autnoma de Nuevo Len Armando Moctezuma Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales Universidad Autnoma de Nuevo Len
Moderator: Wallace Johnson
Wednesday, April 23
LOCATION: Cooper Center, Pecan Campus; South Texas College (STC)
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8:00 8:30 am Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 9:15 am Domestic Workers Rising: The Fight for A New Economy" Alicia Garza Special Projects Director National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)
9:15 11:00 am Trafficking in Persons under 18 Geoff Barr, J.D. Assistant Attorney General
11:00 11:10 am Break
11:10 11.30 pm Addressing Human Trafficking and Domestic Worker Labor Exploitation in the United States
Hon. Alba Dalila Cceres Lpez Guatemala Consul, McAllen, Texas
11:30 12.30 pm Combating Human Trafficking in Texas: Reports from the Joint Legislative Committee on Human Trafficking and the Human Trafficking Taskforce
Hon. Juan Hinojosa Senate Member, Joint Committee on Human Trafficking Hon. Naomi Gonzalez House Member, Joint Committee on Human Trafficking Hon. Allen Fletcher House Member, Joint Committee on Human Trafficking Wende Hilsonrod, Human Trafficking Task Force Member
12:30 -1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 -2:00 pm Legal Remedies for Victims of Trafficking Claire Antonelli J.D Immigration Attorney, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA), TX
2:00 2:30 pm Esclavas de la Limpieza Slaves to Domestic Work: A Survivors Story Araceli Herrera, Former Victim of Domestic Labor Trafficking
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2:30 3:20 pm Grass roots Panel: Organizaciones Comunitaris y la Lucha por la Justicia Laboral en el Hogar Community Organizations and the Struggle for Labor Justice at Home
Teresa Barajas Domesticas Unidas, San Antonio Alejandra Oliva Domesticas Unidas, San Antonio Marlene Chavez Fuerza del Valle, San Juan Rosa Sanluis Reyes Fuerza del Valle Workers Center Representative TBA, Colmena, Fe y Justicia Center, Houston Representative TBA M.I.S.M.A, Austin
Moderator: Guadalupe Correa Cabrera
3:20 3:30 pm Break
3:30 4:00 pm Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons along Mexicos Eastern Migration Routes: Informal Labor Markets and Transnational Organized Crime Guadalupe Correa Cabrera, Ph.D Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Texas at Brownsville Jenny Bryson Clark Associate Professor of Political Science, South Texas College
4:00 4:30 Human Trafficking and Victims with Disabilities Rebecca Pfeffer, Ph.D Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Houston
4:30 5:30 pm Identifying Victims of Trafficking: The Role of Law Enforcement Juan Gonzalez Chief of Police, San Juan, TX.
5:30 6:30 pm Closing Reception: Human Rights Art Exhibit