Episode 35: What happens when victims of human trafficking are put on trial?

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Hello and you're listening to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast - a podcast about all things migration. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome human trafficking expert, Lori Mann, to the show to talk about trafficking in persons legal cases in which the victims of trafficking themselves are on trial as defendants.

But first, about Lori. Lori is an independent consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of international human rights and the rule of law, with a strong focus on women's rights and gender equality, including violence against women and human trafficking.

Lori founded an international women's rights NGO dedicated to strategic litigation, Women's Link Worldwide, and has since worked primarily as a consultant for United Nations agencies and the Council of Europe in diverse countries around the world. She has a JD from Columbia Law School and a BA from the University of California at Berkeley.

Today, Lori talks us through the findings of some research that she conducted for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which looks at cases involving victim-defendants of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

We have a truly fascinating conversation about some of the harrowing experiences that victims of trafficking undergo while being trafficked and then during court proceedings later on. We talk about the nature of these cases and how the victim-defendants can be coerced by their traffickers to commit various crimes, as well as the associated gaps in both developed and developing legal systems.

It's a really interesting talk. I enjoyed recording it and we very much hope you enjoy tuning in. Without further ado, here's our interview.

Useful links:

• The study itself - https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2020/final_Female_victims_of_trafficking_for_sexual_exploitation_as_defendants.pdf
• Connect with Lori on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-mann-21698a1a/
• UNODC's SHERLOC database - https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/en/st/home.html
• Womens Link - https://www.womenslinkworldwide.org/en
• UN Global TiP report - https://www.unodc.org/unodc/data-and-analysis/glotip.html
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols Thereto (including the Protocol on trafficking) - https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-crime/intro/UNTOC.html
• Other episodes related to human trafficking: 3, 11, 13, 19
• The Migration & Diaspora Podcast - https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast