May/June

Our organization continues to spread the important news that slavery still exists. Over the past two months, 124 people from 19 states and 6 countries have come to our website to learn about modern slavery. Also, 1865 Continued hosted its very first anti-slavery seminar last month. Several people came to our hour long seminar and picked up literature and books about the subject for further study. I want to personally thank the Wesley Foundation in Norman for letting us use their space and for providing pizza for the event.

This newsletter is the first of a two-part series that will discuss state and national policy on human trafficking and modern slavery. This month will focus on the state of slavery in Texas and Oklahoma, since the majority of our members are from these two states. Next month will focus on national policy and the national government.

In Oklahoma the tide is turning against human trafficking. The state and the government have made many large gains recently and seem to be getting very serious about the problem in their state. One of the first major breakthroughs is the introduction of a task force against human trafficking in Oklahoma. While there have been some convictions in the past against human traffickers, these have been discovered during the course of unrelated investigations. However, this new task force is actively looking for cases of slavery in Oklahoma and taking steps to prevent further cases. One of their primary functions includes training for local police enforcement so that cases of slavery can be accurately assessed and treated appropriately.

In addition to this new task force, Oklahoma is preparing to open its first women’s shelter for victims of human trafficking and slavery. Headed up by Linda Caswell, the women’s shelter is scheduled to open in September. It will have a two-year program to rehabilitate and equip former slaves and their families so that they can become productive parts of our society. The shelter will have both a faith-based program and a non-faith-based program. They will be working closely with Catholic Charities’ legal and immigration program, which already is doing excellent work helping victims of human trafficking. To learn more about modern slavery in Oklahoma, visit Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans at http://oathcoalition.org/.

Texas has a longer history fighting human trafficking. In the past few years the state legislature has passed several bills making it easier for law enforcement to fight against the spread of slavery. Some of these bills have targeted phony massage parlors that are really fronts for prostitution and human trafficking. The legislature has required that massage parlors have permits, thus making it easier for law enforcement to detect fake massage parlors. In 2007 the legislature passed a law encouraging victims of human trafficking to testify against traffickers by making it easier to obtain visas. In addition, just this past month the Texas Legislature passed a bill allowing victims of sex slavery to sue their former owners for damages. This is a crucial step towards dissuading future slave holders and compensating the former slaves for the crimes committed against them.

If you have any questions or comments about slavery in Texas or Oklahoma feel free to email me. Also, don’t forget to look for the next newsletter on domestic policy. Thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp
1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery
www.1865continued.org