workers
Informed Consent
You do not have to speak about anything you do not want to talk about and you are not required to answer any questions. You can stop at any time. There is no penalty and I will not be upset or uncomfortable—I understand that you are sharing very personal information and I appreciate your willingness to discuss even a small part of your experience with government interactions.
This report is intended to highlight the differences in outcomes between situations in which people are removed from trafficking situations in raids by the government and when they leave without police intervention of this particular sort.
Subject of a Raid ____________ Detained __________________ Trafficked ________________
Questions
You’ve been involved with[NAME OF REFERRING AGENCY]regarding a legal situation/situation where you were involved with law enforcement. I don’t need to know any details about situation itself. I’m more interested in how you left and what happened after that.
Do you identify as having been trafficked?[EXPLAIN CONCEPT OF COERCED LABOR OF SOME SORT.]
Did law enforcement ever think you were trafficked, or identify you as trafficked? Please tell me about this.
[FOR THOSE WHO WERE NOT IDENTIFIED OR SELF-IDENTIFIED AS TRAFFICKED, GO TO INVOLVEMENT/COOPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT]
If you identify as trafficked, or if the government/law enforcement identified you as trafficked: how did you leave your situation with the traffickers? Please tell me about this.
PROMPTS:
Were the local police involved? Were immigration agents involved?
[INTERVIEWEE MAY NOT KNOW THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOCAL PD AND ICE AS THIS IS OFTEN CONFUSING—CAN BE PROMPTED RE WHETHER IMMIGRATION WAS MENTIONED DURING EVENTS] IF LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS NOT INVOLVED IN THE LEAVING OF THE TRAFFICKING SITUATION: HOW DID YOU LEAVE YOUR SITUATION WITH THE
TRAFFICKERS? PLEASE TELL US WHAT HAPPENED/HOW YOU WERE ABLE TO LEAVE.
How did you feel when you left your trafficker, (or when you realized that the situation was over)? [FOR THOSE WHO WERE NOT SUBJECT TO A RAID, GO TO
INVOLVEMENT/COOPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT]
IF LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS INVOLVED IN THE LEAVING OF THE TRAFFICKING
SITUATION:
How many agents/police came to get you/pick you up?
Where were you when the police/immigration picked you up?
How did you feel when they picked you up?
PROMPTS: Happy Relieved Scared Confused Angry Unsure
Where did they take you? Were you arrested?
What happened in the 24 hours after the arrest? Were you placed in detention/jail?
If it was not a jail, did it feel like a jail? Were you released to leave on your own? Were you placed in a shelter or hotel? If so,
which one?
Were you able to call your family? If so, when were you able to call them?
In the weeks following your arrest:
How long were you in jail/at the place where you were kept by the government?
Were you able to call your family? Were you worried about money?
Were you able to come and go as you pleased? Were you able to work?
How did you feel about leaving your situation this way?
Tell me about police/immigration behavior. [prompt if there are any indications of misconduct, especially police misconduct, particularly sexual situations] How did the police/immigration treat you? Do any officers stand out in your memory? Why? What did they want from you?
If you were involved in a raid, where were you staying a week after the raid?
[IF WAS IN JAIL]How did you feel about being in jail?
Please tell me about detention/jail.
PROMPTS:
How were you treated? Did you eat?
Did you feel safe? Did you feel threatened? How and by whom?
Were you able to call your family? Were you worried about money?
Were you interviewed by law enforcement while in detention/jail? If so, how many times? How long were you there?
INVOLVEMENT/COOPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT
IF NOT SUBJECT OF A RAID, first ask: Please tell me how you got involved with law enforcement. If you cooperated with law enforcement, please tell me how you began to consider cooperating with them.
FOR ALL INTERVIEWS:
While law enforcement was interviewing you, did anyone make you feel scared or uncomfortable, or make you feel safe? Please explain.
Did you have an attorney or advocate with you during your interviews?
Looking back on it, what was good about the way you left your situation? If you did not leave a situation that was trafficking/harmful, what was good about your interaction with law enforcement? Looking back on it, what was bad about the way you left your situation? If you did not leave a situation that was trafficking/harmful, what was bad about your interaction with law enforcement?
ASK ALL INTERVIEWEES —THEY WILL SELF-IDENTIFY AS TO WHETHER THESE QUESTIONS ARE RELEVANT:
What would have been a better way to help you leave your situation?
Were there things that others in your own community/the general society/your family could have done to help you leave your trafficking situation on your own?
What kind of specific help would have been useful to you?
What would you change to improve this process for helping others to leave this situation? Looking back at it now, how do you feel about
being taken out of the trafficking situation by law enforcement? Was it worth it, even if you were not happy at the time?
Is there anything else you would like to tell me? Or ask?
APPENDIX B The Use of Raids to Fight Trafficking in Persons 68
Personal Information
Sex:
Age/Year born:
Age of entry into sex work:
Months/Years Involved in Prostitution: Involved in Prostitution in Home Country: Race/Ethnicity:
Can you tell me how much school you have completed? (Circle One)
0-8 years 9-11 years
High school (grad/General Equivalency Diploma) 12+ (some college, no degree)
College grad, degree earned:
______________________________________ Where born:
Native language:
State where you were arrested/made contact with law enforcement:
Months/Years in USA: (Current Immigration status): Months/Years in USA When Arrested:
(Immigration status):
How entered US (got papers on my own/assisted migration/smuggling/trafficked):