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In the News

Social Distancing Without Being Alone


If the coronavirus pandemic has revealed anything, it is the stark inequalities vulnerable people endure. Faced with barriers to accessing care that will protect them and their families, human trafficking survivors are looking to Cast as their only resource. As a first responder, Cast is working around the clock to...

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Mayor Garcetti Announces Program to Provide Entrepreneurship Training to Angelenos Experiencing Homelessness


LA: EnterpRISE will provide career and financial literacy training and access to startup funding opportunities  LOS ANGELES — Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced the creation of LA: EnterpRISE, a pilot program to drive entrepreneurship opportunities for Angelenos experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness.   “Every Angeleno should have a chance to nurture their...

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Gillibrand, Portman Announce Bipartisan Legislation to Clear Federal Criminal Records of Human Trafficking Victims


Bill Would Provide Post-Conviction Relief to Victims of Sex Trafficking, Labor Trafficking, and Other Forms of Human Trafficking Washington, DC –U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), today announced bipartisan legislation, the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2020, which would clear the federal criminal records of the survivors of...

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Protect Migrant Workers from Exploitation


Call on California to revise SB477 Thousands of temporary workers are being trafficked into forced labor in California under threat of violence, deportation, and harm to their families.  California attracts more temporary foreign workers than anywhere else in the US. As the fifth largest global economy, workers on lawful visas from all over the world seek...

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Cast is taking charge to increase California’s investment in human trafficking prevention


California Assembly Members Miguel Santiago (D-53rd), Mike Gipson (D-64th),  Blanca Rubio (D-48th), and Senator Henry Stern (D-27th) introduce comprehensive legislation and budget proposals to ensure California enacts better measures to prevent human trafficking. Los Angeles, California -  The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (Cast) is proud to sponsor two...

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Strengthening the Health Care Response to Human Trafficking


The Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has launched a new initiative to assist and support individuals exploited through sex and labor trafficking in collaboration with the Center for Community Health and Health Equity’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Programs at Brigham and Women’s...

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Cast receives National Partnership Award


The Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (Cast) has been named the 2019 National Award Winner of the Mutual of America Community Partnership Award. The Mutual of America Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with...

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Smith Human Trafficking Victims Compensation Bill Receives Governor’s Signature


SACRAMENTO, CA — Assemblywoman Christy Smith (D-Santa Clarita) is pleased to announce that her Assembly Bill (AB) 629 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom this week as part of the package of bills he signed addressing public safety and supporting victims of crime. The bill creates parity within California’s Victim Compensation Program (VCP)...

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How Sex-Trafficking Survivors Are Locked Out of Victim Funds


To claim lost income, they need a note from their employer—also known as their trafficker. Deborah Pembrook doesn’t remember exactly when she was first sex-trafficked, but she knows it was early—the images of abuse collide in her brain with images of childhood crayons and stuffed animals. When she finally escaped,...

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Assemblywoman Christy Smith Advances Legislation to Help Victims of Human Trafficking


SACRAMENTO – Assemblywoman Christy Smith (D-Santa Clarita) and joint-author Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) moved forward AB 629 to help human trafficking victims rebuild their lives. The bill is cosponsored by the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) and Bet Tzedek Legal Services. Assembly Bill 629 would make human...

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“We’re About to Make Pimps’ Jobs Real Easy”: The Shutdown Has Put Trafficking Victims in Harm’s Way


At Courtney’s House, a Washington, DC, center for young sex trafficking survivors, founder Tina Frundthas been seeing kids every day who are afraid of the government shutdown. They’re worried, she says, that it is affecting the many services they sorely need. She spoke of one 19-year-old she works with who is still in school and...

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Read the joint statement that CAST helped prepare prior to the 2019 State of the Union Address.


The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) and the Freedom Network USA, with a combined membership of 80 leading U.S.-based anti-trafficking organizations, advocates and service providers, strongly condemn President Trump’s continued rhetoric attempting to justify a southern border wall in order to stop human trafficking. This misinformation is dangerous...

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Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) Passes Congress


Every three years CAST and its national advocacy partners, The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) and The Freedom Network, USA, work to reauthorize the Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). The TVPRA, first enacted in 2000, is the most important piece of federal anti-trafficking legislation designed to...

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