Human Trafficking Risks, Prevention and Corporate Defense with Marisa Trasatti

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

 

January is internationally recognized as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. In this episode, RIMScast is taking its annual deep dive into this ever-present risk with Marisa Trasatti.

 

Marisa is a Partner at Cipriani & Werner and General Counsel to Sciton. As a defense lawyer, Marisa has defended hotel channels that were named as defendants in civil suits and significant trafficking claims. You may also recognize Marisa from her previous appearances at several RIMS events, including RISKWORLD, on the topic of human trafficking.

 

With the International Labour Organization estimating that there are 27.6 million people enslaved globally with 19.9 million victims of labor trafficking, 1.4 million held in domestic servitude, and 6.3 million victims of sex trafficking, it is no question whether trafficking is a global emergency. And unfortunately, corporations can oftentimes become unwitting participants in human trafficking just by being in business.

 

As difficult as this subject can be to hear about, it is a critical one that risk professionals need to hear about in order to protect their organizations and better spot the signs of human trafficking. Be sure to tune in to not miss out on this important dialogue with Marisa Trasatti.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About the RIMS Membership.

[:14] Registration for RISKWORLD 2023 is now open!

[:34] About RIMScast.

[:46] About today’s episode.

[1:00] All about upcoming RIMS webinars, workshops, events, and more!

[2:02] All about today’s episode with Marisa Trasatti.

[3:24] Justin Smulison welcomes Marisa to the podcast!

[4:02] Marisa shares her career background and her current roles at Cipriani & Werner and Sciton.

[4:48] How Marisa came to be acquainted with RIMS.

[5:24] What can businesses (that are unwitting participants in human trafficking) do to protect against human trafficking?

[14:18] Marisa shares her predictions and insights based on new legal developments regarding human trafficking.

[15:24] Is the Ghislaine Maxwell verdict sending a message to traffickers/would-be traffickers? Is it a deterrent?

[16:40] shares a story from a former FBI agent about labor-trafficked victims

[19:05] Risk management and ESG initiatives that Marisa finds to be effective deterrents to trafficking.

[22:15] RIMS plug time! All about upcoming RIMS virtual workshops.

[23:00] Elise Farnham rejoins the podcast to discuss her two upcoming RIMS virtual workshops!

[26:17] Does Marisa feel that human trafficking, though a huge issue, often gets put on the back burner by the world?

[27:58] Marisa shares about Thorn, an organization with the goal of defending children from sexual abuse. Marisa explains why, in particular, Thorn sets such a good example from a moral, legal and ethical perspective.

[31:32] Marisa speaks about a case regarding Section 230 and how it could influence the landscape of 2023.

[36:00] Marisa shares her views on the new U.S. federal law, “Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2022.”

[41:22] Does Marisa find that she gets more media requests in January because it is Human Trafficking Awareness Month? Marisa also shares other events that have brought a spotlight to trafficking.

[43:23] Why awareness around human trafficking needs to be year-round; not just in January.

[44:13] Justin thanks Marisa Trasatti for joining the podcast and shares some links to check in today’s show notes.

 

Mentioned in this Episode:

RISKWORLD 2023 — April 30‒May 3 in Atlanta, Georgia! Public registration is now open!

RIMS Virtual Workshops in 2023 — a Brief Dialogue with Instructor Elise Farnham

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Related RIMScast Episodes:

“Human Trafficking Risks with Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco, Ph.D.”

“Human Trafficking and Supply Chain Risk with Tim Nelson of the Slave-Free Alliance”

“Checking In: Hotel Risk Management with AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers”

Resources about Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking:

Thorn.org

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Hope For Justice

Slave-Free Alliance

More RIMS Resources on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery:

“Human Trafficking and Supply Chains: Q&A with Tim Nelson of the Slave-Free Alliance”

“Human Trafficking: How Businesses Can Combat the Modern Slavery Epidemic”

“Human Rights and Corporate Wrongs”

“The Expanding Circle of Concern and Emerging Risks”

“Examining Supply Chains for Labor Trafficking and Abuses” (RM Magazine, 2022)

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Follow up with Our Guests:

Marisa Trasatti’s LinkedIn

Elise Farnham’s Profile

 

Tweetables (For Social Media Use):

 

“We don’t have specificity and sensitivity-type red flags and trainings [on human trafficking]; it makes it difficult to get it right all the time. But I believe that the more we train, the more we educate, the more likely it is that we will get it right more.” — Marisa Trasatti

 

“The best thing that businesses can do [regarding human trafficking] is to continue to train, continue to educate, continue to get ahead of the curve in terms of what law firms like mine are seeing in the field as far as what traffickers are doing.” — Marisa Trasatti

 

“Human trafficking is second, third, fourth tier right now [to other issues]. It can’t be that. … It has to be on the forefront of our minds wherever we’re going because … everyone listening to this RIMScast podcast has encountered a human trafficked survivor” — Marisa Trasatti

 

“[Human trafficking is] part of ESG. It’s important for businesses to look at their supply chains and make sure that there isn’t labor trafficking involved.” — Marisa Trasatti

 

“Awareness is power.” — Marisa Trasatti