Coalition Podcast: Ambassador John Cotton Richmond

In this month's featured episode of the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast, listeners hear from Ambassador John Cotton Richmond, the United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. He also leads the Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Before holding this position, he co-founded the Human Trafficking Institute. This foundation empowers police and prosecutors to use victim-centered and trauma-informed methods to hold traffickers accountable and ensure that survivors receive the respect they deserve. As we head into this brand new year, Ambassador Richmond shares some of his wisdom about what we're doing well and what we need to improve upon as we continue to work to end human trafficking.

One thing he says we need to let go of is taking the trafficker out of the conversation. Too often, we use language such as "this victim was trafficked" instead of "a trafficker took advantage of the victim." The former phrase implies that the victim had some burden of choice in the matter, whereas the latter puts the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the trafficker. When it comes to things we are doing well, Ambassador Richmond talks about engaging survivors. He mentions that there is always room for improvement here, but he's glad that anti-human trafficking circles have moved from merely asking survivors to share their stories to asking for their leadership.

To listen to the entire podcast and hear more about where we've been and where we should be going in the work against human trafficking, follow this link.