Flor Molina, a Mexican survivor of human trafficking, was recently
reunited with her three teenage sons after an eight-year separation
with support from IOM and its partner NGO, the Coalition to Abolish
Slavery and Trafficking (CAST).

Flor courageously shared her story with an audience of 600 at
the US Department of Justice National Conference on Human
Trafficking held in Washington, D.C. last week. "Even though my
enslavement doesn't define me as a person, it defines who I am
today. I am a survivor of a crime so monstrous that the only way to
move forward is by fighting back."

In 2001, Flor was promised a "lifetime opportunity" that would
help her earn enough to open her own seamstress shop. She left her
small town for California, where her identity documents were taken
away from her and she was forced to work 18-hour days in a garment
factory producing dresses for two major US department stores. Only
allowed a 10-minute break to eat one small meal a day, she was
closely monitored and was not permitted to leave the premises.
Locked in the shop at night, she slept on a small cot and had no
access to bathing facilities or medical attention.

Today, Flor recalls that her trafficker would tell her: "Animals
had more rights" in this country than she did. She was often
physically and verbally abused and lived in fear for the safety of
her children and mother back home.

The US Government estimates that as many as 17,500 individuals
are trafficked into the US annually.

IOM's project, Return, Reintegration, and Family Reunification
for Victims of Trafficking in the United States, provides return
and reintegration or family reunification assistance to victims of
trafficking in the US identified by its partners, which include
NGOs, law enforcement, and US government agencies.

The project is supported by, and was developed at the request
of, the US Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and
Migration (PRM) in support of the victim protection provisions of
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).

Family reunification with trafficking survivors in the US is
possible via the T visa, which grants foreign national trafficking
victims in the US work authorization and temporary immigration
status, as well as the ability to bring their immediate family
members to live with them in the US. Eventually, T visa holders are
able to apply for permanent residence.

T visas have been approved for more than 2,000 trafficking
survivors and their immediate family members since the passage of
the legislation in 2000.

Since 2005, IOM has helped reunite more than 440 family members
of 40 nationalities with trafficking survivors in the US by means
of the T visa program. IOM is currently assisting 200 additional
individuals to reunite with their family members in the US.
Worldwide, IOM has assisted more than 15,000 trafficking survivors
since the 1990s.

IOM and CAST have been working together to reunite families of
human trafficking victims since September 2005, assisting more than
20 trafficking survivors. Despite Flor's happy ending, there are
hundreds of others still awaiting reunification with their
families.

As a T visa holder, Flor was able to receive family
reunification support from IOM. She recently thanked CAST and IOM
for their assistance. "You change people's lives. In my case, it's
a happy ending."

Survivors like Flor are supported by organizations around the
country with shelter, social, legal, reunification, and other
much-needed services. Flor was initially assisted by the Coalition
for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and later, by
CAST.

CAST provided shelter, social, and legal services to Flor,
helping her access federal benefits available to trafficking
survivors, including immigration relief in the form of the T
visa.

Unfortunately, funding for services to these survivors and their
families is limited, despite a great and growing need. Now a member
of CAST's Survivor Advisory Caucus and an advocate, Flor urged
continued support from the audience of advocates, law enforcement,
and government representatives: "We need to preserve services for
survivors and their families. We [survivors] always say that if
telling our story can help one person, even though it is painful to
relive our experiences, it is worth it."

To report a potential case of human trafficking in the US,
please call the US Department of Justice trafficking hotline at
1-888-428-7581, or the CAST 24-hour hotline at 1-888-539-2373.

Flor has agreed to be identified and publicize her case so that
her story may help raise awareness about trafficking. For more
information on her case, please visit the CAST website, "paragraph-link-no-underline-bold" href="http://www.castla.org"
target="_blank" title="">www.castla.org, or contact:

Lisette Arsuaga

Tel: 1.213.365.1906 ext. 118

E-mail: "mailto:lisette@castla.org">lisette@castla.org

For more information about IOM's reunification programme,
contact:

Niurka Piñeiro

Tel: 1.202.862.1826 ext. 225

E-mail: "mailto:npineiro@iom.int">npineiro@iom.int

To donate to IOM's efforts, visit the USAIM website, "paragraph-link-no-underline-bold" href="http://www.usaim.org"
target="_blank" title="">www.usaim.org