AEquitas Podcasts

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is trying to redefine the front lines of Labor Trafficking. Lou Longhitano sits down with Heather Rowe to explore how Fair Labor Units and non-traditional law enforcement partners including: inspectors, licensing, and regulatory investigators often have more access and experience to identify cases of forced labor than traditional law enforcement. For Mor...

Domestic servitude is one of the least visible forms of labor trafficking, often hidden behind the doors of private homes. Jane Anderson is joined by survivor leader Patty Bennett, who shares her experience of being trafficked through the J-1 visa program and the warning signs that went unrecognized, even during encounters with law enforcement. Together, they explore how traffickers exert control...

Forced criminality occurs when traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to compel victims to work for the trafficker’s profit, but the work they are doing is itself illegal. This makes it even harder for victims to escape or report their exploitation, because they too may be prosecuted. Lou Longhitano sits down with FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ashley Kizler to examine the case of US v. Tracie D...

The H-2A visa program provides an important source of seasonal agricultural labor, but traffickers can exploit its structure to recruit and control vulnerable workers. Jane Anderson sits down with Georgia Bureau of Investigation prosecutor Diane McLeod to explore how seemingly legitimate labor practices can cross the line into trafficking. Using the landmark “Onion Case,” they examine the indicato...

People with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities face unique risks for labor trafficking, yet these cases often go unidentified. Lou Longhitano is joined by former DOJ prosecutor Lindsey Roberson to examine the case of US v. Bobby Edwards and the challenges of recognizing exploitation disguised as care, employment, or opportunity. Together, they discuss victim-centered investigat...

The Unaccompanied Minor Sponsorship Program is intended to place children with safe sponsors while they await immigration proceedings - but vulnerabilities in the system can be exploited by traffickers. Jane Anderson sits down with immigration attorney Emma Buckthal, who represented victims in a labor trafficking case in Dunkirk, New York, where a trafficker exploited the sponsorship process to ga...

AEquitas Senior Attorney Advisor Jon Kurland examines I May Destroy You, Michaela Cole’s unflinching portrayal of alcohol-facilitated sexual assault, involuntary intoxication, and rape. Drawing on Jon’s decades of prosecutorial experience, they break down how the law defines consent and how intoxication—voluntary or involuntary—impacts consent.   They explore the investigative challenges presented...

Assistant State Attorney and Intimate Partner Violence Specialist Kristina Mills joins to examine the Netflix series You and its portrayal of stalking behaviors, including surveillance, life invasion, intimidation, and interference. Using the first episode as a case study, they highlight why stalking behaviors are often minimized or dismissed as “romantic gestures”. Through You ’s depiction of Joe...

AEquitas Senior Attorney Advisor Patti Powers and Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dan Van examine two powerful productions— Unbelievable and I Am Evidence —and examine what they reveal about serial rapists, untested rape kits, and the consequences of delayed justice. Drawing from decades of prosecutorial and appellate experience, Patti and Dan break down the strategies needed to reo...

Jon Junig of the New York County District Attorney’s Office joins to examine the 2007 documentary Very Young Girls , which exposed the recruitment and extreme violence inflicted on sexually exploited women and girls in New York City and highlighted the critical, multidisciplinary support survivors need to heal and exit exploitation through the work of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS...

Longtime prosecutor and District Attorney Ric Hertel takes a deep look at Big Little Lies and its depiction of intimate partner sexual assault. Drawing from nearly three decades in the courtroom, Ric examines the realities behind marital rape, coercive control, strangulation, and the escalating violence portrayed in the series. Together, Jennifer and Ric explore why disclosures often unfold slowly...

AEquitas Senior Attorney Advisor Patti Powers discusses The Accused (1988), a film that exposed the reality of sexual violence and the way victims are often put on trial themselves. Drawing on nearly three decades as a prosecutor, Patti examines the real-world issues it reflects and what has—and hasn’t—changed since its release. They explore the challenges of prosecuting cases involving voluntaril...

AEquitas Attorney Advisor Kerri New joins to discuss the real-world crimes behind two powerful documentaries— Pamela, a Love Story and Another Body —to explore the evolving landscape of image-based sexual abuse. From stolen and released intimate tapes to AI-generated deepfakes, they unpack how these crimes occur, why victims so often face barriers when seeking justice, and how the trauma continues...

While crisis management and immediate support is often available for survivors, long-term support can be more difficult to secure. Dr. Stephanie Powell, nationally recognized expert and retired LAPD Sergeant, joins us to explain how trauma-informed system design can keep survivors engaged months and even years after initial contact. She highlights how to measure engagement quality rather than comp...

For many survivors, the most vulnerable moments come not during exploitation but during transitions, such as aging out of foster care, leaving shelters, or being discharged from programs. Advocate and survivor leader Bekah Charleston joins us to share her lived experience and explains how uncoordinated systems often fail to support survivors at these critical points. She highlights warning signs t...

Online sextortion, involving coercing a victim to send sensitive or intimate images online, is one of the fastest-growing forms of exploitation, often targeting teens through fake profiles and disappearing digital trails. Detective Dustin Stewart of the Weber County Sheriff’s Office joins us to discuss how online predators manipulate victims, why shame prevents reporting, and how investigations ar...

Expert Amy Fleischauer joins us to discuss how trauma-informed practitioners can apply consistent, transparent communication strategies to build trust, improve accuracy in assessment, and reduce the risk of retraumatization. This episode includes a discussion of how trauma can shape how survivors communicate, including causing them to respond in seemingly incongruous ways, such as laughter, silenc...

Closing a trafficking case in court doesn’t end a survivor’s journey. Many continue to face housing instability, employment barriers, and ongoing trauma long after prosecution. Denise Wyatt, Executive Director of the Family Healing Center in Fresno, shares how coordinated care, agency partnerships, and community involvement can provide survivors with the long-term support they need to make lasting...

David Weiss, Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit at the Brooklyn DA’s Office, joins us to discuss how evidence-based strategies can reduce reliance on victim testimony while protecting victim dignity in the courtroom. He also shares that, in doing so, prosecutors can build survivor-centered cases, whether or not survivors are able to participate. Trafficking prosecutions often collapse when surviv...

Survivor advocate Rafael Bautista joins us to explain how survivors are often mislabeled as “ghosting” services when, in fact, systems fail them first. This leaves victims more susceptible to the very vulnerabilities traffickers exploit. Rafael highlights how trauma responses are misinterpreted as resistance and why consistent, trauma-informed support is essential for recovery. Building stronger,...

Yiota Souras, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), joins to discuss the ever-evolving fight against child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and image-based sexual exploitation. We also discuss how investigators and prosecutors work to identify, prevent, and respond to the exploitation of child and adult victims. From the devasta...

Michelle Kaminsky, Chief of the Gender-Based Violence Division at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, talks about the evolution of domestic violence prosecution over her 30-year career. From trial strategy to a discussion about how to meet the justice and safety victims seek outside the courtroom, Michelle shares how she prepares prosecutors in her unit to handle these complex cases compa...

How have advances in DNA testing impacted the prosecution of sexual violence? What happens when testimony about powerful evidence unlocked by DNA testing is challenged as inadmissible under the US Constitution because the testing analyst isn’t available to testify at trial? In this episode, former sex crimes prosecutor and former Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez joins us to discuss the e...

Stalking is a serious crime that has life-altering consequences for victims. In this episode we explore how technology has transformed both the nature of stalking and the legal strategies used to confront it. We sit down with Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Fitts, Chair of the Colorado Domestic Violence Offender Management Board, who examines the growing threat of tech-facilitated stalking and...

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Martin joins us to discuss the many ways abusers silence their victims through intimidation tactics that are so subtle they are often overlooked by law enforcement and prosecutors. He takes us through his and Professor Amy Bonomi’s groundbreaking efforts to analyze recorded jail calls to better understand how these tactics play out in domestic violence case...