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Abstract

In Part I, this Note will discuss the current epidemic of human trafficking, the various ways the United Nations and the United States have attempted to combat trafficking, and highlight the importance of U.S. prosecutorial duties of witness protection that are especially implicated in human trafficking cases. Part II will present criticisms of efforts by the United Nations and the United States to protect victims of trafficking and their family members. This part will also focus on current U.S. protections afforded to families of human trafficking survivors and programs such as the Witness Security Program, from which U.S. lawmakers may model family protections. In Part III, this Note will argue that, despite an increase in cost, it is crucial that future legislative efforts expand current protection programs to better, and more quickly, protect families of victims. Offering family members in imminent harm derivative continued presence, currently only available to survivors of trafficking, is essential to the goals of U.S. trafficking legislation. Expanding protections for family members would accomplish three goals: (1) allow the survivor to feel secure in coming forward, knowing that her family members will not be harmed; (2) encourage survivors to come forward and cooperate with law enforcement officials, which could lead to further prosecutions of human traffickers and increase the protections offered to survivors of human trafficking; and (3) permit prosecutors to adhere to their duties of witness protection, which extend to family members who are in imminent danger due to the witnesses' cooperation. This Article discusses the many barriers to effective representation and the lawyering realities on the ground at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. There are certainly many, but let me recount a recent experience.

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