Show notes
Derek Marsh joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to reflect on what they learned inside refugee communities in Greece — where Sudanese survivors of labor trafficking, and mothers rebuilding after violence, reveal how trust, disclosure, and practical support can change what people are able to name, ask for, and access.Chapters(00:00) - Welcome and What Made This Year's Greece Trip Different
(04:51) - Inside the Refugee Camp at Kyllini
(08:11) - Why Survivors Hesitate to Disclose — and the Brutality They Described
(10:21) - Man to Man: Opening Up About Exploitation That Hasn't Stopped
(14:46) - How Greece Identifies Victims While Saving Lives
(17:43) - A Day of Respite: The Single-Mothers Camp
(23:13) - Building Resilience and the Power of a Positive Presence
(29:49) - Taking the Lessons Home: Meeting People Where They Are
About Derek MarshDerek Marsh is Associate Director of the Global Center for Women and Justice at Vanguard University, where his work centers on education, prevention, and labor trafficking awareness. A longtime collaborator with Dr. Sandie Morgan and a recurring voice on the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast, he helps lead the Global Center's annual study-abroad program in Greece, returning to refugee-serving communities there many times over the years. He came to anti-trafficking work through law enforcement, founding the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, and brings that frontline perspective to questions of victim identification and case development. On this trip, his expertise in labor trafficking — and his ability to connect man-to-man with male survivors who are often reluctant to identify themselves as victims — created space for Sudanese refugees to disclose exploitation they had not previously named.Key Points• This year's student group was strikingly independent, and a visit to the Young Diplomat Academy — hosted by Greece's National Human Trafficking Rapporteur — opened the door to a possible future partnership.• For the first time, the team entered a refugee camp in remote Kyllini, where Sudanese men who had been labor trafficked lived three-and-a-half hours from Athens, making access to paperwork and services extremely difficult.• Survivors were hesitant to disclose their trafficking — partly because earlier promises of help had gone unfulfilled — and when they did open up, Derek was struck by how violent and physical their labor trafficking had been.• Having a man speak man-to-man with male survivors lowered their barriers, and they revealed that exploitation was continuing right near the camp, where local actors had quickly learned to target new arrivals.• Greece's EKKA reported 891 identified victims — an admirable number for a nation of under 11 million on the front line of the Mediterranean migration crisis, where authorities must prioritize saving lives before investigating crimes.• At a separate camp for single mothers near Pyrgos, the team hosted a respite event with childcare, art therapy, and resources; the women had walked 45 minutes carrying their children to attend.• A student caring for a three-year-old watched him duck and cover at the sound of a passing plane — a vivid reminder that reaching safety is not enough, and that building resilience is key to a child's recovery.• The closing challenge: you don't need to visit a refugee camp to help — meet displaced people where they are, understand their context, and "look for the handle close to you," whether abroad or in your own community.Resources• Global Center for Women and Justice• Humanitarian Initiative Bridges• A21• EKKA — National Centre for Social Solidarity (National Referral Mechanism)• Ending Human Trafficking — Episode 371: Dr. Heracles Moskoff