Laura Provinzino addresses human trafficking, hate crimes and prosecution of cases involving people with disabilities

The Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities is pleased to announce a taped interview with a leading expert and prosecutor of Human Trafficking cases. Laura Provinzino is an Assistant US Attorney in Minnesota. In this video, Ms. Provinzino, addresses a wide range of topics from what is human trafficking, legal protections, rights of victims, victimization, hate crimes, reporting, and the effects of the pandemic on abuse reporting.


What is Human Trafficking?

Legal Protection for Human Trafficking

Rights of Victims

DOJ Prioritizes Human Trafficking

Trafficking of People with Disabilities

Victimization of People with Disabilities

Important Victim-Centered Services

What is Federal Jurisdiction?

What are Hate Crimes?

Prosecution of Hate Crimes

Hate Crimes Against People with Disabilities

Challenges in Prosecuting Hate Crimes

Raising Awareness of Hate Crimes

Raising Awareness of Human Trafficking

Reporting Hate Crimes to Law Enforcement

Abuse Reports and the Pandemic

Ms. Provinzino is currently the Chief of Major Crimes and Priority Prosecutions at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.  A 2003 graduate of Yale Law School, Laura was a Rhodes Scholar studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford University and history and international affairs at Lewis & Clark College prior to that. After graduation from law school, Ms. Provinzino clerked for the Honorable Diana E. Murphy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, was the Wellstone Legal Fellow at Advocates for Human Rights, and was a litigation associate at Robins Kaplan LLC before starting at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2010. At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Provinzino has been the office’s human trafficking coordinator. As part of her human trafficking work, Ms. Provinzino has prosecuted numerous sex and labor trafficking cases, including four before a jury to verdict.