Federal | ECPAT USA

The White House Forum to Combat Human Trafficking

April 12th, 2013 | Comments Off

Last year, President Obama delivered a speech on the fight to end human trafficking at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting in New York. There, the President said: “It ought to concern every person, because it is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric.”

The President called on everyone to step up the fight against trafficking. And we have. Since last year, we have renewed sanctions on some of the worst perpetrators of human trafficking. We have released for public comment the Victims Services Strategic Action Plan. We have partnered with organizations and groups that help women and children escape their abusers. And we have expanded our interagency task force to include enforcement partners such as the FBI and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, along with many other Federal agencies.

The following video is from April 9, 2013.

ECPAT-USA’s 5 Favorite Things About VAWA/TVPRA

March 21st, 2013 | Comments Off

by Marina Colby, ECPAT-USA
On March 7th hundreds of advocates, survivors, law enforcement officials, tribal leaders and lawmakers rose to their feet to applaud President Obama as he signed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). I was fortunate to be in the room to snap this photograph!

This law renews our nation’s efforts to help end violence against all women and to strengthen our most important tools to fight all forms of human trafficking, including the trafficking of children right here in the United States.

President Obama signing VAWA/TVPRA (Photo credit: National Congress of American Indians)

At ECPAT-USA, and with your support, we worked along with other advocates, policy makers and Congressional members to shine a brighter light on the needs of children harmed by human trafficking. We shaped new legislative language to more effectively identify and respond to the needs of children exploited by human traffickers, as well as to prevent child trafficking from occurring in the first place.

Here are five new provisions that we really like in the newly reauthorized VAWA and TVPA – and we think you will too!

1. For the first time since VAWA was originally passed in 1994, victim services and legal assistance may now be provided to survivors of human trafficking, when trafficking is part of their domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking victimization.

2. Enhanced safety for Native American women and youth who have been harmed by human trafficking. New provisions in VAWA now allow services to be extended to sex trafficking victims under the grant programs for Indian Tribal governments and coalitions. Sex trafficking has also been added to the purpose area for research on violence against Indian women.

3. VAWA creates a newly consolidated grant program on Creating Hope Through Outreach, Options, Services and Education for Children and Youth. This grant program funds early intervention and services for victimized youth in schools and communities, and now includes sex trafficked youth. Plus, the definition of “youth” was amended in VAWA to include the ages 11-24.

4. The Violence Against Women Act includes a reauthorization of the TVPA with new and enhanced language involving trafficked youth. The TVPA has a new block grant to be administered by states to improve protections and assistance for domestic minors of sex trafficking!

5. The TVPA also contains new model state criminal law protections for child trafficking survivors, including Safe Harbor provisions that prohibit child survivors of trafficking from being charged with prostitution offenses, as well as ensuring that children are properly referred to comprehensive services needed for recovery.

We are thrilled with these new provisions that are now federal law and we look forward to our continuing collaboration as we work on effective and swift implementation!

Donate today to support our work passing laws and strengthening policies to better protect children from violence and exploitation.

TVPRA passes House, Now it’s off to the President’s desk!

February 28th, 2013 | Comments Off

(Washington, DC) – The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to pass a Senate-approved version of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), paving the way for President Obama to sign into law the United States’ most important tool in the fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery. An estimated 27 million people worldwide are victims of modern-day slavery, and human trafficking is the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, generating over $32 billion in profits to traffickers annually.

The TVPRA reauthorizes key federal anti-trafficking programs for the next four years; provides for new partnerships with cooperating countries to protect children and prevent trafficking; adds new protections for human trafficking victims; and provides new tools to prosecutors to go after the traffickers who exploit others.

The law expired in 2011, leaving critical programs to fight human trafficking and provide survivor services at risk. The Senate demonstrated overwhelming bipartisan support earlier this month, voting 93-5 for the TVPRA when Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) offered it as an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization bill. The House approved the bipartisan VAWA and TVPRA by a vote of 286 to 138.

“Congratulations to Congress for strengthening important protections and services for survivors of human trafficking, as well as domestic and sexual violence, by reauthorizing both the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the Violence Against Women Act. With the President’s signature on this bill, we can continue to build a strong response against human trafficking, including enhanced services for children, and most importantly we can prevent these egregious crimes from occurring in the first place.” -Marina Colby, Director of Public Policy & Government Relations, ECPAT-USA

Trafficking Victims Protection Act Passes Senate!

February 12th, 2013 | Comments Off

The U.S. Senate voted today 95-3 to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the United States’ most important tool in the fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The TVPA expired in September of 2011, placing critical anti-trafficking initiatives at risk, including support to law enforcement and services for survivors. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) offered the TVPA reauthorization as an amendment to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

The Senators then voted 78-22 in favor of reauthorization for the Violence Against Women Act. “ECPAT-USA applauds the Senate for passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) as an amendment to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The TVPRA and VAWA work to define our nation’s commitment to ending egregious human rights violations and serving those harmed by human trafficking and gender-based violence” said Marina Colby, Director of Public Policy & Government Relations for ECPAT-USA.

She went on to explain the importance of the bill for child victims of trafficking and urged the House to take similar action, “ECPAT-USA is also pleased to see the new and enhanced provisions that focus on identifying and responding to the needs of child trafficking victims. Now, it’s time for the House of Representatives to exercise the same level of leadership and bi-partisan cooperation to pass this important legislation without further delay.”

To find out how your Senator voted on adding TVPRA as an amendment to VAWA, click here.

To find out how your Senator voted on VAWA, click here.

US Department of Education Policy Briefing on Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation

February 8th, 2013 | Comments Off

On February 7, 2013 Patima Srivakul represented ECPAT at the policy briefing ‘Ending Modern-Day Slavery and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of School-Aged Youth’. The presenters shared current efforts by the Office of Safe and Healthy Students, the Department of Homeland Security, and the school district perspective on combating sexual exploitation of children. We were also delighted to learn that our award winning video ‘What I Have Been through is Not Who I Am’ is currently used in trainings at the US Department of Justice.

Photo features Alice C Hill, Senior Counselor, Department of Homeland Security

Lawmakers Demand Action from Former Village Voice Execs

October 10th, 2012 | Comments Off

Lawmakers vow to hold successor of Village Voice Media accountable for deliberately avoiding the elimination of Backpage.com’s “adult entertainment” page.

Click here to read the official press release.

White House Announces Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking at Home and Abroad

September 25th, 2012 | Comments Off

In March 2012, President Obama directed his Cabinet to redouble the Administration’s efforts to eliminate human trafficking, which afflicts more than 20 million people around the world, including in communities here at home. Today, building on the strong record of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and its member agencies, the President is announcing several initiatives.

Click here to read the official White House Press Release

We Need Your Help! Call your Senators September 4!!!

August 31st, 2012 | Comments Off

Join ECPAT-USA, the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) and organizations and individuals across the country for a National Call-in Day to tell your Senators to pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act! On October 1, 2011, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the cornerstone of the U.S. effort to fight human trafficking, expired and Congress is at risk of failing to reauthorize the legislation by the end of its session. Congress will not act until you do. On September 4th starting at 9AM EST call your Senators and tell them to pass the TVPRA (S 1301). The time is now!

Click here to find out more and to find your Senator’s contact information.

Congressional Breakfast Briefing Next Week

July 12th, 2012 | Comments Off

The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), in Cooperation with Representative Carolyn Maloney invite you to a Congressional Breakfast Briefing on the Role of Business in Eradicating Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery: A Transparency Approach.

Thursday, July 19, 2012
8:30 AM- 10 AM
Room B340, Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC

Breakfast will be served at 8:30 – Speakers’ panel to begin at 9

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor identified 130 goods from 71 countries that were made by forced and child labor. The disclosure requirements in the Business Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act (H.R. 2759) would recognize companies that are trying to eliminate such abuses from their supply chains by establishing disclosure requirements focused on improving practices to end human trafficking and slavery.

Transparency laws can be good for business, informative for consumers, and ultimately have a real impact on ending human trafficking and slavery worldwide. The bill’s disclosure requirements build on those already required by the 2010 California Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

Please join us for a briefing to learn how H.R. 2759 will assist investors and consumers in making choices about which companies they want to do business with in order to help eliminate human trafficking, forced labor, slavery and the worst forms of child labor throughout the world.

RSVP to carmen.murphy@freetheslaves.net

Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking

July 11th, 2012 | Comments Off

The Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth & The Victims’ Rights Caucus invites you to a bipartisan Capitol Hill briefing focused on the Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Bill. The breifing will take place on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 from 2:00 – 3:30 PM at the Congressional Visitor’s Center in
Congressional Meeting Room North (CVC 268).

Please join us for a bipartisan briefing to learn more about the:
Prevalence of trafficking within the domestic minor population, specifically foster youth
Experiences of youth survivors of trafficking and child welfare agencies serving them
Policy recommendations that may help prevent and address this crisis
Click here to learn more about the bill
Click here to RSVP to the Caucus