NAPO Washington Reports

NAPO supports the end of Sex Trafficking

July 30, 2013
View this Washington Report as a PDF

NAPO has pledged its support for the End Sex Trafficking Act (HR 2805/S.1354), sponsored by Congressman Ted Poe, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Congresswoman Kay Granger, Congressman Richard Nolan, Senator John Cornyn, and Senator Amy Klobuchar.  Below is a brief summary of the legislation:

  • Every year, thousands of criminals prey on children and trafficking victims in the United States—purchasing illicit and coerced sexual acts on websites and on our streets.   In order to help drive the pimps and purveyors of sex trafficking out of business forever, this legislation targets the predators that purchase trafficking victims for sex.
  • The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) defines a sex trafficker as a person who “knowingly—recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, or maintains by any means a person…knowing, or in reckless disregard of the fact, that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion. . . or any combination of such means will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or that the person has not attained the age of 18 years and will be caused to engage in a commercial sex act.”
  • While inclusion of the word “obtains” in the current statute has been correctly interpreted to encompass those who purchase illicit sexual acts from trafficking victims, some confusion persists.
  •  Earlier this year, in the case of United States vs. Jungers, the Eighth Circuit ruled that 18 U.S. 1591 applied to persons who purchase illicit sexual acts with trafficking victims after the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota erroneously granted motions to acquit these buyers in two separate cases.
  • The End Sex Trafficking Act strengthens the TVPA by adding the words “solicits or patronizes” to the sex trafficking statute— making absolutely clear for judges, juries, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials that criminals who purchase sexual acts from trafficking victims can and should be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted as sex trafficking offenders.
  • The bill also leverages existing resources by directing federally funded law enforcement task forces that are part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative to focus on fighting demand through the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of persons who purchase sexual acts with human trafficking victims.
  • The bill is supported by numerous national organizations, including Human Rights for Girls, Shared Hope International, National District Attorneys Association, American Bar Association, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Organization for Victim Assistance, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Ending Child Prostitution and Trafficking-USA, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Association of Police Organizations.

If you have any questions about this legislation, please contact Melissa Nee at:  mnee@napo.org.

Source:

United States. Cong. End Sex Trafficking Act One-Pager. 113th Cong. Cong. Doc. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.