2024 Legislative Priorities - Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery

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NAHT 2024 Legislative Priorities

The Iowa legislature has not been doing a good job of funding either human trafficking prevention/education or survivor service programs. In fact, there is no dedicated funding from the Iowa legislature specifically for these anti-trafficking community-based programs. Federal VOCA victim service funding is funded through the Iowa Attorney General’s office, but this has been significantly cut. This is why the NAHT’s #1 legislative priority for 2024 is funding. The photo in this article shows Sister Shirley Fineran (NAHT Board Member), Chelsea Hoye, and Threase Harms (Advocacy Strategies) meeting with a legislator to educate him on the need to secure more funding for trauma-informed care and funding for survivors. All advocates statewide are asked to do the same.

Below is the 2024 legislative agenda as approved at the 10/10/23 meeting by the NAHT Board of Directors.

The NAHT has Adopted 2 Legislative Priorities:

Increase Victim Services Funding

NAHT requests the Iowa Legislature to allocate an additional $5M in Justice System Appropriations for Victim Services and to amend the victim service budget line item to include human trafficking, homicide, and other violent crimes. Currently $5M is allocated to victim services.

Human Trafficking Interim Study Committee Policies

NAHT supports the implementation of appropriate recommendations made by the 2023 Human Trafficking Interim Study Committee.

NAHT Policy Statements on Other Issues:

NAHT supports the enactment of an expungement process of criminal records of survivors of human trafficking who were compelled or forced to commit illegal acts. This would include vacatur legislation to reverse the actual adjudication or finding of guilt.
NAHT supports adopting legislation requiring schools to provide child sex abuse awareness and prevention for students, parents, and school employees as requested by Prevent Child Abuse Iowa.
NAHT supports adopting legislation to require safe filter technology to prevent cell phones and tablets from accessing or displaying material that is harmful to minors.

U.S. State Department Annual TIP Report

Human trafficking takes place in 188 countries across the world – and in some cases, governments themselves are perpetrators. In its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, released in June 2023, the State Department assesses 188 countries and territories on the “extent of government efforts” to meet the minimum standards set out in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to eliminate human trafficking and places them into several tiers. In the lowest or worst group, Tier 3, are 21 countries and territories the State Department deems are not fully meeting those minimum standards and “not making significant efforts to do so.” The State Department clarifies that a country’s placement in Tier 3 is not based on the size of its problem, but rather on the extent of its government’s efforts to meet those standards.

There are 21 countries within Tier 3. These are the worst countries for human trafficking around the world, according to the State Department. A list of these 21 countries can be found in the article that follows (third bullet).

The crime of human trafficking has two primary forms, according to the U.S. government: forced labor and sex trafficking. More broadly, it is defined as a crime where “traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex.” The U.S. State Department notes that victims do not need to be “physically transported from one location to another” for a crime to be considered human trafficking and that when it comes to commercial sex acts, it is a crime when the victim is under the age of 18 regardless of “whether there is any force, fraud or coercion involved.”

Here are several links to the complete 600+ page State Department TIP report:

The Worst Countries for Human Trafficking

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2023 TIP report, these are the worst 21 countries for human trafficking:

Algeria
Afghanistan
Belarus
Cambodia
Chad
China
Cuba
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Guinea-Bissau
Iran
Nicaragua
North Korea
Myanmar (Burma)
Papua New Guinea
Russia
Syria
South Sudan
Turkmenistan
Venezuela

The Chinese government took some steps to combat human trafficking in 2022, including the passage of a new law that “enumerated the responsibilities of government officials to respond to such crimes.” The department notes the presence of a “government policy or pattern” in China of “widespread forced labor,” including mass detentions of the Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.

The department also notes reports on Russian officials “forcing, deceiving or coercing foreign national adults to fight” in Russia’s war in Ukraine. There were also reports of government officials “forcibly separating” some children from their parents, which “greatly increased” the former’s vulnerability to human trafficking.

Challenging the Narrative. A Deep Dive into the Misrepresentations of “Sound of Freedom” and the Realities of Human Trafficking

A Podcast By Dr. Celia Williamson

The recently released movie that’s taken the world by storm, “Sound of Freedom,” has raked in an astounding $217 million worldwide to date. It has also earned approximately that same amount outside the US. This film, with its American hero rescuing innocent children from far-off lands, isn’t painting the full picture of human trafficking. Join Dr. Cecilia Williamson as she navigates the complex narrative of this movie, challenging the distorted image it portrays of human trafficking.

While the film is certainly compelling, there are misrepresentations to dissect. Not all customers who buy victims are dirty and sweaty or wealthy beyond measure. Some hide in plain sight, in legitimate jobs, and occupy everyday positions of trust. And while the protagonist’s heroics are commendable, the reality of human trafficking is, unfortunately, more complex and requires more complex solutions. Listen to Dr. William’s podcast here.

500,000 Predators Online Each Day

Every 26 seconds, a child is trafficked globally, the majority ending up being labor trafficked or in the sex trade. There are more slaves today than any time in history.

Global sex trafficking is a fast-growing and horrific industry that tragically affects millions of children and women worldwide. We can either do something or do nothing. Creating awareness is not enough but rather a call to action is all of our responsibility. It will not only take an army of heroes but also a village of ordinary people like you and me.

Tech-savvy offenders have shifted their depraved ways from physical locations to digital ones. This dangerous landscape harbors a new type of threat where abusers can violate innocent children from anywhere with an internet connection.

Human Trafficking Happens Here, Too

Written by Bernadette Rixner at msrix@aol.com

On September 24, the Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking offered a presentation, “Human Trafficking Happens Here, Too.” It began with a presentation comparing the human trafficking seen in the movie “Sound of Freedom” with what is found in the U.S. and Siouxland. One of the biggest differences is that the trafficking victims shown in the movie were all abducted. However, in the U.S., the Polaris Project organization which runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline, estimates that only 10% of human trafficking victims in the U.S. have been abducted. They estimate that 45% of human trafficking victims in the U.S. have been involved in human trafficking by involvement in internet and social media. Other trafficking involvement comes through families, gangs, or organized crime.

Following the comparison, a panel with representatives from SafePlace, Haven House, Lila Mae’s House, and the Sioux City Police Department shared information on what they are seeing and how they are addressing human trafficking in the area. The representative from South Sioux City’s Haven House’s shelter for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking shared that the number of human trafficking cases they have had grew from five in 2021 to 14 in 2022 (13 sex, 1 other) to 37 (21 sex, 3 labor, 13 other/both) so far this year. The Sioux City Police talked, among other things, about the recent upsurge in sextortion among middle school boys and the increase in suicides connected with it.

Ashton Kutcher Steps Down as Board Chair of Anti-Child-Sex-Abuse Organization

Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman of the board of Thorn, the anti-child-sex-abuse and sex trafficking organization he co-founded in 2009 with his then-wife Demi Moore. His current wife Mila Kunis, who served as an observer on the organization’s board, is also stepping down. The move comes in the wake of outrage over their letters of support for Danny Masterson, who has been convicted of raping two women.

“Victims of sexual abuse have been historically silenced, and the character statement I submitted is yet another painful instance of questioning victims who are brave enough to share their experiences,” Kutcher wrote in a Sept. 14 letter to Thorn’s board.

“After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately,” Kutcher wrote. “I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”

The actor also apologized to victims of sexual assault and other advocates for letting them down. “The mission must always be the priority and I want to offer my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did,” he wrote to the board. “And to the broader advocacy community, I am deeply sorry. I remain proud of what we have accomplished in the past decade and will continue to support Thorn’s work. Thank you for your tireless advocacy and dedication to this cause.” To read the rest of the article, click here.

TV News Clips & Newspaper Articles

By Dr. George Belitsos on November 1, 2023 / News