FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS: Teresa Downing-Matibag, Executive Director, Network Against Human Trafficking; and Cathy OKeeffe, Executive Director, Braking Traffik
Human trafficking is now a forcible felony in Iowa, and all law enforcement officers will be trained to respond to this crime, thanks to the support of a joint House and Senate Standing Committee for SF510 this session. The legislature has also allocated funding for public outreach and training professionals who may encounter human trafficking victims through their work, such as county attorneys, juvenile court officers, 911 dispatchers, sexual assault and domestic violence advocates, and social service providers.
The Crime Victims Assistance Division of the Department of Justice will develop and conduct Iowa’s outreach and training programs on human trafficking, in collaboration with government and nongovernment organizations.
A sense of urgency is compelling Iowa’s anti-trafficking initiative. Hundreds of women and youth are bought and sold in the commercial sex trade every day in our state, many of whom are estimated to be trafficking victims. All minors who are commercially sexually exploited are sex trafficking victims, according to state and federal law, as are all adults in the sex industry under conditions of force, fraud, or coercion.
Much of Iowa’s sex trafficking activity occurs through online ads for escorts, erotic massage, and adult services. Women and youth are not only trafficked online, however. They may also be trafficked through social networks facilitated by abusive caretakers or partners, adult entertainment businesses, gangs, drug dealers, criminal syndicates, and terrorist cells.
Sex trafficking victims are often hidden in plain sight, whether they are used for pornography, performing as erotic entertainers, or sold for sex at truck stops, hotels, or brothels fronting as legitimate businesses. They may also be exploited for pornography or sex while living at home.
The business of human trafficking is so lucrative that traffickers consider our nation’s public schools to be “candy stores” for identifying vulnerable youth of all backgrounds.
Human trafficking is now the world’s second most profitable criminal industry, following the international drug trade. The International Labor Organization estimates that profits exceed 150 billion dollars a year, largely due to demand for commercial sex and vulnerable workers.
Iowa is making great strides in its capacity to identify human trafficking activity, rescue victims from this heinous crime, and prosecute the criminals who profit from modern day slavery. Our legislators are to be commended for their commitment to preventing and ending human trafficking, including the enslavement of minors and young adults in the commercial sex trade and the exploitation of vulnerable workers in the labor force.
We owe thanks and appreciation to the members of the joint conference committee who supported the anti-trafficking sections of SF510 this year: Senators Bill Dix, Jack Whityer, Pam Jochum, Robert Dvorsky and Mike Gronstal; and Representatives Kraig Paulsen, Linda Upmeyer, Chris Hall, Chuck Soderberg, and Kirsten Running-Marquardt. Senators Sharon Steckman and Kevin Kinney, Representative Marti Anderson, and many others have also provided tremendous support for this effort.