Continued from December 2024 blog post
To make matters worse, Iowa received an “F” from Shared Hope International, an organization committed to ending human trafficking, for our prevention and protection efforts. In a state known for its strong sense of community, it is unacceptable that we are failing to prevent trafficking, offer victims a way out, and provide the necessary services for recovery.
As an advocate for human trafficking victims for nearly two decades, I am deeply saddened that my beloved state has fallen behind. The private sector has developed a supportive infrastructure, and we need policymakers to help sustain these vital programs with adequate funding in the public sector. In my role as co-founder of Chains Interrupted, a nonprofit dedicated to combating and preventing human trafficking, I regularly engage with lawmakers and fellow advocates. We all agree “action is needed,” but the necessary policies and funding have yet to materialize. Many other states in our nation have acted and Iowa is now sadly standing out for lacking several crucial policies.
Our state is in a prime position to act. The human trafficking prevention community has come together to propose the following recommendations for the 2025 legislative session:
Establish a Human Trafficking Survivor Services Fund: Allocate $1 million to ensure services are available statewide to provide the financial stability needed to guarantee survivors have access to safe spaces and reintegration services.
Create an ongoing taskforce to develop legislative recommendations to strengthen anti-human-trafficking efforts.
Extend the civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse or trafficking of a minor to five years after the victim reaches the age of 18.
Close the loopholes in Iowa Code (710A and 725.1) that do not protect children adequately in the commercial sexual exploitation of children, or CSEC.
Require the Department of Health and Human Services to screen all minors entering the system for human trafficking (CSEC) while increasing the availability of restoration facilities and protective services for juvenile trafficking victims.
Require juvenile justice agencies to screen all minors entering the system for human trafficking (CSEC).
The trade is everywhere, coast to coast, with most reports coming from densely populated cities. Nationally in 2019, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received more than 48,000 contacts, and 11,500 trafficking cases were reported. About 1,500 of those reports happened in California, followed by Texas (1,080), Florida (896), New York (454) and Ohio (450).