Policy Focus: The Project For Abolition of Juvenile Human Trafficking in the U.S.

Slavery has returned to American soil. The characteristics of 21st century slavery differ from those of the 19th century – in particular, today’s exploiters utilize psychological bondage more than physical bondage. So the federal government updated its anti-slavery laws by passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000. However, implementation of this law has been disappointingly ineffective. The abolition of slavery in the United States hinges on aggressive action at the state and local levels, by both law enforcement entities and non-governmental community organizations.

(1) STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The phenomenon of human trafficking – modern-day slavery – is arguably the greatest systematic affront to human rights and human dignity in the United States today. The term is something of a misnomer: the crime of human trafficking does not necessary entail the physical movement of people; the crime of human trafficking is at root about the exploitation of a human being, the compelling of a person to provide labor or engage in commercial sex against his or her will, by means of force, fraud, or coercion. The U.S. government’s intelligence community has estimated that 14,500 to 17,500 persons from other countries become victims of human trafficking in the United States each year. We have no credible estimate of the total population of foreign victims of trafficking here in the United States at this moment. But we do know that since passage of the TVPA, just over 1000 victims have been identified, rescued, and provided access to restorative help. And we know that only 10% of these victims were juveniles at the time of their rescue, whereas internationally, experience has shown that half of all victims are juveniles. And we know, finally, that the population of U.S. citizen victims of trafficking dwarfs the number of victims from other countries.

(2) PROJECT GOALS

The goal of the Renewal Forum’s Project for the Abolition of Juvenile Human Trafficking in the United States is to facilitate a dramatic increase in the detection, rescue, and restoration of juvenile victims of human trafficking in the United States. This is being accomplished by a combination of analysis and advocacy: the Forum is working to enhance the efficacy of anti-trafficking laws at the federal, state and local levels of government; it is improving the implementation of these laws by government entities; and it is catalyzing local community action on trafficking.

For example, the Renewal Forum recently released our critique of the 36 state anti-trafficking statutes, and is pushing for improvements in these laws (the most highly rated state, Illinois, nonetheless received a grade of B-; there is ample room for improvement in these state laws). The Forum will published a model state anti-trafficking law, and is encouraging its adoption in the remaining 14 states.

The next phase of our project is the creation of a template for a community-based continuum of response to juvenile human trafficking, and to advocate for the adoption of this continuum by targeted municipalities. This template will be based on the results of our on-going analysis of the most effective models of detection, rescue, restoration, public awareness/community activism, community/police collaboration, and demand reduction.