Groundbreaking State Law Analysis Released Today
The Renewal Forum today released what we think is an unprecedented analysis of state laws on human trafficking. The good news is that 36 states have addressed in law the phenomenon of modern-day slavery. (PDF copy of Report available on “Reports” tab above).
The bad news is that the best of these state laws (Illinois) received a grade of B-. Only four others received a C- or better. The balance scored a “D” or “F.” The proliferation of state anti-trafficking statutes is an important advancement in the anti-trafficking movement, but a state having an anti-trafficking law is not as important as having a good law. The major categories of deficiencies in state anti-trafficking laws are:
- failure to define both labor and commercial sexual exploitation as human trafficking; or failure to recognize the full range of psychological bondage techniques employed by traffickers;
- inadequate support for the restoration of victims, and failure to provide for restitution, civil rights of action, and other support for care provision;
- failure to shield victims of trafficking from acts committed while in the trafficked condition;
- failure to do more than merely criminalize human trafficking.
A broader, pro-active community response is needed to abolish this practice. The states with the best laws are: Illinois (B-); New Jersey (C+);Indiana (C); North Carolina (C); Idaho (C-). The states with the worst laws are: Colorado (F+);Louisiana (F+); Hawaii (F); South Carolina (F); Virginia (F). Fourteen states and the District of Columbia lack any anti-trafficking law, and received an “F.” Full-text of the Renewal Forum report is linked above, and we encourage you to read it and share with us your feelback. We are convinced that the abolition of human trafficking will occur as the result of state and community action. Part of our goal is to start a dialogue about how best to create an enviornment in which human trafficking withers. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. The crime of human trafficking is at root the exploitation of the person – compelling them to do something against their will – for the purpose of profiting from their labor or sex acts. The federal government estimates that 14,500 – 17,500 victims are arriving from other countries each year, but the Renewal Forum finds that the number of U.S. citizen victims – mostly juveniles trapped in commercial sexual exploitation – exceeds 200,000 per year.
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