Official Statement
Human Trafficking is a $32 billion dollar a year industry worldwide. The United Nations estimates up to 4 million men, women, and children around the world are trafficked every year.
Vital Voices Global Partnership welcomes the introduction of the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act (FDTVPPA) of 2017. It was introduced by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Karen Bass (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Susan Brooks (R-IN), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Ann Wagner (R-MO), and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA). The bill reauthorizes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, which was the first comprehensive law to address trafficking in persons and arguably the most critical and comprehensive piece of legislation on anti-trafficking in the United States.
The bill, which has already been reauthorized four times by overwhelming majorities (in 2003, 2005, 2008. 2013), strives to fill critical gaps. It will reauthorize nearly $130 million in funding for both domestic and international programming. It will also ensure greater efforts to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers. Specifically, the bill ensures that government funds will not be used by businesses with human trafficking in their supply chain, that survivor restitution is exempt from being taxed, and that there are improved efforts to prevent goods made by forced labor from entering the United States.