The Fight to End Human Trafficking Part 4—U.S. Law Regarding Human Trafficking

 

Part 4- U.S. Law Regarding Human Trafficking

If you or someone you know needs assistance, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “BeFree” to 233733. You are not alone. 

 

As you are reading this introduction, it is vitally important that you understand the intention behind this series. These writings are not meant to lead by fear but rather by Faith, education, experience and integrity. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people; they are the only reliance for the preservation of our Liberty.” Stay we unaware of the plots against our nation, we remain ill equipped to expose and combat them; However, by spreading awareness, by sparking a continued interest in Truth seeking, and by openly receiving this information you become a part of the solution. You become a kink in the deep state machine that intends to keep you in the dark with blinders on serving the government instead of the government serving its people. The moment you become awake, is the moment you reclaim the power provided to you by God and protected in our Constitution. So we invite you to join us on this journey of Awakening, discussing difficult Truths and rediscovering what it means to be a Free American. 

 

If you’re returning, I want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and interest in The Fight to End Human Trafficking. If this is your first time with us, I urge you to check out our first three articles in this five part series where we address the basics of Human Trafficking, the lack of mainstream media coverage on the topic, the current state of affairs and set the stage for the conversations to come. In this edition we will be discussing U.S. Law regarding Human Trafficking. If you are enjoying this series and would like to learn more about how you can make a difference, or if you have questions, feel free to submit comments where you’re reading this article and I’ll do my best to answer them! You can also email me directly at walkyourpathinpeace@gmail.com. 

 

The first comprehensive federal law to protect victims of trafficking was passed in 2000. This bill is referred to as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 and addresses trafficking through prevention, protection and prosecution. This act was reauthorized through the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) in 2003, 2005, 2008, 2013 and 2017. While the TVPA of 2000 was a great first start, the TVPRA of 2017 significantly increased and expanded efforts to combat Human Trafficking including “Concrete Actions” to be taken by governments of other countries. “Concrete Actions” is defined in the bill as “actions that demonstrate increased efforts by the government of a country to meet minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking including any of the following: 

1. Enforcement actions taken.
2. Investigations actively underway. 
3. Prosecutions conducted. 
4. Convictions attained. 
5. Training provided. 
6. Programs and partnerships actively underway. 
7. Efforts to prevent severe forms of trafficking, including programs to reduce the vulnerability of particularly vulnerable populations, involving survivors of trafficking in community engagement and policy making, engagement with foreign migrants, ending recruitment fees, and other such measures.
8. Victim services offered, including immigration services and restitution. 
9. The amount of money the government has committed to the actions described in subparagraphs (A) through (H).”

 

The TVPRA of 2017 also goes on to address definitions of “Credible Information” broadening the range of acceptable sources, suggests the President should work with private businesses to explore and develop new forms of combatting Human Trafficking, outlines action to be taken against governments who do not meet the minimum standard for elimination of trafficking including but not limited to their placement on a watchlist in which they must submit concrete action plans for both short term and multi year goals, and the requirement of multilateral development banks to include human trafficking risk analyses as a part of their project management plans. 

 

There is a lot of valuable information packed into the most recent reauthorization of the TVPA of 2017, but there are a few points I’d like to highlight in particular. First, the suggestion of the President to work with the private sector in exploring and developing new ways of combatting Human Trafficking, specifically with the use of technology. For those of you who don’t know, I am an advocate for the complete eradication of Human Trafficking specifically with the use of digital transformation.

As a North American Cloud Strategist with a background in coding and development, AI/ML, and an avid continued learner of quantum mechanics, this particular portion of the bill is extremely exciting for me. I understand there are some reservations around advanced technology, however, as I have said time and time again – “It is not the technology that you should fear, it is who controls that technology that you should be wary of.”

 

I genuinely believe that, with Patriots in control of advanced technology, we can detect, mitigate, and eradicate Human Trafficking across the globe and, I personally, will strive to explore and develop such solutions. The second portion of this bill that I’d like to highlight, not to overshadow any other pieces, is the requirement of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to submit Human Trafficking risk assessments with their project management plans. This is huge.

A MDB is an International Financial Institution (IFI) chartered by two or more countries for the purpose of encouraging economic development in poorer nations. A few MDBs you may recognize are the World Bank Group, Islamic Development Bank Group, International Fund for Agricultural Development, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Asian Development Bank. These International Financial Institutions are responsible for approximately $222 Billion in financing efforts that are “crucial for global stabilization”.

Before engaging in international business dealings with the United States, these banks are now required to “further develop anti-human trafficking provisions in relevant project development, safeguards, procurement, and evaluation policies”. Additionally, they are required to support analyses of the economic and social impact of Human Trafficking and the benefits of reducing Human Trafficking while integrating meaningful risk mitigation into project plans.

Introducing a large amount of money in an otherwise underdeveloped area can greatly shift the socio-economic structure of the area producing pockets of high demand for labor or sexual exploitation. On the other hand, it can displace otherwise stable individuals and create a more vulnerable situation. Forcing these banking institutions to become aware of their impact on Human Trafficking before making investments and then holding them accountable is a very important advancement and one step closer to ending Human Trafficking across the globe. 

 

Throughout 2016-2020, there were many bills passed to combat Human Trafficking. Some include: 

1.  Abolish Human Trafficking Act of 2017 focusing on preserving funds for victims of trafficking, mandatory restitution for victims of sexual exploitation, victim training for federal agencies and prosecutors, enhanced penalties for Human Trafficking, child exploitation and repeat offenders, creation of an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, HERO Act improvements and much more. 
2. Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018 focusing on preventing future Human Trafficking in the United States and abroad, providing victim training to aircraft carriers and government contractors, ensuring the United States Government does not fund Human Trafficking, demand reduction and best practices of combatting Human Trafficking, actions against Human Traffickers to include ‘‘(D) Officials of a foreign government who participate in, facilitate, or condone severe forms of trafficking in persons for significant financial gain.’’, and more. 
3. Executive Order 31838 blocking the property of persons involved in serious human rights abuse or corruption. 

 

Understanding the law is crucial to our overall success in combatting Human Trafficking and provides We the People with the knowledge we need to press on. While strides have been made and the arrests continue to increase, there is still more work to be done. As free citizens of this great nation we have a responsibility to influence our legislators and implore them to adequately represent their constituents. That is why I would like to take a moment to discuss two bills being proposed to the House of Representatives that can greatly impact the demand for Human Trafficking through combatting child pornography.

 

H4535 – Device Filter Legislation: Protecting children from harmful images online; requiring manufacturers to default filters to “ON” rather than “OFF”. 

1. 1. Problem: Adolescent and preteen children are consuming hard core pornography with unfiltered internet accessible devices. Pornography is a highly addictive agent and children are especially vulnerable; for many, it serves as their sex education. A nationally representative survey found that 64% of young people, ages 13-24, actively seek out pornography weekly or more often. Porn consumption continues to be an issue as the Navigators Christian Ministry at Clemson University which reports most men and 25-30% of women students in Navigators struggle with pornography addiction. 
   2. Solution: Virtually all internet accessible devices are manufactured with built in filtering capabilities and parental controls features, but the filters are defaulted to “OFF”. This legislation mandates that the devices be manufactured so that the filters be defaulted to “ON” when activated in South Carolina. 

 

According to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, “Without this legislation it is not possible for parents to effectively protect their children from the massive amounts of harmful material inundating them online.”

 

Reasoning: Why Filters? 

1. 1. Devices are currently manufactured with filters built in but defaulted to “OFF”. 
   2. Parents/guardians find turning filters “ON” to be very burdensome; default “ON” rather than default “OFF” addresses this. 
   3. With the default “ON”, parents/guardians may control access to speech harmful to children. 
   4. Placing filters on the device itself, instead of on the network, protects minors on the internet wherever the device is used. 

 

Free Speech? 

1. 1. This legislation does not restrict adult access to speech as it filters speech at the device level rather than universally restricting the source internet. 
   2. Adults may elect to consume pornography by deactivating the filters on the device with a passcode. 
   3. This legislation allows the state to mandate the use of filters while empowering parents to determine what material is appropriate for their children. 

 

This legislation is a necessary incremental step in advancing South Carolina’s legitimate interest to protect our children from harmful online materials without restricting adult access to protected speech. Parents, guardians, and the SC Attorney General will be able to bring civil actions against: adults who deactivate filters on devices used by minors and manufacturers of devices who do not comply with the law. 

 

H4563 – Cyber Sexual Harassment aka Revenge Porn: Protection against the online sharing of private images.

1. • Problem: Cyber Sexual Harassment (Revenge Porn) is an action taken by a person who: 
     1. Receives a private sexually explicit self-image from another person who sends it with a reasonable expectation of privacy that the image will not be shared, and 
     2. The identity of the provider of the image can be recognized from it, and
     3. The person receiving the private image publishes it to the internet without consent.

 

The sharing of private sexually explicit self-images has become a frequent practice amongst both the juvenile and adult populations. The publication of these images on the internet without consent has also become common.

Unsuspecting juveniles are often preyed upon by online predators who solicit the images and use them to coerce the juvenile into sex trafficking and other illicit activities. Many juveniles share the images with those they consider friends only to find the image posted on a social media platform when the relationship turns sour. Once the image is posted on the internet it is almost impossible to have it removed, especially if the image goes viral. South Carolina is currently 1 out of 3 states without a Revenge Porn statute. 

1. Solution: Law enforcement is asking the South Carolina Legislature to pass this statute. Currently, the only law available to S.C. law enforcement to sanction this activity as possession and distribution of child pornography. Law enforcement is reluctant to charge juveniles with this crime because it entails major criminal penalties inappropriate for what is often thoughtless juvenile behavior.

 

Your Call to Action for this part in our series will take no more than 5-10 minutes and embodies what it means to be an American. Please reach out to your State House Representative and urge them to support these two bills. If you’re not sure who your Representatives are please click here, enter your address, and save their contact information. For this Call to Action, you will be emailing your State House Representative, not your US Representative. To make it extremely simple, you can copy and paste the following into an email addressed to your State Reps: 

 

Dear Representative, 

I live in ________ and I am your constituent. Please sign on as a cosponsor to

H4535 – Lin Bennett, Youth Protection from Internet Pornography Act and H4563 – Chris Wooten, Cyber Sexual Harassment Act (aka Revene Porn Statute).

H4535 addresses the fact that young people have unrestricted access to internet pornography through their smart phones. Pornography filters are built into these devices but they are sold with the filters turned “OFF” by default. Most parents do not know filters are available on the devices. Lin Bennett’s bill would require the internet accessible devices be sold with the filters turned “ON”. Please help protect our children from harmful pornography.

H4563 addresses Cyber Sexual Harassment. Juveniles often share sexually explicit self-images with others. When the relationship sours the person receiving the images often posts it on social media as an act of revenge. It is nearly impossible to get the social media platform to take down the image causing the victim relentless embarrassment. H4563 makes this a crime.

South Carolina is one of only three states without a revenge porn statute. Therefore, law enforcement does not have a needed tool at its disposal to deal with a crime that has become common. Please cosponsor these bills and call on Chairman Murphy to schedule hearings with the House Judiciary Committee. Thank you for choosing to be a part of the solution to combat Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in South Carolina.

 

Be sure to include your name and town and only identify yourself as a constituent if you are emailing the Representative for your district. 

Finally, here are a few resources you can explore if you’d like to learn more about Human Trafficking. Thank you for choosing to be a part of the solution. Be sure to check back soon for the next and final part in this series. If you missed any of the series click this link.

www.polarisproject.org

www.humantraffickinghotline.org

https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking/press-room

 

Dakota Fitzgerald is 2nd Vice Chair of the Greenville County GOP, an America First MAGA Patriot whose vision is to embolden others to embrace, wholly, their duty and contribution to humanity while forming a more perfect Union and fighting to End Human Trafficking.

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