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Vital Voices Statement on the Reauthorized Anti-Trafficking Law

On 21 December 2005, the U.S. Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, H.R. 972. According to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill will provide $361 million over the next two years to combat trafficking. We thank our Congressmen and citizens for your support for this important legislation.

Vital Voices has been at the forefront of anti-trafficking efforts worldwide for a decade. Together with other organizations, we have taken the leadership to help pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000 and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act in 2003. We welcome the U.S. government’s continued commitment to the fight against human trafficking. Many of the issues that Vital Voices has been promoting are included in the amended legislation, such as the need to: explore the link between HIV/AIDS and trafficking, hold both U.S. and international military personnel and government contractors accountable for labor and sex trafficking abuses, denounce government corruption which obstructs civil society’s anti-trafficking efforts, prevent the trafficking of vulnerable populations in post-conflict and post-disaster settings, and support and expand state and local victim service programs.

The TVPRA 2005 endeavors to combat international trafficking by addressing the needs of vulnerable populations in post-conflict settings, as well as domestic trafficking by preventing the trafficking of U.S. citizens and nationals. It also expands U.S. criminal jurisdiction for felony offenses committed by U.S. government personnel and contractors abroad to ensure that any involved in human trafficking activities will be held accountable for their crimes.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act has proven to be an effective tool and we must ensure that all governments intensify and concentrate their anti-trafficking resources and efforts. It is critical that the U.S. remain focused in our commitment to eradicating human trafficking in all forms, to ensure increased prosecutions and continued progress in working with law enforcement agencies.

Vital Voices Global Partnership

Read more about major Congressional actions, Congressional statements on TVPRA 2005, and the history of U.S. anti-trafficking law.
http://www.vitalvoices.org/desktopdefault.aspx?page_id=300