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News & Updates

Trafficking Bill Introduced, CA

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber will be introducing her first bill of the 2005-2006 Legislative Session on Monday, December 6th. The intent of this bill is to make human trafficking for sexual slavery and forced labor a felony in California. The omnibus measure also seeks to protect victims of trafficking, make them eligible for social services, and will create a task force to develop anti-trafficking policy recommendations.

Lieber has served as Chair of the Assembly's Select Committee on Human Trafficking in California. The Select Committee, created in 2004 by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, has worked with the State Commission on the Status of Women, the Women's Law Center and other victims' service providers to identify issues relating to human trafficking in California and to develop this legislation.

The California Anti-trafficking Initiative (CAI), the newly-formed statewide coalition of anti-trafficking organizations, welcomes the introduction of anti-trafficking legislation that seeks to protect victims of human trafficking, as well as create criminal tools to hold traffickers accountable for their actions. A recent joint study by the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley and Free The Slaves on trafficking in the United States found that California has one of the highest incidences of trafficking in the country.

The language of the bill will be available via the Internet at

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov