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US Legislators Introduce Sex Trafficking Bill to Congress1

The End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act of 2005 introduced by U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Arlen Specter, and by U.S. Representatives Deborah Pryce, Carolyn Maloney, and Bobby Scott, Kay Granger, Thelma Drake – seeks to combat sex trafficking by targeting and reducing demand.

The bill expresses Congress's commitment to reducing the U.S. domestic demand for sex trafficking, which disproportionately victimizes women and children.

Section 4 of the Bill focuses on prosecution of purchasers, sex traffickers, and exploiters. This provision establishes a new federal grant program to encourage the development and implementation of demand-side strategies for the enforcement of laws against sex trafficking. The bill would authorize the appropriation of $15 million per year for fiscal years 2005 through 2007 to fund the grant program. Grants could be used (1) to focus prosecution efforts on purchasers of unlawful commercial sex acts – such as through educational programs, shaming penalties, the use of decoys, and other demand-side law enforcement strategies, (2) to focus prosecution efforts on traffickers and exploiters of unlawful commercial sex acts – such as through surveillance efforts, prosecutions for rape, sexual assault, and tax evasion, and civil actions for restitution, and (3) to fund NGOs specializing in providing services to victims of commercial sex activities, including protection, education, food, and shelter.

Section 5 strengthens prosecution and punishment of sex traffickers and purchasers and exploiters. This provision strengthens and clarifies federal criminal law by amending the 1910 Mann Act. The original 1910 version of the Mann Act prohibits the transportation of "any individual" across state or national lines, with the intent that such individual engage in prostitution or some other criminal sexual act. The bill would make clear that "any individual" includes the transportation of consumers across state lines, as well as the transportation of persons used for prostitution across state lines. This alteration would ensure that the Mann Act can be used to combat sex tourism. (The sex tourism provisions of the PROTECT Act apply only to sex tourism involving minors.)

Section 6 ensures that federal agencies involved in combating sex trafficking coordinate with the Senior Policy Operating Group established by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Section 7 contains a number of reporting requirements to strengthen future efforts to combat unlawful commercial sex. It would require the Attorney General to release an annual report on best practices for reducing the demand for unlawful commercial sex at a national conference sponsored by the Justice Department. The report would review the outcomes achieved by grant recipients and examine the Department's use of the Act's amendments to the Mann Act. The bill would also require the Attorney General to undertake a biennial comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence of unlawful commercial sex nationwide.