© International Center for the Prevention of Human Trafficking 2013

Trafficking Victims Prevention Act (TVPA)2000 The TVPA, enacted October 28, 2000, was the first comprehensive federal law to address trafficking. This Act incorporated a two-tiered definition of trafficking which included severe forms of trafficking in persons and sex trafficking. The law provided a three pronged approach for combating trafficking: prevention through public awareness programs overseas and a State Department run monitoring/sanctions program; protection for victims through visa opportunities and services for foreign national victims; and prosecution through new federal crimes. Provisions in the Act included: • $95 million, over the course of two years, for the enforcement of anti-trafficking provisions as new assistance programs. • The requirement of annual reports on trafficking as part of the State Department Country reports on Human Rights. • The creation of an Inter-agency Task Force to monitor and combat trafficking, which would facilitate and evaluate progress in trafficking prevention, victims assistance, and the prosecution of traffickers. • The authorization of grants for shelters and rehabilitation programs. • Relief from deportation for victims who face retribution or other hardship if removed from the U.S. through the creation of the T Visa and the temporary legal status of “continued presence.” • The creation of new crimes of forced labor (18 U.S.C. § 1589); trafficking with respect to peonage slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor (18 U.S.C § 1590); sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion or sex trafficking of children(18 U.S.C § 1591); and unlawful conduct with documents in furtherance of trafficking (18 U.S.C. § 1592). • Severe punishments, including up to life imprisonment, and the possibility of severe economic sanctions for people convicted of operating trafficking enterprises within the U.S. Trafficking Victims Prevention Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) 2003 The TVPRA, enacted December 19, 2003, reauthorized appropriations for fiscal years 2004 and 2005. The reauthorization called for increased cooperation between foreign governments, assistance for family members of victims and enhanced prosecution of traffickers.  The law enhanced prevention of trafficking in persons by: • Authorizing more than $200 million over two years to combating human trafficking. • Creating a Special Watch List to keep pressure on countries of various Tiers in the trafficking report and added new criteria for the State Department to consider in drafting the trafficking in person report, including evaluating progress from year to year. • Allowing the U.S. Government to terminate international contracts if the contractor engages in human trafficking (through forced labor or procurement of commercial sexual services) while the contract is in force. • Requiring that travelers to selected locations be educated about U.S. laws against sex tourism. • Allowing victims to sue their perpetrators in criminal court. • Extending benefits to additional family members of the trafficking victim.

Trafficking Victims Prevention Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) 2005 The TVPRA, enacted January 10, 2006, enhanced specified U.S. efforts to combat trafficking in persons, including the prevention of such activities by international peacekeepers. This law further authorized new programs to serve U.S. citizens; victims of domestic trafficking that had been significantly overlooked in terms of services.  Key provisions on the Reauthorization Act include: • Authorizing more than $300 million over two years to combating human trafficking. • Providing U.S. courts with jurisdiction over federal government employees and contractors for trafficking offenses committed abroad. • Requiring the Attorney General to conduct a national study on the illegal commercial sex industry in the U.S., including the prevalence of severe forms of trafficking and sex trafficking in the U.S., and the approach to combat these crimes by law enforcement. • Requiring the establishment of a pilot program that would provide residential treatment facilities for child victims • Establishing a grant program for states and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute acts of severe forms of trafficking (that involve U.S. citizens or legal residents) and criminals who purchase commercial sex acts within the United States. • The grants also could be used to expand or develop programs to end the demand for victims William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 enhances federal efforts to combat both international and domestic trafficking. The law directs the President to create a system to monitor anti-trafficking efforts and programs at the federal level. The Act also strengthens the role and authority of the Trafficking in Persons Office and greatly enhances the tools available to domestic criminal prosecutors of traffickers. For example, • Prosecutors no longer have to prove that a defendant knew the victim was a minor; they just need to show that a defendant had a “reasonable opportunity to observe” the victim. • The standard of proof is lowered to “reckless disregard” for traffickers or defendants who come into contact with victims forced to engage in commercial sex acts. • The provision carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 to 15 years and requires no proof of fraud, force or coercion for convictions. • The Act expands criminal liability to anyone financially benefiting or receiving anything of value from ANY federal trafficking crime, as long as they have the required level of knowledge • The Act requires the Department of Justice to create a new model law making all acts of pimping and pandering per se crimes, even without proof of force, fraud or coercion or a victim’s minor age. • There are a number of new provisions in the Act specific to data collection and reporting. • The Act orders the Federal Bureau of Investigation to break down the categories of prostitution and commercialized vice arrests in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) to show how many victims, johns and pimps or traffickers were arrested. • Human trafficking crimes will now be placed in the most serious crimes section of the UCR. • Several new studies from the Department of Justice about the enforcement of laws related to human trafficking are required. • HHS and the DOJ must submit a report on the extent of service gaps between domestic and foreign national victims. • The Act also expands protection to trafficking victims and their families in several respects. For example: • Additional provisions are made to provide assistance for domestic trafficking victims and vulnerable unaccompanied foreign national children. • The number of family members eligible for immigration assistance is broadened. • Witnesses are allowed to come back to the U.S. to participate in investigates • The time period covered by T and U Visas is extended in certain cases • Waiver of the “good moral character” requirement if the relevant acts were incident to the trafficking is allowed Mann Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 2421 The White Slave Traffic Act, better known as the Mann Act, was enacted in 1910 as a prohibition against white slavery and the interstate transportation of women for “immoral purposes.”  Since then, the Act’s definition of transportation has been modified and more protections for minors have been added. While not enacted specifically to deal with human trafficking, the Act makes it a felony to knowingly transport any person in interstate or foreign commerce for prostitution, or for any sexual activity for which a person can be charged with a criminal offense.  A person also violates the Act if he persuades, induces, entices, or coerces an individual to travel across state lines to engage in prostitution or other immoral purposes, or attempts to do so.  This law is frequently used as an effective tool to prosecute sex traffickers. Penalties for knowingly persuading or coercing someone to cross state lines for the purpose of engaging in prostitution include a fine or up to 20 years in prison.  However, if it is a minor who is being enticed to engage in prostitution, the penalty is ten years to life.