Moving in the Right Direction

The House is set to consider this week bipartisan legislation to strengthen support for youth who are victims of sex trafficking. With an estimated 300,000 children at risk of being victimized each year, youth sex trafficking is a crisis that demands national attention. As Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN), chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, noted at a recent oversight hearing:

No child should be afraid to walk home from school, hang out with friends at the mall, or surf the Internet. Yet sadly we know that’s just not the case. Too often a predator is lurking in the shadows, ready to do harm.

That is why the House is moving forward with bipartisan proposals that will improve our response to these heinous crimes. The legislation would enhance existing support for runaway and homeless youth and improve identification and assessment of youth sex trafficking victims.

• Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking (H.R. 5076). Introduced by Reps. Joe Heck (R-NV), John Kline (R-MN), and Bobby Scott (D-VA), the legislation would improve support provided specifically to runaway and homeless youth who are victims of sex trafficking.

• Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014 (H.R. 5081). Introduced by Reps. Karen Bass (D-CA), John Kline (R-MN), Tom Marino (R-PA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the bill would improve practices within state child welfare systems to identify and document sex trafficking victims.

The House is also expected to consider H.R. 5111, legislation introduced by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) that would add the term “child sex trafficking” in the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline reporting areas to reinforce that these children are victims, not criminals.

House members on both sides of the aisle are committed to strengthening support for victims of youth sex trafficking. To learn more about these bipartisan efforts, click here.

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