The Trafficking Victims Protection Act

Here in Michigan, Michigan state police and Michigan state attorney general say some of their cases of human trafficking happen on Mackinac Island. Human trafficking--mainly labor trafficking--has occurred in this area right here in our own homeland; human trafficking can happen anywhere and affects those that are most vulnerable. Although human trafficking is a complex social problem that preys on society 's most poor and vulnerable, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act hopes to address prosecution of traffickers and justice for the trafficked. This paper will explore the economic, political, ideology, social movement 's, and history of human trafficking and how the TVPA can relate and is working towards change.

Human trafficking is a public health problem within the United States and Internationally. The victims subjected to the lifestyle of human trafficking can have sexually transmitted disease, HIV virus, and AIDS. It is an estimated 30,000 victims of human sex trafficking dying each year from abuse, disease, torture, and neglect. According, to U.S. government an estimates, of 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually, and up to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year (Hodge, 2008). “According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the past 30 years, over 30 million children have been sexually exploited through human trafficking” (Random Facts, 2015, para. 24).

Out of the thousands of people that have been human trafficking victims each year, only an insignificant amount of them is actually reported. Imagine being in 8th grade. Having all sorts of hopes and dreams. Now flash forward to dreams being taken away by a pimp that lures people into human trafficking. In short, this is true for Holly Austin Smith, a survivor of human trafficking. The punishment for the pimps that ruin the lives of these young girls is not severe. Therefore, there is not much help for the girls after they get rescued from this tragedy. A realization Holly had soon on and explains, “...Although I was soon recognized to be a victim, the specialized aftercare needed for a trafficking victim did not yet exist... Twenty years ago, there were no anti-trafficking laws in place. This pimp, who raped and lured a child into prostitution, served only 365 days in jail” (Smith). This young girl had recovered from this horrible incident all by herself. Many other girls in her position have gone through similar experiences and have been hurt by their pimp. In addition, the pimp will not receive much punishment. A sad story repeated across America and is very prominent in other countries. In America, most of the time victims are the ones that usually serve time in jail since in some cases it’s considered prostitution, even if it was forced by the pimp. In most cases, the pimps stay uncovered and if the victims of trafficking come forward as to who their pimp is, they

Images of foreign lands usually conjure up when the thoughts of human sex trafficking come to one 's mind. The United States of America is not immune to this type of horrific behavior. America is the land of the free and yet something as awful as human sex trafficking occurs in our very own backyard each and everyday. According to the Department of Homeland Security the definition of human trafficking is “modern day slavery that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act” (“What Is Human Trafficking?”). In this research paper the reader will experience the savagery that comes with human sex trafficking and how it has expanded in the United States over recent years. Within this research

The policy under analysis is the H.R. 4980 (113th): Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014. It was introduced to Congress on June 26, 2014, and it was enacted on September 29, 2014 (Civic Impulse, 2017). The law was enacted to target several problems: first, to prevent and address sex trafficking of children in foster care (Subtitle A); second, to improve adoption incentives and extending family connection grants (Subtitle B); and third, to improve international child support recovery (Subtitle C) (Children’s Defense, 2014). The law cites the definition of ‘sex trafficking’ from the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) as, “The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person

The Tier System, set in place by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), is subject to political misinterpretation and biases concerning what data should be deemed as relevant, which undermines the integrity of the report and its ability to combat human trafficking. Many critics believe that the primary cause of political manipulation or misinterpretation is trade and commerce restrictions set in place by President Barack Obama in 2015 aimed at Tier 3 nations. Nations that are vital to U.S. trade and are not working to fight human trafficking are avoiding downgrade for the benefit of the United States. Political opponents of the Tier System have began to mention two nations in particular, China and Malaysia, that were recommended to be placed on Tier 3, but instead were placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. A suspected link between these nations not being placed as Tier 3 and the Trans Pacific Partnership have been made by the Heritage Foundation (a conservative think tank) and Reuters (a multinational news agency). For example, “If Malaysia had remained Tier 3 [in 2015], it would have proposed a potential barrier to Obama’s proposed trade pact…” (Reuters). Why is the idea of possible political manipulation important? If political manipulation can happen in any system or policy, why should we care? It is imperative and relevant to our world today regarding human rights, and it is something to be apprehensive about, especially in the case of the Tier System. Many defendants

This past year in the United States, there were an estimated 21,431 calls made to authorities concerning potential human trafficking situations and yet, the average American does not know that forced labor and prostitution is even a problem. (Melissa) Second to drug dealing, human trafficking is the largest criminal industry in the world today, and is growing fast. (Human Trafficking – Exploitation…) This modern day form of slavery takes victims captive against their will by using violence, threats, deception and other manipulative tricks. Even though each trafficking target has a different story, they all have similar experiences because they lose their freedom. In the United States, the First amendment protects all people citizens or aliens with basic freedoms. Therefore, human trafficking goes against ones American civil rights; human trafficking is major issue in the USA that needs to be stopped.

Traffickers continue to be in this cruelest method of oppression because human trafficking remains highly lucrative. The United States efficiently fight against the global as well as the country’s slavery by providing legal protection and post psychological development to the victims. This modern human right issue in the United States was made illegal when it passed the Trafficking Protection Act (TVPA) in October 2000, and later under reauthorization, Congress established a private right of action for victims of human trafficking into or within the United States to bring a civil action against their perpetrators. It is designed to combat human trafficking in America and abroad and through it, human trafficking victims qualify for governmental protection and services (Pierce). This enables the victims to sue and collect damages from

To fully understand the controversies regarding making human trafficking laws tougher in Texas, it is essential to analyze the various views regarding the issue and its history to be able to see how the problem arose. Such views include discussions of laws like Tex. Penal Code §20A.02, where it “Establishes trafficking as a second-degree felony with a sentence of two to 20 years imprisonment. If the persons trafficked or transported are under the age of 14, or if the commission of the offense results in death, the offense is a first-degree felony with a sentence of five to 99 years imprisonment” (“Human Trafficking Laws”). Specifically, these views are centered around three main beliefs. Some professionals advocate for tougher laws, while others want to see more comprehensive laws. Others believe that our attentions are misplaced, and instead, the emphasis should be on helping the victims recover from their traumas.

millions and “Human Sex Trafficking” has been termed the most common form of “modern-day slavery” (Leary). It is an industry that is “woven into the fabric of everyday life”. (Leary) The reasons for human trafficking range from forced prostitution, pornography, forced labor, organ harvesting and drug smuggling. In 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the “Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)” (Gouty) and as defined in this act of legislation, human trafficking does not require transportation of victims from one location to another and it does not require the crossing of an international border (Gouty). President Obama signed the latest

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 aims to combat human trafficking within the United States as well as abroad. On October 16, 2000, President Clinton signed the bill into law (Ryf, 2002). This statute states that slavery continues through the 21st century and is an issue that must be addressed. There is a three-tiered method to target human trafficking: prevention, protection, and prosecution. Additionally, this law requires the President to assign an interagency task force to monitor and combat trafficking as well as the responsibility to release the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act, 2000). Throughout this policy analysis, these areas of the law will be discussed in greater detail.

A significant feature to the VTVPA is that the United States will penalize countries if they do not comply with the VTVPA (Holman, 2009). This is an imperative feature and I think that it should be implemented throughout every single piece of legislation that deals with trafficking. Countries should be held accountable if they do not comply. The only way that sex trafficking can be officially over is if every single country complies with all the legislation. The United States looks at six different factors when deciding if they have met the criteria for eliminating trafficking. The United States looks at whether the country has investigated and prosecuted severe forms of trafficking, if they protected the victims, educated the public,

Human trafficking is classified as modern slavery because of the method in which people are recruited (coerced, kidnapped, sold, etc.) and transported to work in deplorable conditions where their basic human rights are violated (Gould, 2012). “Human trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/ or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour” (Department of Justice, 2015). Human trafficking

Many Americans remain ignorant of human trafficking within the United States, believing that this inhumane act only occurs in third-world countries. No one likes to believe that it can be happening in our own country let alone in some of our own states and cities. Society rarely takes the time to understand these women and what lead them into trafficking and what factors contributed to them staying in trafficking. This study seeks to voice the ability to raise awareness, enhance penalties for the traffickers/violator’s, and offer rehabilitation for the victims.

many academics, public officials, law enforcement authorities, and the news media believe human trafficking to be among the most tragic and horrendous transnational criminal activities facing us today. Victims are typically transported from