What This Bill Does
This bill directs the Attorney General to study how widespread human trafficking is in the United States and to develop better ways to measure it. The bill also calls for training prosecutors to better handle trafficking cases and for states to improve protections for trafficking victims.
Who It Affects
Survivors of human trafficking, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim service providers, the Attorney General, other federal agencies, and state governments.
Key Provisions
* Congress wants federal training funds to focus on protecting victim service workers from intimidation, using trauma-informed approaches to help victims, and ensuring police determine if someone is a trafficking victim before arresting them (Sec. 2)
* The Attorney General must create a working group of experts and trafficking survivors within one year to identify problems with collecting data about trafficking and recommend better data collection methods (Sec. 3(a)(1))
* The Attorney General must test new methods for measuring trafficking within three years and report to Congress on federal efforts to estimate trafficking, whether current policies work, and how trafficking affects different groups in different regions (Sec. 3(a)(2) and 3(b))
* The Attorney General must create a survey of survivors receiving victim services within two years and make the results publicly available (Sec. 3(c))
* The Attorney General must report to Congress within one year on efforts to increase restitution (money paid as compensation) to trafficking victims (Sec. 4)
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, the federal government will begin studying trafficking more systematically and developing better methods to understand how many people are trafficked. The government will also focus federal training on helping prosecutors handle trafficking cases better and on protecting people who work with trafficking victims.
Important Definitions
None defined in the bill text.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 528
To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human trafficking,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 25, 2023
Mrs. WAGNER (for herself, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Work-
force, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
A BILL
To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to
human trafficking, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Put Trafficking Vic-
4
tims First Act of 2023’’.
5
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•HR 528 IH
SEC. 2. TRAINING FOR PROSECUTIONS OF TRAFFICKERS
1
AND SUPPORT FOR STATE SERVICES FOR
2
VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING.
3
It is the sense of Congress that a portion of the funds
4
available for training and technical assistance under sec-
5
tion 107(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Victims of Trafficking and Vi-
6
olence
Protection
Act
of
2000
(22
U.S.C.
7
7105(b)(2)(B)(ii)) should be devoted to advancing the fol-
8
lowing goals:
9
(1) Increasing the personal safety of victim
10
service providers, who may face intimidation or re-
11
taliation for their activities.
12
(2) Promoting a trauma-informed, evidence-
13
based, and victim-centered approach to the provision
14
of services for victims of trafficking.
15
(3) Ensuring that law enforcement officers and
16
prosecutors make every attempt to determine wheth-
17
er an individual is a victim of human trafficking be-
18
fore arresting the individual for, or charging the in-
19
dividual with, an offense that is a direct result of the
20
victimization of the individual.
21
(4) Effectively prosecuting traffickers and indi-
22
viduals who patronize or solicit children for sex, and
23
facilitating access for child victims of commercial sex
24
trafficking to the services and protections afforded
25
to other victims of sexual violence.
26
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•HR 528 IH
(5) Encouraging States to improve efforts to
1
identify and meet the needs of human trafficking
2
victims, including through internet outreach and
3
other methods that are responsive to the needs of
4
victims in their communities.
5
(6) Ensuring victims of trafficking, including
6
United States citizens, lawful permanent residents,
7
and foreign nationals are eligible for services.
8
SEC. 3. WORKING TO DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES TO AS-
9
SESS PREVALENCE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
10
(a) WORKING GROUP.—
11
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after
12
the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-
13
eral, in consultation with other Federal entities en-
14
gaged in efforts to combat human trafficking, shall
15
establish an expert working group, which shall in-
16
clude survivors of human trafficking, experts on sex
17
and labor trafficking, representatives from organiza-
18
tions collecting data on human trafficking, and law
19
enforcement officers. The working group shall, uti-
20
lizing, to the extent practicable, existing efforts of
21
agencies, task forces, States, localities, Tribes, re-
22
search institutions, and organizations—
23
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•HR 528 IH
(A) identify barriers to the collection of
1
data on the incidence of sex and labor traf-
2
ficking; and
3
(B) recommend practices to promote better
4
data collection and analysis.
5
(2) PILOT TESTING.—Not later than 3 years
6
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney
7
General shall implement a pilot project to test prom-
8
ising methodologies studied under paragraph (1).
9
(b) REPORT.—
10
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after
11
the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-
12
eral, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the
13
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec-
14
retary of Homeland Security, and the Director of
15
the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, shall
16
submit to Congress a report on—
17
(A) Federal efforts to estimate the preva-
18
lence of human trafficking at the national and
19
regional levels;
20
(B) the effectiveness of current policies
21
and procedures to address the needs of victims
22
of trafficking; and
23
(C) an analysis of demographic character-
24
istics of victims of trafficking in different re-
25
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•HR 528 IH
gions of the United States and recommenda-
1
tions
for
how
to
address
the
unique
2
vulnerabilities of different victims.
3
(2) INPUT FROM RELEVANT PARTIES.—In de-
4
veloping the report under paragraph (1), the Attor-
5
ney General shall seek input from the United States
6
Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, victims of
7
trafficking, human trafficking survivor advocates,
8
service providers for victims of sex and labor traf-
9
ficking, and the President’s Interagency Task Force
10
on Human Trafficking.
11
(c) SURVEY.—Not later than 2 years after the date
12
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in coordi-
13
nation with Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments,
14
and private organizations, including victim service pro-
15
viders and expert researchers, shall develop and execute
16
a survey of survivors seeking and receiving victim assist-
17
ance services for the purpose of improving the provision
18
of services to human trafficking victims and victim identi-
19
fication in the United States. Survey results shall be made
20
publicly available on the website of the Department of Jus-
21
tice.
22
(d) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—No additional funds
23
are authorized to carry out this section.
24
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•HR 528 IH
SEC. 4. REPORT ON PROSECUTORS SEEKING RESTITUTION
1
IN TRAFFICKING CASES.
2
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
3
of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the
4
Administrative Office of the United States Courts, shall
5
submit to Congress a report on efforts to increase restitu-
6
tion to victims of human trafficking.
7
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ENCOURAGING STATES TO
8
ADOPT PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF TRAF-
9
FICKING.
10
Congress recognizes and applauds the State legisla-
11
tive bodies that have taken tremendous steps to adopt pro-
12
tections and services for victims of trafficking. Congress
13
encourages States to—
14
(1) uphold the dignity of human trafficking sur-
15
vivors;
16
(2) ensure the safety, confidentiality, and well-
17
being of victims of trafficking, while recognizing
18
symptoms of trauma and coping mechanisms that
19
may impact victims’ interactions with law enforce-
20
ment, the justice system, and service providers;
21
(3) implement screening mechanisms to identify
22
and extend appropriate services to children in the
23
custody of child protective services agencies, the ju-
24
venile justice system, or the criminal justice system
25
who are victims of trafficking;
26
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•HR 528 IH
(4) promote greater access to child welfare serv-
1
ices for, rather than criminalization of, child victims
2
of sex trafficking;
3
(5) develop a 24-hour emergency response plan
4
by which victims of human trafficking may receive
5
immediate protection, shelter, and support from a
6
victim assistance coordinator when those victims are
7
first identified;
8
(6) adopt protections for adult victims of traf-
9
ficking, such as protection if the victim’s safety is at
10
risk, comprehensive trauma-informed, long-term, cul-
11
turally competent care and healing services, mental
12
health services to relieve traumatic stress, housing,
13
education (including, where appropriate, vocational
14
training and employment assistance), mentoring,
15
language assistance, drug and substance abuse serv-
16
ices, and legal services;
17
(7) ensure that child sex trafficking victims are
18
treated as children in need of child protective serv-
19
ices and receive appropriate care in the child wel-
20
fare, rather than juvenile justice, system;
21
(8) encourage the adoption of procedures for
22
human trafficking victims that are consistent with
23
those afforded to victims of sexual assault, rape,
24
child sexual abuse, or incest to allow human traf-
25
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•HR 528 IH
ficking victims to clear records, expunge convictions,
1
and vacate adjudications related to prostitution and
2
nonviolent offenses that arose as a direct result of
3
being trafficked, including protections for foreign
4
nationals who are being removed and those who are
5
losing or determined to be inadmissible for immigra-
6
tion benefits as a result of the aforementioned
7
human trafficking victim related conviction or ar-
8
rest; and
9
(9) ensure victims of trafficking, including
10
United States citizens, lawful permanent residents,
11
and foreign nationals are eligible for services.
12
Æ
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