Sex Trafficking

After leading the campaign to put domestic sex trafficking of children on the national agenda, Senator Ron Wyden, worked with his colleagues to pass the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. The legislation supports programs that help trafficking victims by creating a deficit neutral Domestic Trafficking Victims’ Fund. The Fund is financed through fines on persons convicted of trafficking and other sex crimes and will increase federal resources available by up to $30 million per year. Recently, Senator Wyden also worked with colleagues to introduce the Abolish Human Trafficking Act that would reauthorize critical components of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Research suggests that the majority of trafficked youth in the United States have been in and out of the child welfare system, specifically foster care. Too often, the protections, services and protocols established for abused and neglected children within the child welfare system are not extended to trafficked children and youth, and in many states, such children aren’t even categorized as victims. Instead, they are often sent to the juvenile justice system and criminalized for being raped and trafficked. To address this serious issue, Senator Wyden passed the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act in 2014, to help prevent kids in foster care and the child welfare system from becoming victims in the first place.

One of the struggles in gaining attention to the issue of child sex trafficking is the lack of reliable data. Senator Wyden and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced the bipartisan Child Sex Trafficking Data and Response Act of 2013 to address this shortcoming, particularly as it relates to children in the child welfare system. The bill was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act which was led by Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Wyden.