The U.S. Response to Trafficking

The U.S. government has taken steps to address trafficking both nationally and globally. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), and its reauthorization in 2003 (TVPRA), provides extensive protections and services for victims of trafficking found in the U.S. regardless of nationality. This statute defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:

Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or

The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. (106 P.L. 386: 114 Stat. 1470, Sec 103(8))

Victims of trafficking are eligible for social services through several government channels. American citizens who are victims of domestic trafficking are eligible for social services such as Medicaid, food stamps, and housing subsidies. Foreign-born victims can access similar services as they move through the ‘certification’ process, which gives such victims legal immigrant status under the TVPA.

Victims who are ‘certified’ receive services through funds provided by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Those who are awaiting certification are served by service providers fund by the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). The services provide victims with the essentials for day to day living, but also the training and educational opportunities that will allow them to become self-sufficient in this country.

Source for information: Source for information: Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, 2002, “Trafficking in Persons: A Guide for Non-governmental Organizations”

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