[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 919 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 919

     Encouraging States to uphold the rights and dignity of human 
                         trafficking survivors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2016

 Mrs. Wagner submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Encouraging States to uphold the rights and dignity of human 
                         trafficking survivors.

Whereas all men, women, and children are endowed by their Creator with certain 
        unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit 
        of happiness;
Whereas neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United 
        States;
Whereas every survivor of sex and labor trafficking has the right to be truly 
        recognized and treated as a victim and should be treated with the same 
        justice, respect, and dignity as other victims of crime;
Whereas victims of human trafficking in the United States can face criminal 
        charges, mandatory detention, and even deportation as a result of their 
        exploitation;
Whereas survivors of trafficking who are arrested, prosecuted, and convicted of 
        charges resulting from their status as a victim of trafficking face 
        obstacles in reestablishing their lives and obtaining employment, 
        education, and housing;
Whereas victims of human trafficking are difficult to identify and are subject 
        to manipulation, force, fraud, coercion, and abuse;
Whereas women in the commercial sex industry have a higher homicide 
        victimization rate than any other set of women, and are at very high 
        risk for abuse, disease, injury, and death;
Whereas there is no such thing as a child prostitute or child sex worker, as 
        children in the commercial sex industry are by definition victims of a 
        severe form of trafficking in persons;
Whereas 1 in 5 runaway children are likely sex trafficking victims, and studies 
        have shown that adults, often significantly older men, manipulate youth 
        into exchanging sex for meals, material goods, or cash;
Whereas many domestic child sex trafficking victims do not self-identify as sex 
        trafficking victims and are not aware of their rights;
Whereas child sex trafficking victims are more likely to be arrested than sex 
        traffickers and sex buyers;
Whereas, as many as 75 percent of underage victims of sex trafficking have been 
        advertised or sold online, where the Internet makes exploitation simple, 
        anonymous, and accessible;
Whereas victims of labor trafficking are compelled to accept jobs through 
        deception, coercion, or force and endure horrific, inhumane conditions;
Whereas many victims of labor trafficking are subject to physical abuse, sexual 
        violence, debt bondage, confiscation of identification documents, 
        isolation, inadequate food, and no access to health care;
Whereas a significant portion of labor trafficking victims enter the United 
        States on lawful visas but are not identified;
Whereas jurisdictions across the United States lack safe, effective shelter and 
        housing for victims of human trafficking;
Whereas restitution for victims of trafficking is mandatory under Federal law 
        but is only ordered in approximately 30 percent of sex trafficking 
        cases, and courts deny restitution requests in more than half of sex 
        trafficking cases;
Whereas reports estimate that less than 5 percent of Federal trafficking 
        prosecutions in 2015 were for labor trafficking, significantly limiting 
        the ability of labor trafficking victims to obtain justice and 
        restitution;
Whereas United States citizen, lawful permanent resident, and foreign national 
        victims of human trafficking face many distinct obstacles, including, 
        particularly for United States citizen and lawful permanent resident 
        victims, access to specialized victim services; and
Whereas the House of Representatives has committed to a victim-centered approach 
        to domestic human trafficking through passage of the Justice for Victims 
        of Trafficking Act of 2015: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) encourages States to uphold the basic rights and 
        dignity of human trafficking survivors and--
                    (A) truly recognize and identify survivors of human 
                trafficking as victims of crime and treat these victims 
                with the same justice, respect, and dignity as other 
                crime victims;
                    (B) ensure that victims of trafficking are accorded 
                the support, services, and legal rights as other 
                victims of crime without being criminalized or made to 
                feel responsible for the crimes committed against them;
                    (C) advance a survivor-centered approach to 
                addressing human trafficking that ensures the safety, 
                confidentiality, and physical and mental well-being of 
                victims, while recognizing symptoms of trauma and 
                coping mechanisms that may impact victims' interactions 
                with law enforcement, the justice system, and service 
                providers;
                    (D) implement screening mechanisms for all children 
                entering child welfare services and the juvenile 
                justice system, and for unaccompanied children 
                migrating into the country, to identify child 
                trafficking victims and connect them with appropriate 
                services;
                    (E) ensure that child trafficking victims are 
                provided with the full range of protections, including 
                access to child welfare services, trauma-informed 
                programming, and the same legal rights, afforded to 
                other children who experience sexual abuse, rape, or 
                incest; this includes ensuring that criminals who 
                exploit child sex trafficking victims are not given 
                lesser sentences and penalties than criminals who 
                exploit children through sexual abuse, rape, or incest; 
                and ensuring that child trafficking victims are never 
                referred to as ``child prostitutes'' or ``underage sex 
                workers'' in law or official documents and proceedings; 
                and
                    (F) develop a 24-hour emergency response plan to 
                provide victims of labor and sex trafficking with 
                immediate protection and support when they are first 
                identified; such a plan may include physically moving 
                victims of trafficking to a place of safety, attending 
                to the immediate medical and emotional needs of 
                survivors, assessing whether survivors are under risk 
                for harm, retaliation, or intimidation, and directly 
                connecting survivors with victim advocates, housing, 
                and service providers;
            (2) strongly urges States to adopt rights and protections 
        for victims of human trafficking that include the right--
                    (A) to be treated as a victim of crime and afforded 
                justice, respect, and dignity;
                    (B) to protection if the victim's safety is at risk 
                or if there is danger of harm, retaliation, or 
                recapture by the trafficker;
                    (C) to comprehensive trauma-informed, long-term, 
                culturally competent care and healing services oriented 
                toward emotional, physical, psychological, and family 
                healing without time limit restrictions;
                    (D) to evidence-based screening and assessment 
                tools, treatment plans, and therapy to address 
                traumatic stress and associated mental health symptoms;
                    (E) to safe and effective emergency and long-term 
                housing; education, vocational, and job assistance and 
                training; mentoring programs; language assistance; drug 
                and substance abuse services; and legal services;
                    (F) for child sex trafficking victims to be treated 
                as children in need of child protective services and to 
                be served through the child welfare system, where 
                appropriate, in place of the juvenile justice system; 
                and
                    (G) for all victims of trafficking who are United 
                States citizens, lawful permanent residents, and 
                foreign nationals to be eligible for services;
            (3) strongly urges States to adopt the following legal 
        rights and protections for victims of human trafficking, 
        including the--
                    (A) right to have convictions and adjudications 
                related to prostitution and nonviolent offenses vacated 
                and such records cleared if offenses were committed as 
                a result of the victim being trafficked;
                    (B) right to legal protection and immunity for 
                child trafficking victims for offenses related to 
                prostitution and nonviolent offenses if offenses were 
                committed as a result of being trafficked, and the 
                right to have charges dismissed as part of a 
                specialized diversion program; immunity should be 
                granted in combination with service provision aimed at 
                eliminating detention while giving victims the 
                necessary resources to heal and reintegrate in their 
                communities;
                    (C) right to not be held in mandatory detention, 
                receive a mandatory residential placement in a punitive 
                setting, or be detained in facilities inappropriate to 
                one's status as a victim of crime;
                    (D) right to the same type of court procedures and 
                legal protections accessible to victims of sexual 
                assault, rape, child sexual abuse, or incest, including 
                the right to not be treated as a criminal;
                    (E) right to testify without being forced to make 
                face-to-face contact with one's trafficker, for 
                instance, via one-way closed-circuit television;
                    (F) right for foreign national victims to be 
                granted a temporary visa without being required to 
                cooperate with a law enforcement investigation;
                    (G) right to be informed and notified in writing of 
                the survivor's legal rights, including the availability 
                of victim compensation, mandatory restitution, and a 
                civil cause of action; the availability of protective 
                orders and policies related to their enforcement; and 
                the rights and services available to the victim under 
                18 U.S.C. 3771 and 42 U.S.C. 10607(c); and
                    (H) retention of all rights regardless of whether 
                the crime has been reported to law enforcement; and
            (4) recognizes and applauds the State legislative bodies 
        that have taken tremendous steps to adopt protections and 
        services for victims of trafficking.
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