Findings

Congress finds as follows:(1)Child sex trafficking can have devastating immediate and long-term consequences, including health impacts, psychological and physical trauma, and even death.(2)While any child can be targeted by a trafficker, research, data, survivors’ lived experiences, and expertise have revealed that traffickers often target vulnerable youth who lack strong support networks, supervision, care, or basic necessities, have low self-esteem, have experienced violence in the past, are experiencing homelessness, are experiencing academic difficulties, or are marginalized by society, and lure them into forced labor and prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation. Traffickers are masters of manipulation and prey upon vulnerabilities using psychological pressure, intimidation, and drugs to control and sexually exploit the child for their benefit.(3)The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has received reports of child sex trafficking in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These reports include incidents occurring in every type of community, including suburban, rural, urban, and Tribal lands. In 2021, NCMEC received more than 17,200 reports of possible child sex trafficking.(4)Of 22,326 trafficking victims and survivors identified through contacts with the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2019, at least 5,359 were under age 18.(5)Many underage victims of sex trafficking are students in the United States school system. No community, school, socioeconomic group, or student demographic is immune.(6)While the internet and social media make up the majority of first encounters, traffickers regularly find young people in shopping malls, through friends, at bus stops, and at schools. Specifically, traffickers systematically target vulnerable children and youth by frequenting locations where young people congregate, including schools. They also use peers or classmates, who befriend the target and slowly groom them for the trafficker by bringing the young person along to parties and other activities.(7)A 2018 survey reported that 55 percent of young sex trafficking survivors in Texas were trafficked while at school or school activities and 60 percent of trafficked adults say they were first groomed and solicited for trafficking on school campuses.(8)Schools can and should be safe havens for students. Schools are best positioned to identify and report suspected trafficking and connect affected students to critical services. Students are more likely to report instances of sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, or grooming for the purposes of sex trafficking where they feel most safe from harm and threats.

Increased punishment for human trafficking in school zones

Section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—(1)by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and (2)by inserting after subsection (d) the following:

(e)(1)Whoever violates subsection (a) in a school zone (as such term is defined in section 921), or on, or within 1,000 feet of, a premises on which a school-sponsored activity is taking place, shall, in addition the punishment otherwise provided under this section, be imprisoned for not more than 5 years.(2)In this subsection, the term school-sponsored activity means any activity that is produced, financed, arranged, supervised or coordinated by a school, district personnel, or State or local educational agency or is under the jurisdiction of a State or local educational agency.