[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7231-7233]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02537]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice: 11648]


Request for Information on Conducting Anti-Trafficking Work Using 
a Racial Equity Lens

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Department of State, on behalf of the Senior Policy 
Operating Group (SPOG) (see Background section below for more 
information on the SPOG), requests written information on how it can 
advance racial justice and equity to assist in SPOG agencies' 
individual and the SPOG's collective implementation of Advancing Racial 
Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal 
Government. This request for information (RFI) is part of the SPOG's 
ongoing efforts to engage and collaborate with diverse communities and 
develop an implementation plan for integrating racial equity into U.S. 
government anti-trafficking efforts. The implementation plan will also 
highlight the importance of an intersectional approach, as racism often 
compounds with other forms of discrimination to affect individuals' 
vulnerability to human trafficking. Additionally, it will complement 
agencies' individual work to implement Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and 
Accessibility in the Federal Workforce by sharing information and 
practices for increasing diversity in the federal workforce as an 
integral way to strengthen agencies' anti-trafficking work. Submissions 
must be made in writing to the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 
in Persons at the Department of State by March 15, 2022. Please refer 
to the Addresses, Scope of Interest, and Information Sought sections of 
this Notice for additional instructions on submission requirements.

DATES: Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. EST on March 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Written submissions and supporting documentation, such as 
research studies, fieldwork, training materials, evaluations, 
assessments, and other relevant materials, may be submitted by email 
to: [email protected]
    Scope of Interest: The Department of State, on behalf of the SPOG, 
requests information relevant to increasing the SPOG agencies' 
collective awareness of the intersection between racial equity and U.S. 
government anti-trafficking policies and programs and to identify areas 
for collaboration and improvement. Because racism often compounds with 
other forms of discrimination to increase individuals' vulnerability to 
human trafficking, advancing racial equity may also complement 
agencies' efforts to improve equity more broadly, for example, in 
furtherance of E.O. 14020 (Establishment of the White House Gender 
Policy Council), E.O. 13988 (Preventing and Combating Discrimination on 
the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation), E.O. 14031 
(Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian Americans, Native 
Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders), among other Presidential actions 
focused on advancing equity for systemically marginalized communities. 
Also, while E.O. 13985 covers both racial equity and support for 
underserved communities, this initiative will focus squarely on racial 
equity.
    Submissions should not exceed 20 pages and should not include any 
information that cannot be made publicly available. The submitter may 
also include links to online material or interactive presentations but 
should ensure all links are publicly available. Attachments, linked 
resources, and documents do not count against the 20-page limit. 
Submissions should be written concisely, in plain language, and in a 
narrative format. Submitters may respond to part or all of the 
questions listed in this Notice. However, only those questions for 
which the submitter has direct personal or professional experience 
should be answered. Submitters should clearly identify the questions to 
which they are responding. Where appropriate, submissions should 
include citations, references, and/or links to the source material. If 
using primary sources, such as research studies, interviews, direct 
observations, or other sources of quantitative or qualitative data, 
submitters should provide details on the research or data-gathering 
methodology and any supporting documentation. Each response should 
include, to the extent applicable:
     The name of the individual(s) and organization responding;
     A brief description of the mission or area of expertise of 
the responding individual(s) or organization(s);
     The name, phone number, and email address of a single 
point of contact for questions or other follow-up on the response; and
     The question(s) addressed in the submission.
    Confidentiality: Submissions will be shared with the U.S. 
government agencies that are members of the SPOG and may be made 
publicly available. In addition, any information submitted to the 
Department of State may be releasable pursuant to the provisions of the 
Freedom of Information Act or other applicable law.
    Response: The Department of State will confirm receipt of each 
submission and may reach out to parties who respond to this RFI with 
follow-up questions. The SPOG will continue to engage stakeholders and 
community members for the purposes of implementing E.O. 13985 and to 
continue improving its efforts.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    E.O. 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved 
Communities Through the Federal Government, states the Administration 
policy to ``pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for 
all, including people of color and others who have been historically 
underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty 
and inequality'' which involves a whole-of-government approach.
    Through this RFI, the SPOG seeks input, information, and 
recommendations from a broad array of stakeholders in the public, 
private, advocacy, not-for-profit, and philanthropic sectors, including 
state, local, tribal, and territorial areas, on available methods, 
approaches, and tools to apply a racial equity lens to Federal 
government anti-trafficking efforts.

Definitions

    This RFI adopts the definition of the term ``equity'' used in E.O. 
13985: The consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial 
treatment of all individuals,

[[Page 7232]]

including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have 
been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and 
Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and 
other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with 
disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise 
adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. Please note 
that different definitions of ``equity'' exist, which are complementary 
to but may not be identical with the definition in E.O. 13985.
    The term ``forced labor'' is defined for U.S. enforcement purposes 
in two separate sections of the United States Code. In the criminal 
statutes of Title 18, it encompasses the range of activities involved 
when an individual or entity uses prohibited means that include force 
or physical threats; psychological coercion; abuse of the legal 
process; a scheme, plan, or pattern intended to hold a person in fear 
of serious harm; or other coercive means to obtain the labor or 
services of a person. Once a person's labor is obtained by such means, 
the person's previous consent or effort to obtain employment with the 
trafficker does not preclude the person from being considered a victim, 
or the government from prosecuting the offender. Forced labor in Title 
18 also encompasses when an individual or entity knowingly benefits, 
financially or by receiving anything of value, from participating in a 
venture which has engaged in providing or obtaining labor or services 
by prohibited means, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that 
the venture has engaged in providing or obtaining labor or services by 
such prohibited means. Moreover, Title 18 also prohibits knowingly 
recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining by any 
means, any person for labor or services in violation of the forced 
labor statute, or other U.S. criminal statutes involving slavery, 
involuntary servitude, and peonage. In the customs-related statute of 
Title 19, it is also defined in connection with the prohibition on the 
importation of goods produced wholly or in part by forced labor, 
including forced child labor; convict labor; and/or indentured labor 
under penal sanctions. In this context, forced labor is defined as: 
``all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace 
of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not 
offer himself voluntarily.'' In addition, Title 22 includes the 
following in the definition of ``severe forms of trafficking in 
persons'': ``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.''
    The term ``sex trafficking'' is when a person is caused to engage 
in a commercial sex act as the result of force, threats of force, 
fraud, coercion, or any combination of such means, or when a person 
under the age of 18 is caused to engage in commercial sex. Under such 
circumstances, perpetrators involved in recruiting, enticing, 
harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, advertising, 
maintaining, patronizing, or soliciting a person for that purpose are 
guilty of the federal crime of sex trafficking. This is true even if 
the victim previously consented to engage in commercial sex.
    U.S. law explicitly includes a distinct definition of ``sex 
trafficking of children.'' Any child (under the age of 18) who has been 
recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, 
advertised, maintained, patronized, or solicited to engage in a 
commercial sex act is a victim of human trafficking, regardless of 
whether or not force, fraud, or coercion is used.

The Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG)

    The SPOG is comprised of senior officials designated as 
representatives of the 20 federal departments and agencies of the 
President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 
Persons, a cabinet-level entity created by the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000, that are responsible for coordinating U.S. 
government-wide efforts to combat trafficking in persons. The 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended in 2003, established the 
SPOG. The agencies of the SPOG are the Departments of State, the 
Treasury, Defense, Justice, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, 
Health and Human Services, Transportation, Education, and Homeland 
Security, as well as the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of 
the U.S. Trade Representative, the Office of the Director of National 
Intelligence, the National Security Council, the Domestic Policy 
Council, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission. Agencies regularly convene to advance and coordinate 
federal policies and collaborate with a range of stakeholders.
    Five standing committees meet regularly to advance substantive 
areas of the SPOG's work:
     Research & Data Committee--Facilitates forums and 
discussions on human trafficking data and prevalence among agencies, 
invites external researchers and experts to share their latest findings 
with the Committee, and works to ensure agencies' research efforts are 
complementary.
     Grantmaking Committee--Assists in planning and 
coordinating agencies' domestic and international anti-trafficking 
program activities and promotes evidence-based programming to build the 
knowledge base on human trafficking and propose solutions to enhance 
anti-trafficking activities.
     Public Awareness & Outreach--Serves as a forum for 
agencies to seek feedback and buy-in on agency-specific public 
awareness and outreach projects or resources, including on how to 
ensure a trauma-informed approach, and facilitates information-sharing 
on upcoming public awareness and outreach events, campaigns, and 
materials to allow for cross-promotion and/or collaboration among 
agencies.
     Victims Services Committee--Supports federal engagements 
and efforts that aim to promote a strategic, coordinated approach to 
the provision of services for victims of human trafficking at all 
levels of government; support evidence-based practices in victim 
services; provide and promote outreach, training, and technical 
assistance to increase victim identification and expand the 
availability of services; and promote effective, culturally 
appropriate, trauma-informed services that improve the short- and long-
term health, safety, and well-being of victims.
     Procurement & Supply Chains--Seeks to ensure agencies 
understand their responsibilities under the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation (FAR), ``Ending Trafficking in Persons'' 
(www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/01/29/2015-01524/federal-acquisition-regulation-ending-trafficking-in-persons); provides a forum 
through which agencies can work through challenges related to 
strengthening procurement safeguards and supply chain efforts, share 
data and promising practices for effective implementation of the FAR, 
and ensure efforts are not duplicative and that policies and procedures 
are consistent; and works to create a coordinated and collective U.S. 
government voice in relation to increasing corporate accountability and 
compliance in

[[Page 7233]]

combating forced labor in global supply chains more broadly.
    In addition, the SPOG has created a few ad hoc working groups. 
Unlike the committees, these working groups are time-limited and formed 
to accomplish specific goals. As of the publication of this RFI, the 
SPOG has three active ad hoc working groups:
     Ad Hoc Working Group on Demand Reduction--To examine the 
role of demand reduction in preventing human trafficking or otherwise 
achieving the purposes of the TVPA and the Justice for Victims of 
Trafficking Act (consistent with Sec. 115 of Pub. L. 115-425).
     Ad Hoc Working Group on Rights and Protections of 
Temporary Workers--To analyze and compare the rights and protections 
granted to workers of each employment-based nonimmigrant visa category 
to identify which categories require additional protections related to 
the recruitment and treatment of workers; and to discuss ways to 
address any gaps and inconsistencies, including developing and 
proposing necessary regulatory or legislative changes (consistent with 
Priority Action 1.5.2 of the National Action Plan to Combat Human 
Trafficking).
     Ad Hoc Working Group on Screening Forms and Protocols--To 
develop best practices in implementing screening forms and protocols as 
relevant for all federal officials who have the potential to encounter 
a human trafficking victim in the course of their regular duties that 
do not otherwise pertain to human trafficking (consistent with Priority 
Action 2.1.1 of the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking).

II. Information Sought Relevant To Conducting Anti-Trafficking Work 
Using a Racial Equity Lens

    Submissions should include, but need not be limited to, answers to 
relevant questions below for which the submitter has direct personal or 
professional experience. Please see the Scope of Interest section above 
for detailed information regarding submission requirements.
    1. What does racial equity mean in the context of human 
trafficking? What does a racially equitable anti-trafficking framework 
look like, particularly for a law enforcement response and prosecution 
response, victim assistance efforts, and prevention strategy? Are there 
specific considerations for responding to sex trafficking and to labor 
trafficking, including forced labor?
    2. Please describe any racial injustice, inequity, or unfairness 
you have observed or experienced that resulted from a federal anti-
trafficking activity (please specify the relevant policy, practice, or 
program). Do you have recommendations for how this should be corrected?
    3. How have federal anti-trafficking policies, programs, and 
systems created barriers to advancing racial equity, and how might the 
executive branch address and help reduce these barriers?
    4. What promising approaches or efforts have been successful in 
embedding a racial equity lens in anti-trafficking work? What examples 
and/or data are available to support this?
    5. What can SPOG agencies individually and the SPOG collectively do 
to advance racial equity and integrate it into federal anti-trafficking 
work domestically and internationally--particularly in the areas of 
investigation and prosecution, victim services (commenters may specify 
specific populations, such as people of color, noncitizens, LGBTQ+ 
persons, etc.), grantmaking, public procurement, supply chains, public 
awareness and outreach, research and data collection, and any other 
area the submitter feels is important to note?
    6. What tools, approaches, or lessons have been applied in other 
countries or in U.S. state, territorial, tribal, and local 
jurisdictions to address the intersection between racial, ethnic, or 
cultural discrimination and human trafficking? Could these tools, 
approaches, or lessons applied by other authorities be helpful to the 
United States to further racial equity?
    7. What are promising practices or strategies for how anti-
trafficking policies and programs can address the compounded barriers 
at the intersections of systemic racism and other forms of 
discrimination, such as discrimination against persons with 
disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, and women and girls?
    8. Meaningful stakeholder engagement includes collective problem-
solving and decision-making, equitable partnerships, and collaboration 
that fosters a sharing of power. What processes or approaches should 
SPOG agencies have in place to proactively and meaningfully engage 
individuals with lived experience of human trafficking and communities 
that are most directly impacted by human trafficking? What are tools 
and best practices that SPOG agencies should consider to embed racial 
equity practices into community and stakeholder engagement?

Zachary A. Parker,
Director, Office of Directives Management, U.S. Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2022-02537 Filed 2-7-22; 8:45 am]
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