[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 47 (Friday, March 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15113-15114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04880]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 12002]


SPOG Virtual Public Meeting on Conducting Anti-Trafficking Work 
Using a Racial Equity Lens

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Department of State, on behalf of the interagency Senior 
Policy Operating Group (SPOG), is hosting a virtual public meeting to 
hear input about how it can conduct its anti-trafficking work using a 
racial justice and equity lens and to assist the SPOG and SPOG agencies 
implementation of Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved 
Communities Through the Federal Government and Further

[[Page 15114]]

Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through 
the Federal Government. This public meeting 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 and is meant to complement the 
SPOG's prior request for written information (87 FR 7231) to provide 
members of the public with another way to share feedback with the U.S. 
government. The implementation plan will 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.

DATES: The SPOG will hold a web-based open public meeting on May 3, 
2023, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT. To attend the public meeting, you 
must register by April 23, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be accessible via webcast. To register, go 
to www.eventbrite.com/e/public-meeting-on-anti-trafficking-work-using-a-racial-equity-lens-tickets-560732535107. Registrants will receive the 
webcast information on May 1, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Ho, (202) 453-8473, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Department of State, on behalf of the SPOG, is hosting a public 
meeting to seek 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. 
For more information on the SPOG and on definitions for terms used in 
this Notice, please refer to the Supplementary Information on this 
page: www.state.gov/request-for-information-on-conducting-anti-trafficking-work-using-a-racial-equity-lens.
    The Department welcomes public input that the SPOG can factor into 
decisions around what specific action items and performance metrics it 
should include in its implementation plan for integrating a racial 
equity lens into its anti-trafficking work. This public meeting will 
begin with brief opening remarks from Department officials. All 
stakeholders and interested members of the public are welcome to 
register to provide oral comments; however, based on the meeting 
duration or topic area constraints, the Department may not be able to 
allocate time for all registered attendees to provide oral comments 
during the meeting.
    The SPOG is interested in all comments but requests input 
particularly on any of the following questions for which the 
stakeholder has direct personal or professional experience:
    1. What does racial equity mean in the context of human 
trafficking? What does a racially equitable anti-trafficking framework 
look like, particularly for law enforcement and prosecution responses, 
victim assistance efforts, and prevention strategies? Are there 
specific considerations for responding to sex trafficking and to labor 
trafficking?
    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 do individually or collectively 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, people who are limited 
English proficient, people with disabilities, noncitizens, LGBTQI+ 
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, 
linguistic, 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, persons who are limited English proficient, LGBTQI+ 
persons, and women and girls?
    8. Meaningful stakeholder engagement includes being able to 
understand each other's spoken language, 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?

Meeting Accommodation Request

    For information on language assistance services, services for 
individuals with disabilities, or to request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact [email protected] by April 19, 2023, to 
give the Department as much time as possible to process the request. 
Closed captioning and live ASL interpreter services will be available. 
Determinations for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-
case basis.

Cynthia D. Dyer,
Ambassador-at-Large, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 
Persons, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2023-04880 Filed 3-9-23; 8:45 am]
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