[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35881-35882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11605]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Request for Public Comment; National Human Trafficking Prevention 
Framework

AGENCY: Office on Trafficking in Persons, Administration for Children 
and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice informs the public of the opportunity to provide 
input on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) 
National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework (Framework), which 
contains strategies and approaches to prevent human trafficking and its 
recurrence while increasing capacity to identify and reduce harm caused 
by human trafficking. HHS will consider this input as it updates the 
Framework. The draft Framework is available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip.

DATES: Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. EDT on June 9, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please submit all responses via email to 
[email protected] with ``Public Comment: Prevention 
Framework'' in the subject. Submissions can include attachments of or 
links to any supporting documentation. Please provide your contact 
information for possible follow-up from the Office on Trafficking in 
Persons.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Casey, Communications and 
Prevention Specialist, Office on Trafficking in Persons, Email: 
[email protected], Phone: 202-594-7026.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The International Labor Organization estimates 27.6 million people 
were experiencing forced labor and/or commercial sexual exploitation 
globally on any given day in 2021. The global prevalence of human 
trafficking increased from 3.4 to 3.5 per thousand people between 2016 
and 2021, driven entirely by the private economy. Although there is 
still no rigorous prevalence estimate of human trafficking within the 
United States, cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 
states and the District of Columbia, on tribal land, and within U.S. 
territories.
    Human trafficking is a public health issue and crime with adverse 
physical and mental health, developmental, financial, and social 
effects, which often reach beyond the individual directly impacted to 
affect families, communities, industries, and society at large. In 
response to the U.S. Government's recognition that human trafficking is 
both a transnational and national issue of significant concern, the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and its subsequent 
reauthorizations created a three-pronged (``3P'') federal framework to 
address human trafficking--prevention, protection, and prosecution. A 
fourth ``P''--for partnership--serves as a complementary means to 
achieve progress across the 3Ps and engage multiple sectors of society 
in the work

[[Page 35882]]

to address human trafficking. Steady progress has been made since the 
TVPA was first authorized; however, efforts to assemble a focused array 
of prevention strategies addressing both victimization and 
perpetration, while essential, are largely absent.

Establishing the Prevention Framework

    HHS plays a critical role in the U.S. Government's efforts to 
prevent and respond to human trafficking. The HHS Task Force to Prevent 
Human Trafficking, comprised of 21 divisions and offices across HHS, 
helps implement HHS's priority actions in the National Action Plan to 
Combat Human Trafficking and related national strategies. The Framework 
contributes to the implementation of National Action Plan Priority 
Action 1.1.2 to increase the scale and quality of human trafficking 
prevention efforts utilizing a collective impact strategy.
    The Framework is informed by a public health approach to violence 
prevention, recognizing human trafficking is not an isolated incident 
but a widespread issue impacting the health and well-being of 
individuals, families, and communities across generations. Human 
trafficking is a dynamic form of violence, shifting and adapting as 
traffickers refine recruitment schemes, methods of control, and modes 
of exploitation. As understanding and knowledge of human trafficking 
grow, strategies to address it must evolve as well. Treating human 
trafficking as a public health concern grants a renewed sense of 
urgency and fundamentally alters how collaborators prevent and respond 
to it.
    A public health approach to human trafficking is proactive rather 
than reactionary, moving upstream to identify prevention measures that, 
combined with downstream interventions, can decrease the number of 
people who experience trafficking. Focusing on three levels of 
prevention--primary, secondary, and tertiary--a public health approach 
seeks to stop human trafficking before it occurs, reduce its impact or 
duration, mitigate lasting effects, and prevent it from recurring.
    The Framework harnesses established concepts of violence prevention 
to strengthen efforts to prevent human trafficking, outlining 
strategies and approaches that diverse sectors of society can use to 
prevent human trafficking and its recurrence while increasing their 
capacity to identify and reduce harm caused by human trafficking. The 
Framework encourages collaboration, coordination, and integration to 
enhance human trafficking prevention, inviting partnerships with 
federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local governments; business, 
industry, and other private sector entities; nonprofits and non-
governmental organizations; educational institutions; and 
philanthropic, faith-based, and research organizations; and more. 
Through this collective effort, HHS and its partners will be prepared 
to test and scale solutions that will prevent human trafficking and 
improve the lives of people affected by human trafficking across the 
United States.
    Comments: HHS is seeking public feedback on the Framework, 
including comments on understandability and suggested changes. HHS will 
use comments to make updates to the Framework as needed.

    Dated: May 25, 2023.
Linda Hitt,
Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2023-11605 Filed 5-31-23; 8:45 am]
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