[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6420 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6420
To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 relating to
determinations with respect to efforts of foreign countries to reduce
demand for commercial sex acts under the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 18, 2022
Mrs. Wagner (for herself, Mr. Crenshaw, and Mrs. Rodgers of Washington)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 relating to
determinations with respect to efforts of foreign countries to reduce
demand for commercial sex acts under the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Sex Trafficking Demand Reduction
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) It has been the longstanding position of the United
States to reduce the demand for sex trafficking victims. There
is also a wide international consensus on the necessity of
demand reduction in order to prevent human trafficking.
(2) The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime of 2000 (also referred to as the
``Palermo Protocol(s)'') expressly addresses the requirement
that nations make serious efforts to reduce demand for
trafficked persons.
(3) Article 9, addressing prevention of human trafficking,
specifically directs that, ``States Parties shall adopt or
strengthen legislative or other measures, such as educational,
social or cultural measures, including through bilateral and
multilateral cooperation, to discourage the demand that fosters
all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and
children, that leads to trafficking.''.
(4) The United Nations Protocol, the Europe Convention on
Action against Human Trafficking, and the 2011 European Union
Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on
preventing and combating trafficking in human beings also
specifically address the need to prevent human trafficking by
reducing demand for trafficking victims.
(5) Research has shown that legal prostitution increases
the demand for prostituted persons and thus increases the
market for sex. As a result, there is a significant increase in
instances of human trafficking.
(6) In 2012, researchers Seo-Young Cho, Axel Dreher, and
Eric Neumayer published their findings in World Development
establishing that, ``The scale effect of legalized prostitution
leads to an expansion of the prostitution market, increasing
human trafficking . . . . On average, countries where
prostitution is legal experience larger reported human
trafficking inflows.''.
(7) In 2005, a study focused on 11 European Union countries
requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Women's
Rights and Gender Equality and performed by Transcrime found
that stricter prostitution laws are correlated with fewer human
trafficking victims.
(8) Case studies published by researchers Niklas Jakobsson
and Andreas Kotsadam support the possibility of a causal link
between harsher prostitution laws and reduced human
trafficking. Jakobsson and Kotsadam found that trafficking of
persons for commercial sexual exploitation is least prevalent
in countries where prostitution is illegal and most prevalent
in countries where prostitution is legalized.
(9) Further data have demonstrated the correlation between
the adoption of legislation that criminalizes demand and
reductions in sex trafficking.
SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS TO FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION FOR MINIMUM
STANDARDS FOR ELIMINATION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (12) of section 108(b) of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7106(b)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(12) Whether the government of the country has made
serious and sustained efforts to--
``(A) prohibit the purchase of commercial sex acts,
to the extent such prohibition is within the authority
of such government, or implement a policy against the
purchase of commercial sex acts, if such prohibition
cannot be instituted;
``(B) educate buyers of commercial sex on how
traffickers exploit prostituted persons for human
trafficking;
``(C) reduce demand for participation in
international sex tourism by nationals of the country,
including through arrests, prosecutions, and
convictions; and
``(D) ensure that anti-trafficking-in-persons
training and provisions are incorporated into codes of
conduct for the staff of the government, to the extent
that such ability is within the authority of the
government.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) takes
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and applies with
respect to determinations under subsection (a)(4) of section 108 of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 that are made on or after
such date of enactment.
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