[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3643 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3643
To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human
trafficking, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 14, 2022
Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human
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 ``Put Trafficking Victims First Act of
2022''.
SEC. 2. TRAINING FOR PROSECUTIONS OF TRAFFICKERS AND SUPPORT FOR STATE
SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING.
It is the sense of Congress that a portion of the funds available
for training and technical assistance under section 107(b)(2)(B)(ii) of
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7105(b)(2)(B)(ii)) should be devoted to advancing the following goals:
(1) Increasing the personal safety of organizations working
in the human trafficking field, who may face intimidation or
retaliation for their activities.
(2) Promoting a trauma-informed, evidence-based, culturally
competent, and victim-centered approach to the provision of
services for victims of trafficking.
(3) Ensuring that law enforcement officers and prosecutors
make every attempt to determine whether an individual is a
victim of human trafficking before arresting the individual
for, or charging the individual with, an offense that is
related to the trafficking victimization of the individual.
(4) Effectively prosecuting traffickers and individuals who
patronize or solicit children for sex, and facilitating access
for child victims of commercial sex trafficking to the services
and protections afforded to other victims of sexual violence.
(5) Encouraging States to improve efforts to identify and
meet the needs of human trafficking victims and individuals at
risk for trafficking victimization, through methods that are
responsive to the needs of victims in their communities.
SEC. 3. WORKING TO DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES TO ASSESS PREVALENCE OF HUMAN
TRAFFICKING.
(a) Working Group.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation
with other Federal entities engaged in efforts to combat human
trafficking, shall establish an expert working group, which
shall include survivors of human trafficking, experts on sex
and labor trafficking, representatives from organizations
collecting data on human trafficking, and law enforcement
officers. The working group shall, utilizing, to the extent
practicable, existing efforts of agencies, task forces, States,
localities, tribes, research institutions, and organizations--
(A) identify barriers to the collection of data on
the incidence of sex and labor trafficking; and
(B) recommend practices to promote better data
collection and analysis.
(2) Pilot testing.--Not later than 3 years after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall implement
a pilot project to test promising methodologies studied under
paragraph (1).
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation
with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director
of the Center for Countering Human Trafficking of the
Department of Homeland Security, shall submit to Congress a
report on--
(A) Federal efforts to estimate the prevalence of
human trafficking at the national and regional levels;
(B) the effectiveness of current policies and
procedures to address the needs of victims of
trafficking; and
(C) an analysis of demographic characteristics of
victims of trafficking in different regions of the
United States and recommendations for how to address
the unique vulnerabilities of different victims.
(2) Input from relevant parties.--In developing the report
under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall seek input from
the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking,
victims of sex and labor trafficking, human trafficking
survivor advocates, service providers for victims of sex and
labor trafficking, and the President's Interagency Task Force
on Human Trafficking.
(c) Survey.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Attorney General, in coordination with Federal, State,
local, and Tribal governments, and private organizations, including
victim service providers and expert researchers, shall develop and
execute a survey of survivors seeking and receiving victim assistance
services for the purpose of improving the provision of services to
human trafficking victims and victim identification in the United
States. Survey results shall be made publicly available on the website
of the Department of Justice.
(d) No Additional Funds.--No additional funds are authorized to
carry out this section.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON PROSECUTORS SEEKING RESTITUTION IN TRAFFICKING CASES.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Attorney General, in consultation with the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts, shall submit to Congress a report on efforts to
increase restitution to victims of human trafficking.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ENCOURAGING STATES TO ADOPT PROTECTIONS FOR
VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING.
Congress recognizes and applauds the State legislative bodies that
have taken tremendous steps to adopt protections and services for
victims of trafficking. Congress encourages States to--
(1) uphold the dignity of human trafficking survivors;
(2) ensure the safety, confidentiality, and well-being of
victims of trafficking, while recognizing symptoms of trauma
and coping mechanisms that may impact victims' interactions
with law enforcement, the justice system, and service
providers;
(3) implement screening mechanisms to identify and extend
appropriate services to children in the custody of child
protective services agencies, the juvenile justice system, or
the criminal justice system who are or may be victims of
trafficking;
(4) promote greater access to child welfare services and
other appropriate victim services for, rather than
criminalization of, child victims of sex trafficking;
(5) develop a 24-hour emergency response plan by which
victims of human trafficking may receive immediate protection,
shelter, and support from a victim assistance coordinator when
those victims are first identified;
(6) adopt protections for adult victims of trafficking,
such as protection if the victim's safety is at risk,
comprehensive trauma-informed, long-term, culturally competent
care and healing services, mental health services to relieve
traumatic stress, housing, education (including, where
appropriate, vocational training and employment assistance),
mentoring, language assistance, drug and substance abuse
services, and legal services; and
(7) ensure that child trafficking victims are treated as
children in need of child protective services and receive
appropriate care from child welfare and other appropriate
victim services, rather than juvenile justice, system.
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