Washington DC: Mayor Fenty Signs Human Trafficking Bill!
(June 21, 2010)
Mayor Fenty signed the Prohibition Against Human Trafficking Act (number 18-70) on June 21st!   This important bill will make human trafficking a crime, provide severe penalties for traffickers, and help victims of both labor and sex trafficking right here in DC.   This legislation will now be sent to Congress for review over the next 60.  Please click here for more information! 

The Ohio House of Representatives is now considering important legislation to combat human trafficking. Please join us in taking action to support HB493 to criminalize human trafficking and punish criminals who exploit others for profit in Ohio. Ohio is one of only five states without human trafficking laws!

Click here to take action now.

(Updated July 22, 2010)
Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, and every year traffickers generate billions of dollars by exploiting those seeking a better life, including U.S. citizens.  Governor Lingle's July 6th veto of proposed legislation criminalizing sex trafficking ensured that Hawaii remains one of only six states with no anti-human trafficking laws in place!  Though Hawaii legislators in both the House and the Senate came together to pass Senate Bill 2045, the Governor vetoed the bill after widespread criticism of the bill by prosecutors and law enforcement.  The bill's drafters are determined to return next session with a stronger bill that will be passed.  

Please help support anti-trafficking legislation in Hawaii by calling the Governor’s office and telling Gov. Lingle to craft anti-trafficking legislation for the next session! You can still help even if you are not a Hawaii resident; your voice makes a critical impact. Take action today!

(Updated May 4, 2010)

Polaris Project commends the Alabama legislature and Governor for enacting Alabama's first comprehensive state anti-human trafficking legislation.  House Bill 432 was signed into law on April 30, 2010.  It creates brand new human trafficking crimes and penalties; provides for asset forfeiture and seizure; provides for mandatory restitution to victims; allows victims to sue their traffickers; and creates other protections for victims of human trafficking.  With this signing, the number of states with no anti-human trafficking crime on their books is reduced to 5:  Hawaii, Massachusetts; Ohio; South Dakota and West Virginia.  

(July 27, 2010)  
Legislation to require posting of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline number in key establishments to provide resources and information to victims and community members is now under consideration and needs your support!  This new legislation was introduced by Representative Paul Clymer in the House and Senator Daylin Leach in the Senate, and it seeks to reach victims and community members in places of transit (such as truck stops and bus stations), and in locations where victims are “at work” in common sex or labor trafficking venues (certain hotels/motels, strip clubs, massage parlors). Posting the NHTRC toll free hotline will provide a central venue for reporting tips, helping victims and providing information on trafficking to the public.  Please take a moment to speak out in support of this critical legislation. 

(April 1, 2010)
We need your help to ensure that new funds won last year for the U.S. Department of Justice are not cut this year!  These funds are badly needed by survivors for direct services including shelter, therapy and counseling, and comprehensive case management.  Resources are also used to fund victim-centered human trafficking task forces around the country.  Without these specialized task forces, many victims would have nowhere to turn for protection and help.  Please click here for more information on how to help!

OHIO: Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation Needs Your Voice!
(3/12/2010)
The Ohio State Legislature is now considering important legislation to address the grave crime of human trafficking. Please join us in taking action to support SB235 to criminalize human trafficking and punish the criminals who exploit others for profit in Ohio.  Ohio is one of only seven states with no human trafficking laws! Click here to take action now.

(August 6, 2010)
Legislation is now under consideration to provide help to child victims of sex trafficking.  More than 100,000 children are victimized in the US each year in commercial sexual exploitation and prostitution.  And for those who are rescued, little help is currently available.  However, federal legislation is now under consideration in Congress, and with just a few months left before Congress adjourns, your action is critical to moving the bills forward.   Please take action now!

Pennsylvania State Senate Passes Human Trafficking Resolution!
(April 20, 2010)  

A resolution to create a State Human Trafficking Advisory Committee has passed the Pennsylvania Senate and now heads to the Joint State Legislative Commission for implementation. This resolution, sponsored by Senator Greenleaf and by Representative True, establishes an advisory committee to study and collect important information about human trafficking within Pennsylvania; bring law enforcement, victim service providers and prosecutors together; and recommend policies to help bring human traffickers to justice and provide needed assistance to victims.  Read More 

Like dozens of other workers from Vietnam and China, Tiep Ngo had been lured to the Daewoosa clothing factory in American Samoa by hollow promises of good pay. She left behind her child, her husband and her parents and paid $5,000 for her job contract only to be starved, beaten and cheated of wages.

For nearly two years, Ngo labored in the stifling, overcrowded factory, subsisting on meager portions of rice and cabbage and longing for her family. Then, through the efforts of Good Samaritans, federal agents and churches, Ngo and about 300 other workers were rescued and brought to the U.S. mainland, some of the first immigrants to receive special T-visas allowing human trafficking victims to remain in this country and eventually become permanent residents.

Read more...

May 11, 2009 | Maryland - Greenbelt, Maryland—Paul Raymond Green, a/k/a “PJ,” age 23, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking in a scheme to prostitute three minor females, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King, of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

According to Green’s guilty plea, from April to May 2007 Green, through his coconspirator, arranged on two separate occasions to provide minor victims to an acquaintance of Green’s who was paying to have sex with the victims. On both occasions “dippers” or “wets” (cigarettes dipped in phencyclidine liquid known as PCP), were available in the hotel room where the girls were brought to have sex. Green also sold cocaine to that same individual.