The mission of TraffickingWatch.org is to provide information about human trafficking, particularly as it relates to the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 2007.
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The mission of TraffickingWatch.org is to provide information about human trafficking, particularly as it relates to the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 2007.
H.R. 3887, the controversial anti-trafficking bill, proposes dangerous provisions that equate trafficking with prostitution, a change experts say would endanger real human trafficking victims. But Janice Shaw Crouse, writing for Townhall.com, criticizes the Senate's decisions to remove the controversial provisions of H.R. 3887. She also opposes several provisions in the Senate bill that would not make prostitution in general a human trafficking crime.
Despite that the Senate's version of the bill considers the safety of real trafficking victims, no matter the dissent, Crouse persists that the U.S. government fight prostitution rather than real trafficking crimes. She writes:
"Sadly, when the bill went to the Senate, several factions (including, amazingly, the Department of Justice) succeeded in gutting the House bill. Ultimately, the Senate version of the legislation (S. 3061) contains major problems..." Read more
"The real problem with inflated numbers for trafficking victims is that they create pressure for a quick policy fix. But human trafficking is intertwined with larger issues of immigration policy, poverty reduction, access to education, workers' rights (on farms, in restaurants and as domestic help), women's rights, and official corruption. Rather than tackle this briar patch, the tendency has been to call it all "sex trafficking" and stage splashy raids on brothels.
Such "rescues" not only fail to stop human trafficking, they also sweep up and demonize sex workers who have entered the trade on their own, driving them underground and closing off the opportunity to recruit them as allies against trafficking.”
SAPNA PATEL
Staff Attorney
Sex Workers Project
Urban Justice Center
New York