Trafficking Victims Protection Act

When someone first hears about trafficking, the first thing they typically ask is "what can I do to help?" Their next questions usually deal with the aftermath of human trafficking situations. What happens to the survivor? And what about the trafficker? Thankfully, there is some legislation out there that aims to protect survivors and prosecute traffickers.

The most well-known legislation that deals with anti-trafficking efforts is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, passed in 2000. It was the first federal legislation that comprehensively addressed human trafficking. It made human trafficking and related offenses federal crimes, and implemented a three-pronged approach to anti-trafficking policy; prevention, protection, and prosecution.

Prevention should always be the first line of defense. Community support helps to prevent vulnerabilities that make someone attractive to human traffickers in the first place, and is a crucial part of this legislation. The "Protection" part of this legislation supports and protects victims of trafficking that prevention was not able to help. Lastly, there's prosecution. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act created a method in federal law for prosecuting traffickers. This is important because it can be incredibly difficult to bring traffickers into court in the first place, so having a uniform way of handling these cases help to make sure that they are not mishandled.