By former Maryland State Senator, Sharon Grosfeld

On December 23, 2008, The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (the Act), was enacted into law.  This legislation, (H.R. 7311) sponsored in the House by Representative Howard Berman, Democrat from California, is critical to ending, or at least slowing down the trafficking of women and children, who constitute the majority of victims sold into slavery.  And while it is almost impossible to fathom how in the 21^st Century slavery continues to endure as part of the human condition, we know that every year approximately 700,000 people are being sold, with around 50,000 women and children being trafficked right into the United States.  No country is off-limits to the international sex trade.

According to Congressional findings, trafficking can include forced labor in addition to sexual slavery.  The criminals engaged in trafficking target primarily poor women and girls living in countries where the status of women is very low.  Victims of trafficking are often kidnapped and then forced or coerced into prostitution and involuntary servitude.  Trafficking victims suffer physical abuse, health risks, emotional trauma and death.  As such, the seriousness of this crime cannot be understated, requiring severe punishment and legal remedies that address the causes as well as the effects of the problem.   

The Act, among other things, amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 by directing the President to implement an anti-trafficking program monitoring system, and the Secretary of State to establish an office within the State Department that monitors and fights trafficking.  It establishes protections and assistance for citizen as well as non-citizen trafficking victims, and specific policies for the care and custody of minors.  Prosecution of traffickers has been made a little easier by changing some legal standards that made convictions much more difficult to obtain.  For instance, prosecutors no longer need to demonstrate that the defendant knew the victim was a minor, but rather now only need to show that the defendant had a “reasonable opportunity to observe” the victim.   The revised Act eases requirements for proving an alleged trafficker was harboring a non-citizen for the purpose of committing prostitution, and lowers the standard of proof in sex trafficking cases that involve force, fraud or coercion. 

In addition to the federal law, states have enacted their own legislation to address the trafficking of victims.  It is important for states to have stringent laws to enable state prosecutors to bring such crimes within state courts.  Model legislation should include making trafficking a felony offense and provide protections and assistance for victims.  For further information on efforts to combat trafficking on the state level, visit: www.centerwomenpolicy.org.

One final note:  On January 12^th of this year, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, claiming that the Bush administration has allowed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to misuse taxpayer dollars by preventing sub-grantees who were given grants by the USCCB to provide direct services to trafficking victims, from providing victims access to reproductive health services, including contraception and abortion.  The USCCB was awarded funding through HHS since April, 2006, to support direct service providers assisting trafficking victims.  However, due to the religious beliefs of the USCCB, the direct service providers were prohibited from providing or referring a victim for contraception or abortion services if they wanted to receive the funds from USCCB.  HHS awarded grants to USCCB in the amount of $2.5 to $3.5 million.  For further information about the lawsuit, visit http://aclu.org/reproductiverights/gen/38291prs20090112.html.

Sharon Grosfeld was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 18 in Montgomery County in 1994 and served on the House Judiciary Committee until 2002, when she was elected to the Maryland Senate.  As a Delegate on the Judiciary Committee, she was named Chairwoman of the Criminal Law Subcommittee and was also regarded as an expert on family law matters.  Sharon has been a family lawyer since 1987, first working as an advocate for battered women at the House of Ruth in Baltimore, then in private practice at Hyatt, Peters & Weber in Annapolis for over 17 years.  She currently is of counsel with the law offices of Paula Peters, P.A