Cracking Down on Sex Trafficking Advertisers

Our nation officially abolished slavery 150 years ago with the passage of the thirteenth amendment in 1865, but modern-day slavery remains a multi-billion dollar industry within our borders. Human trafficking in the US generates $9.5 billion each year, and in 2014 the National Human Trafficking Resource Center received reports of over 3,500 sex trafficking cases and over 800 labor trafficking cases.

Like most industries, human trafficking is increasingly advertised on the internet. The US Department of Justice found that 75% of sex trafficking transactions involving underage girls take place online. Predators can browse online listings and have children brought to hotel rooms with frightening ease. The Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation (SAVE) Act, sponsored by US Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-Missouri), would allow law enforcement to prosecute those who knowingly profit from advertisements for sex trafficking. The US House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act last month, and the bill has moved to the Senate for consideration.

In the US, approximately 300,000 young people are at risk of being forced into prostitution, and the average age of child sex trafficking victims is only 13 to 14 years old. Anyone profiting from advertisements for sex trafficking victims should be held accountable for their role in the immense suffering caused by trafficking.

A similar bill has been filed in the Missouri House of Representatives by Representative Elijah Haahr (R-Springfield). House Bill 152 strengthens Missouri’s child sex trafficking laws by making it a crime to knowingly advertise a trafficking victim. Under this legislation, someone advertising a young child for commercial sex could face life in prison.

The House Committee on Civil and Criminal Proceedings heard HB 152 on February 18, and Congresswoman Wagner, who is also a constituent of the 100th district, testified at the hearing on the need for this legislation.

Human trafficking is a complex global problem with no easy solution, but I commend Congresswoman Wagner and Representative Haahr for taking vital steps toward bringing perpetrators of sex trafficking to justice. Removing the blight of modern slavery from our nation must remain a top priority for both state and federal lawmakers.