World Vision welcomes House Foreign Affairs Committee passage of Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act

WASHINGTON (May 5, 2017) —World Vision applauds the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s passage of the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017 (TVPRA) sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, Rep. Karen Bass, Rep. Ed Royce, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Susan Brooks, Rep. Lois Frankel, Rep. Ann Wagner, Rep. Tony Cárdenas, Rep. Ted Poe and Rep. Ryan Costello.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the cornerstone of US policies to fight human trafficking, originally became law in 2000. It comprehensively addresses the domestic and international human trafficking. Every few years the law is updated in order to make improvements and respond to the changing nature of human trafficking.

Trafficking and other forms of violence against children, have long-lasting impacts on child’s health, education, and development. To end violence against children, we must work together to prevent and respond by addressing the root causes of vulnerability of children to exploitation and violence, including trafficking.

“With over one billion children experiencing violence globally every year, we must work together to prevent violence, including trafficking from happening in the first place,” says Jessica Bousquette, Policy Advisor for Child Protection at World Vision, “Reauthorizing the TVPA is critical in that effort. We must also maintain current foreign assistance levels to ensure we have the resources we need to end trafficking.”

From 2011-2016, World Vision worked with communities to take an active role in preventing trafficking. Together with governments, the United Nations, and other organizations to end human trafficking, the project helped children and youth protect themselves, supported law enforcement to identify victims, and supported survivors to reintegrate into communities. The project reduced the number of children and youth considered to be at high risk for trafficking by seventeen percent.

“The same America that abolished slavery in our own land has the opportunity now to fight modern-day slavery — human trafficking – around the world,” says World Vision US president Rich Stearns, “The Trafficking Victims Protection Act has made significant progress in helping victims and prosecuting traffickers over the past decade, and we must not abandon this critical work. Let’s act decisively now to reauthorize this important bi-partisan bill.”

“During the last decade, we have made significant progress in identifying human trafficking victims, prosecuting traffickers, protecting survivors, and creating partnerships domestically and around the world to end human trafficking,” say Bousquette, “so it’s critical that we protect those who are most vulnerable by reauthorizing Trafficking Victims Protection Act.”

About World Vision:
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization conducting relief, development, and advocacy activities in its work with children, families, and their communities in nearly 100 countries to help them reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more information, please visit www.WorldVision.org/media-center/ or on Twitter @WorldVisionUSA.