2012 State Anti-Trafficking Laws Fact Sheet

Submitted by asklar on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 9:40am

The Center for Women Policy Studies works with state legislators to develop legislative initiatives:

  • to make trafficking a state felony offense with appropriately harsh punishments for traffickers and protections for the women and girls who have been trafficked into our communities; we urge states to pass criminalization statutes and also to provide for victim protection and assistance programs; (page 3)
  • to create statewide interagency task forces on human trafficking, with a mandate to determine the nature and extent of trafficking in each state and make recommendations for legislative, policy and programmatic initiatives; (page 25)  
  • to regulate “bride trafficking” by commercial “international marriage brokers” (also called “mail order bride” or “international matchmaking” organizations) that operate in the state; (page 31) and
  • to regulate travel service providers that facilitate sex tourism (page 33).

The following summary of all state laws addressing trafficking in persons is current as of March 1, 2012.  The next update of the Fact Sheet will be posted in January of 2013 and will include all state laws passed during the 2012 legislative sessions. States are listed below in alphabetical order rather than in order of passage of the legislation. 

URL: 
http://www.centerwomenpolicy.org/documents/11.CWPS_FactSheetonStateAntiTraffickingLawsMarch2012.pdf