Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2017
AN ACT
To prioritize the fight against human trafficking in the United States.
2. Findings; sense of Congress
Findings— Congress finds the following:
The crime of human trafficking involves the exploitation of adults through force, fraud, or coercion, and children for such purposes as forced labor or commercial sex.
Reliable data on the prevalence of human trafficking in the United States is not available, but cases have been reported in all 50 States, the territories of the United States, and the District of Columbia.
Each year, thousands of individuals may be trafficked within the United States, according to recent estimates from victim advocates.
More accurate and comprehensive data on the prevalence of human trafficking is needed to properly combat this form of modern slavery in the United States.
Victims of human trafficking can include men, women, and children who are diverse with respect to race, ethnicity, and nationality, among other factors.
Since the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–386; 114 Stat. 1464), human traffickers have launched increasingly sophisticated schemes to increase the scope of their activities and the number of their victims.
Sense of Congress— It is the sense of Congress that Congress supports additional efforts to raise awareness of and oppose human trafficking.