Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act

The Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act is a bill that has been written to protect children who are victims of child trafficking. It was originally sponsored by 88 Kentucky state representatives and passed the House with a unanimous vote. But now the bill is stalled in the Senate's Appropriations and Revenue Committee and supporters are needed to contact Kentucky state senators to encourage its passage.

 

House Bill 3 focuses on responses to minors who have been caught up in human trafficking. Most are females and most are used for sex, but the problem and the victims have many faces.  As public awareness of human trafficking grows, more victims are found and helped. 101 victims have been identified so far in Kentucky and 44 of them were trafficked as children.

 

The legislation is needed to ensure that victims are quickly provided with appropriate services and are not treated as if they were the criminals. The legislation also increases financial penalties for those convicted of human trafficking and creates a new "Human Trafficking Victims Fund" to redistribute the ill-gotten gains of convicted traffickers for victims services, law enforcement, and prosecution. The bill does not create new crimes and so will not increase correctional costs.

 

Given the postive fiscal impact and the fact that this bill sailed through the House with an impressive 95-0 vote, advocates are frustrated that it has been sitting for days in the Senate's Appropriations and Revenue Committee. Time is running out in this short legislative session!

 

Use the links below to download additional materials about the bill and human trafficking in Kentucky.