Drafter
Clerk 02/18/2014
Title
A MOTION urging the Washington state Legislature to enact legislation that supports efforts to combat human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation and legislation that protects and supports victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
Body
WHEREAS, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which people profit from the control and exploitation of others, and
WHEREAS, as defined under federal law, victims of human trafficking include children involved in commercial sex trade, adults age eighteen or over who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts and anyone forced into different forms of "labor or services," such as domestic workers held in a home or farm workers forced to labor against their will, and
WHEREAS, human trafficking is considered to be one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, and
WHEREAS, human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children are serious crime problems worldwide, in Washington state and in King County, and
WHEREAS, between three hundred and five hundred children will be bought and sold in King County this year, and
WHEREAS, the average age of entry into commercial sexual exploitation in the United States is thirteen years old, and
WHEREAS, children as young as eleven years old who have been commercially sexually exploited have been found in King County, and
WHEREAS, over ninety-five percent of labor and sex trafficking victims experience physical and sexual violence, and
WHEREAS, human traffickers lure and ensnare individuals into labor trafficking and sex trafficking situations using methods of control such as force, fraud or coercion, and
WHEREAS, human trafficking is a clandestine crime that thrives on secrecy and on the social and physical isolation of its victims, making identification of victims, traffickers and their networks extremely challenging, and
WHEREAS, the state of Washington has been described as a focal point for the recruitment, transportation and sale of people for labor, due in part to its abundance of ports, proximity to an international border, vast rural areas and dependency on agricultural workers, and
WHEREAS, Washington was the first state to criminalize human trafficking, in 2003, and
WHEREAS, Washington state has some of the most comprehensive laws critical to the fight against human trafficking, punishing traffickers and supporting survivors, and is rated most outstanding by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center's Polaris Project and
WHEREAS, as traffickers become more sophisticated and clandestine, law enforcement requires additional laws to strengthen its response, and
WHEREAS, as victims of trafficking are in need of services and protection;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The King County council urges the Washington state Legislature to enact legislation that supports efforts to combat human trafficking and commercial sexual
exploitation and legislation that protects and supports victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.