Title
A MOTION calling on the King County executive to support efforts to combat human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children through the development and placement of human trafficking outreach information in certain locations across King County including county facilities.
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, 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, the 2008 Report of the Washington Task Force against the Trafficking of Human Persons recommended among its urgent priorities the need to: educate Washington communities about human trafficking; provide support to implement community-driven antitrafficking strategies, including primary prevention efforts; and help victims escape their situations by making one-on-one contact with people who may be in trafficking situations, and
WHEREAS, public information about human trafficking can educate the public about human trafficking and inform victims about resources available to them, simultaneously addressing the needs of individual victims and the educational priorities of the Washington state Task Force on Trafficking, 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, one significant tool for bringing human trafficking into the open is utilizing the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline that connects callers to resources, including: law enforcement, services and information about the crime of human trafficking, and
WHEREAS, while human trafficking locations and venues might differ from state to state, there are common venues where trafficking readily occurs, and
WHEREAS, based on these patterns, it is recommended that information and hotline phone numbers should be posted in or at: truck stops, bus stations, train stations, airports, rest stops, hotels, motels, clubs, bars, farms, hospitals, clinics, jails, police stations and shelters in an effort to target locations where trafficking victims may see the information, and
WHEREAS, for victims of human trafficking, the public posting of information and hotline phone numbers in locations where the information may be seen is critical, as they might not have access to the Internet or to other forms of community based outreach and awareness programs, and
WHEREAS, for community members, information and calls to the hotline often generate future tips and a better understanding of the red-flag indicators of human trafficking, and
WHEREAS, posting information on human trafficking and hotline phone numbers in high visibility locations, increases awareness and increases the chances that human trafficking will be reported, victims will identified and access services and traffickers will be prosecuted;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The executive is requested to develop and implement a public outreach and information postings program to increase public awareness of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children using placement of human trafficking public awareness materials in, but not limited to, county facilities such as the jail, public health clinics, transit centers, courthouses, hospitals, shelters and other locations where trafficked individuals and the public may see the information.
B. The executive is requested to develop the materials and determine placement of the materials in collaboration with public health-Seattle and King County, the transit division, the department of community and human services, the prosecutor's office, the sheriff's offfice, superior court, Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network and council staff.
C. The executive is requested toexplore partnership opportunities with entities external to King County government for posting of human trafficking public awareness materials in their facilities and locations, including, but not limited to, hospitals, community health clinics, shelters, community service organizations and other organizations with locations where trafficked individuals and the public may see the information.
D. The information on the human trafficking public information materials should include clearly displayed contact information for an existing national anti-human trafficking or exploited children organization, such as the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, and include the telephone number and email address on the public awareness materials.
E. The human trafficking public information materials developed by the executive shall be accessible in multiple languages based on input from Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network.
F. January 11 is National Anti-Human Trafficking Awareness Day. The public awareness campaign should be in place by January 11, 2015.
G. The executive is requested to transmit to the council by September 18, 2014, a report on the implementation of this public awareness strategy, in the form of a paper original and an electronic copy with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers.
H. The report on the implementation of the human trafficking public awareness strategy shall include:
1. A list of the King County facilities that will display the materials and their locations throughout King County;
2. A list of partners entities that have agreed to display the materials and their locations throughout King County and an outline of the memoranda of agreement or other documentation necessary to enable the postings to occur;
3. Identification of an ongoing process to invite future partner entities to display the human trafficking public information materials; and
4. A plan for ensuring that the posting of human trafficking public information materials occurs on an ongoing basis.