Drafter
Clerk 09/15/2021
Title
A MOTION calling on the executive to support efforts to combat human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children through a public awareness campaign.
Body
WHEREAS, human trafficking is thought by some to be modern-day form of 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 provide their 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 on a worldwide basis, in Washington state and in King County, and
WHEREAS, the average age of entry into commercial sexual exploitation in the United States is between twelve and fourteen years old, and
WHEREAS, children as young as eleven years old have been commercially sexually exploited in King County, and
WHEREAS, over ninety-five percent of labor and sex trafficking victims experience physical and sexual violence, and
WHEREAS, Washington state 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 state was the first state to criminalize human trafficking, in 2003, and
WHEREAS, in 2011, the Metro transit department began participating in the Safe Place program to assist at-risk youth in finding support and services, and
WHEREAS, the Washington state Legislature has continued to pass strong anti-trafficking law...

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