Drafter
Clerk 07/10/2012
Title
A MOTION calling on the King County transit division and the executive to support efforts to combat human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children through the use of King County transit division public service advertising resources.
Body
WHEREAS, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where 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 on a worldwide basis, in Washington state, and in King County, and
WHEREAS, between three hundred and five hundred children will 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, the Governor of Washington state signed twelve anti human trafficking bills into law in March 2012, making Washington state a model for comprehensive anti human trafficking laws, and
WHEREAS, the King County transit division participates in the Safe Place program to assist at-risk youth in finding support and services; and
WHEREAS, a 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;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The King County executive and the transit division are requested to develop and implement a strategy to increase public awareness of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children using, but not limited to:
1. Applicable transit division public service advertising resources, including placement of anti human trafficking public awareness materials in key transit corridors and transit center locations where public awareness of human trafficking may have an impact; and,
2. The county's internet sites, including transit, health, human services and other appropriate county websites web sites.
B. The executive is directed to utilize existing anti-human trafficking outreach materials, to the extent that it is legally permissible, that have been developed by other entities or jurisdictions, rather than unnecessarily expend funds to re-create outreach materials that exist elsewhere.
C. The information on the anti-human trafficking public information materials should clearly include contact information for existing national anti-human trafficking or exploited children organizations, such as the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, and include the telephone number and email address on the public awareness materials.
D. January 11 is national anti-human trafficking awareness day. The public awareness campaign should be in place by January 11, 2013.
E. The executive is requested to transmit to the council by September 24, 2012 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.
F. King County representatives on the Sound Transit board are requested to work with their colleagues on that board to advance the issue of human trafficking awareness.