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 w...

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