Sex Trafficking: a GENDER-BASED CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION

By U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Letter of TransmittalPresident Barack ObamaVice President Joe BidenSpeaker of the House John BoehnerThe United States Commission on Civil Rights (the "Commission") is pleased to transmit thisreport, Sex Trafficking: A Gender-Based Violation of Civil Rights. A panel of experts briefedmembers of the Commission on April 13, 2012 to examine the federal government's response tothis issue of human trafficking from a gender-based discrimination perspective. The panelistsdiscussed how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does not list trafficking as a majorcrime category, how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) does not collectstatistics on the scope of trafficking, and how difficult it is to collect and track accurate data onthe prevalence of sex trafficking of minors versus adults. Based on that discussion, theCommission developed the findings and recommendations that are included in this report.Among its findings, the Commission notes that the definitions of what is sex trafficking differamong United States executive agencies and state and local law enforcement authorities.Testimony showed that sex trafficking is clearly a violation of gender-based civil and humanrights that enslaves women and girls in commercial sex and is rooted in gender-baseddiscrimination. The Commission also noted that testimony showed that sex trafficking alsoenslaves men and boys, particularly gay and transgender individuals, in commercial sex and isdiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and is also rooted in social exclusion.The Commission recommends that a model state law on trafficking be developed. TheCommission also recommends that the federal government develop standard definitions of "sextrafficking" and related terms with input from involved federal agencies, state and local lawenforcement entities, and the advocacy and scholarly sectors. In addition, the Commissionsuggests that the FBI should list trafficking as a major crime category; and HHS should collectstatistics on the scope of trafficking, including a percentage of victims.For the Commission, Martin R. CastroChairma

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1974372022
• ISBN13: 9781974372027
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 11.0"