CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

House Resolution No. 7

Introduced by Assembly Members Reyes and Waldron
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta and Patterson)

January 14, 2019

Relative to Human Trafficking Awareness Month.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


HR 7, as introduced, Reyes.
WHEREAS, Beginning in 2010, each January has been designated by presidential proclamation to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month; and
WHEREAS, Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. It is a crime that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to recruit, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain a person for the purpose of labor or sexual exploitation; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of State’s 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report, 170 countries have made public commitments to the eradication of human trafficking; and
WHEREAS, The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally; and
WHEREAS, Eighty-one percent of human trafficking victims are trapped in forced labor, 25 percent are children, and 75 percent are women and girls; and
WHEREAS, The ILO estimates that forced labor and human trafficking is a $150 billion a year industry worldwide. Nine billion dollars of that is estimated to be in agriculture, including forestry and fishing; and
WHEREAS, In 2017, an estimated one out of every seven endangered runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were likely to be child sex trafficking victims. Of those, 88 percent were in the care of social services or the foster system when they ran away; and
WHEREAS, More than two-thirds of sex trafficked children suffer additional abuse at the hands of their traffickers; and
WHEREAS, Women and children who have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation experience a significantly higher rate of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as tuberculosis and permanent damage to the reproductive system; and
WHEREAS, California has one of the highest incidences of human trafficking in the nation. It is a top destination for traffickers because of its major harbors, airports, coastlines, international borders, economy, and immigrant population; and
WHEREAS, The Federal Bureau of Investigation crime analysis lists California and Nevada as having the highest rates of child prostitution in the western region of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported in 2018 that California is a primary location for human trafficking; and
WHEREAS, More than 49,000 total cases of human trafficking have been reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in the last 10 years, with the hotline receiving more than 150 calls per day; and
WHEREAS, According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, human trafficking has increased by 842% in the United States since 2007, with California leading the way with the largest increase in reported cases; and
WHEREAS, The number of cases of human trafficking reported to the Polaris BeFree Textline, an SMS-based hotline for victims and survivors of human trafficking and at-risk populations, increases every year; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature recognizes the significant moral and economic harm of forced labor and human trafficking to both the State of California and citizens across the globe, and that ignoring this problem is detrimental not only to those enslaved but also to society as a whole; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature is committed to prioritizing its efforts in order to provide adequate resources and services to victims of human trafficking; and
WHEREAS, Human trafficking affects people of all ages. It is necessary to remain aware of this constant modern form of slavery that is happening all around us and for California to take an active stance on preventing and eliminating human trafficking once and for all; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly proclaims January 2019 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in California in order to encourage greater awareness of human trafficking within the State of California, the United States of America, and internationally; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.