THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, ORIE, FONTANA, ERICKSON, TARTAGLIONE, LEACH, STACK, O'PAKE, M. WHITE, PILEGGI, WASHINGTON, WILLIAMS, DINNIMAN, ALLOWAY AND RAFFERTY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010  

A RESOLUTION

Directing the Joint State Government Commission to establish an

advisory committee to study the problem of human trafficking

and to make a report to the Senate on the issue of human

trafficking, including a proposed State plan for the

prevention of human trafficking and any recommendations for

changes in State law, policies and procedures.

WHEREAS, Human trafficking is defined by Federal law to

include:

(1)  sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is

induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person

induced to perform such an act is under 18 years of age; and

(2)  the recruitment, harboring, transportation,

provision or obtaining of a person for labor or services,

through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose

of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery;

and

WHEREAS, More generally, human trafficking is the modern-day

practice of slavery and is one of the fastest growing criminal

industries in the world, generating billions of dollars by using

force, fraud and coercion to subject United States citizens and

foreign nationals, both minors and adults, to sexual or labor

exploitation; and

WHEREAS, Human trafficking does not always involve movement

of victims but may encompass both transnational trafficking that

crosses borders and domestic or internal trafficking that occurs

within a country or a state; and

WHEREAS, According to Pennsylvania law enforcement,

prosecutors and numerous advocacy organizations at the national,

state and local levels, there is both sex trafficking and labor

trafficking in Pennsylvania and victims include children and

adults, United States citizens and foreign nationals; and

WHEREAS, Examples of sex trafficking include:

(1)  runaway teenage girls who are preyed upon by pimps;

(2)  adult women who are held against their will and

forced into prostitution; and

(3)  women and girls from other countries who are

promised jobs as waitresses but instead are trafficked for

prostitution;

and

WHEREAS, Victims of labor trafficking are typically found in

domestic servitude, agriculture, service industries and other

low-wage labor industries, where they are threatened, beaten,

raped, starved, chained or locked up, isolated and manipulated

or psychologically tortured; and

WHEREAS, In 2006 the General Assembly enacted 18 Pa.C.S. Ch.

30 (relating to trafficking of persons), making human

trafficking a second degree felony, unless the perpetrator

injures the victim or the victim is under 18 years of age, in

which case it is a first degree felony, and including forfeiture

provisions; and

WHEREAS, Since enactment, the 2006 law has not been utilized

because:

(1)  there is a lack of knowledge by community members

and law enforcement on how to identify and respond to human

trafficking cases;

(2)  there is no centralized venue to convey information

on responding to the crime of human trafficking for law

enforcement, victim service providers and the public; and

(3)  traffickers keep victims highly isolated from

society, attempting to ensure that the victims do not find

out where to turn for help;

and

WHEREAS, While there are existing coalitions to combat human

trafficking in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and York, there is a

need to create a comprehensive Statewide approach to ending this

brutal crime through the prosecution of traffickers, the

identification of victims, providing services and significantly

enhancing community awareness; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate direct the Joint State Government

Commission to establish an advisory committee to study the

problem of human trafficking; to propose policies and procedures

to assist in the prevention and prosecution of human

trafficking; and to make recommendations on how to strengthen

State and local efforts to prevent human trafficking, protect

and assist human trafficking victims and prosecute offenders;

and be it further

RESOLVED, That the advisory committee be comprised of

approximately 30 members and include persons representing all

relevant aspects of the criminal justice and social welfare

systems, including representatives of governmental agencies and

nongovernmental organizations, especially those specializing in

human trafficking, those representing communities

disproportionately affected by human trafficking, agencies

devoted to child services and runaway services and academic

researchers dedicated to the subject of human trafficking; and

be it further

RESOLVED, That the advisory committee make a report to the

Senate on the issue of human trafficking, including a proposed

State plan for the prevention of human trafficking and any

recommendations for changes in State law, policies and

procedures; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the advisory committee shall report to the

Senate no later than two years from the date that this

resolution is adopted.