Human trafficking is a global problem that also occurs widely on the state and federal level; according to the most recent statistics, there were 19,724 cases of human trafficking between from 2007 until last year (2014 Statistics). Although there are laws and policies in place to protect victims of this practice in every state, it is still a large issue in our society. This paper will serve as an analysis of the laws and policies that affect the United States both on the federal and state of Michigan level.
Federal Law
The federal policies regarding human trafficking have been updated several times in the last decade. The first major federal law that addressed this issue was the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, …show more content…
This means that there are protections in place from this new law for illegal immigrants who are victims of human trafficking. In terms of labor trafficking, non-citizens are more susceptible than United States citizens and more foreign victims are found to be victims than they are in sex trafficking (Siskin, 2013). Interestingly, women are impacted by these policies in two ways; those who are victims and those who are perpetrators. Interestingly, women have been found to play a role in this practice compared to other crimes which are usually perpetrated by men (Siskin, 2013) and in those cases, this law makes their involvement illegal. Women who are victims of human trafficking are impacted by these laws because there are now protections in place to keep women safe after being victimized. Children are impacted by federal law because of the specific protections that are …show more content…
The new changes were restitution for victims of this practice, and therefore meant that victims could request for all costs to be covered such as medical. It was overhauled again in 2014 after a twenty one bill legislative package which involved safe harbor provisions and tools to hold traffickers accountable. This also created a Human Trafficking Commission and advisory board within the Department of Community Health. The majority of this legislation took effect in January of 2015. These laws included labor, debt bondage, trafficking of a minor and enterprise liability/financially benefitting (Human Trafficking Laws, n.d.). This law was initiated by Representative Phil Pavlov on February 23, 2006. This law passed with 105 to 0 in the House on March 23, 2006 and did not seem to have any opposition, and then it was also passed 38 to 0 votes in the Senate and was signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on May 25, 2006 (http://www.michiganvotes.org/2006-HB-5747, n.d.). Both perpetrators and victims are impacted by this policy, because when the law was passed, it made this crime illegal, both labor and sex trafficking and with the overhaul of the law, traffickers are held more accountable for their crimes. An unintended consequence of these laws are that while they do protect women and children (being that they
Federal Law
The federal policies regarding human trafficking have been updated several times in the last decade. The first major federal law that addressed this issue was the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, …show more content…
This means that there are protections in place from this new law for illegal immigrants who are victims of human trafficking. In terms of labor trafficking, non-citizens are more susceptible than United States citizens and more foreign victims are found to be victims than they are in sex trafficking (Siskin, 2013). Interestingly, women are impacted by these policies in two ways; those who are victims and those who are perpetrators. Interestingly, women have been found to play a role in this practice compared to other crimes which are usually perpetrated by men (Siskin, 2013) and in those cases, this law makes their involvement illegal. Women who are victims of human trafficking are impacted by these laws because there are now protections in place to keep women safe after being victimized. Children are impacted by federal law because of the specific protections that are …show more content…
The new changes were restitution for victims of this practice, and therefore meant that victims could request for all costs to be covered such as medical. It was overhauled again in 2014 after a twenty one bill legislative package which involved safe harbor provisions and tools to hold traffickers accountable. This also created a Human Trafficking Commission and advisory board within the Department of Community Health. The majority of this legislation took effect in January of 2015. These laws included labor, debt bondage, trafficking of a minor and enterprise liability/financially benefitting (Human Trafficking Laws, n.d.). This law was initiated by Representative Phil Pavlov on February 23, 2006. This law passed with 105 to 0 in the House on March 23, 2006 and did not seem to have any opposition, and then it was also passed 38 to 0 votes in the Senate and was signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on May 25, 2006 (http://www.michiganvotes.org/2006-HB-5747, n.d.). Both perpetrators and victims are impacted by this policy, because when the law was passed, it made this crime illegal, both labor and sex trafficking and with the overhaul of the law, traffickers are held more accountable for their crimes. An unintended consequence of these laws are that while they do protect women and children (being that they