Emily Sortor  |  May 11, 2020

Category: Human Trafficking

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A woman looks over her shoulder.

President Donald Trump has appointed Sex trafficking survivor Courtney Litvak to serve on the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. Litvak previously worked with lawmakers and in the private sector to help end human trafficking. 

Litvak, according to the Houston Chronicle, became a victim of sex trafficking at the age of 18, after being targeted during a vulnerable period of her life. Since then, Litvak and her mother founded the nonprofit organization ChildProof America, aimed at ending sex trafficking through education. She now gives speeches about the dangers of sex trafficking.

Litvak’s role in the government’s effort to end sex trafficking began when Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas’s 10th Congressional District, voiced his support for the Litvaks’ organization. Then in November, first daughter Ivanka Trump invited Litvak to attend an anti-human trafficking summit being held at the White House.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Litvak was present when President Trump signed an executive order intended to combat sex trafficking by allocating additional funding to anti-sex trafficking efforts, particularly when it’s done via the internet.

Litvak will serve a two-year term on the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. Her role on the council has yet to be entirely outlined, but she said that broadly speaking, she will be “expanding what I do through ChildProof America and raising awareness, and policies that we can enact.”

Litvak said she would like to see policies put in place to “help protect people who are being impacted the most by human trafficking and make sure those who are exploiting individuals are held accountable.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TPVA), which received bipartisan support when it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton and later adopted by President Barack Obama. President Trump has now also adopted the legislation. 

Ivanka Trump organized a summit to celebrate the law’s 20th anniversary. However, President Trump’s polarizing political agenda was cited as the reason several anti-sex-trafficking organizations were no-shows at the summit, including the Polaris Project, a nonprofit that runs a national human trafficking hotline, according to ABC News.

“At this highly politicized moment in our nation, we were concerned that our attendance at this summit would be misconstrued as taking a political side, so we chose not to attend,” a Polaris representative told ABC News. 

Though the terms sex trafficking and human trafficking are often used interchangeably, The Daily Signal explains that sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), human trafficking is defined as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to get a person to perform either labor or a sex act. The DHS notes that human trafficking also includes any instance in which a person under the age of 18 is “induced to perform commercial sex acts,” even if the minor was not coerced into those acts.

The Polaris Project provides current statistics on reports of human trafficking. Its figures do not present the entire picture of human trafficking because often, a sex trafficking survivor may be unable to report their case. However, the numbers do provide insight into the magnitude of the problem. Polaris’s U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline received nearly 11,000 reports of human trafficking. According to the organization, the reports involved 23,078 survivors; 5,859 potential traffickers; and 1,905 trafficking businesses.

The debate about how to best address sex trafficking and human trafficking is complicated. Some lawmakers worry that legislation aimed at reducing human trafficking may do more harm than good.

According to The Daily Signal, some lawmakers have expressed concern that certain human trafficking laws can prevent a sex trafficking survivor from seeking employment and other opportunities after they escape a trafficking situation. For example, this may be the case if a law requires sex work to remain on a person’s permanent record. The stigma associated with sex work, whether it’s the result of human trafficking or not, can profoundly affect a person’s ability to get employment.

If you were a victim of sex trafficking and forced to work at a truck stop, hotel or motel, night club or other hotel venue, you may be eligible to move forward with a civil investigation against these businesses. This investigation involves a civil case, and is not a criminal case against you or your loved ones.

Top Class Actions is working with experienced human trafficking attorneys who will be informed and sensitive to your situation. Join the fight by filling out the short form on this page. 

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