Today, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) co-sponsored the Human Trafficking Prevention Act of 2022. The bipartisan legislation requires the posting of the National Human Trafficking Hotline in the restrooms of all U.S. airplanes, airports, trains, train stations, busses, and bus stations so that any victim, or anyone who notices a potential victim of human trafficking, knows who to reach out to for help.
In 2020, 10,583 situations of human trafficking were reported to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, involving 16,658 individual victims. Due to the nature of this crime, instances of human trafficking are underreported, making it difficult to identify those in danger. As a result, human traffickers often use the transportation systems to perpetrate this crime.
“Human trafficking is a heinous crime that denies freedom to an estimated 25 million people worldwide,” said Rep. Owens. “We must be vigilant in our efforts to protect our neighbors, put criminals behind bars, and provide all-encompassing support to survivors. I am proud to support the bipartisan Human Trafficking Prevention Act of 2022 because it fights this form of modern-day slavery with expanded prevention, comprehensive enforcement, and renewed education efforts.”
The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a toll-free service connecting victims and survivors of trafficking to critical support and resources. The Hotline provides a toll-free phone line and SMS text lines, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Help is available in English, Spanish or in more than 200 additional languages through an on-call interpreter.
The full text of the bill is available here.
