Help Appropriate $21.8 million For U.S. Citizen Trafficking Victims

Please take a moment to read this urgent message from the Polaris Project:

In the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008, Congress authorized tens of millions of dollars to fund services for U.S. citizen and foreign national victims of human trafficking in the U.S.  None of these funds can be released until Congress passes a separate bill to appropriate the needed funds.

It is critical that all Senators and Representatives are aware of this urgent need.

Since the TVPA passed in 2000, there has been no specific federal funding to support U.S. citizen trafficking victims.  There are also no federally-funded shelters for child victims of sex trafficking, despite estimates of more than 200,000 children at high risk for commercial sex exploitation in the U.S. every year.  Only a small handful of shelters nationwide provide the specialized services and environment needed to help victims recover.

The U.S. government has not provided sufficient funding for foreign national trafficking victims in the past.  For example, the Department of Health and Human Services recently had to decrease victim services from eight to four months in many cases.  When recovery from trauma and abuse can take many years, four months of support is insufficient.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please make a quick, 30 second phone call to your two senators and representatives today and urge them to make appropriations requests for $21.8 Million to go toward intensive social service case management, shelter, legal services, and other critical services for victims.

An appropriation of $21.8 million would provide critical services for U.S. citizen trafficking victims for the first time and significantly increase the availability of services to foreign national victims too!

Talking points:

Hi, I am [Name] calling from [Your Address]

I am calling to urge [Insert Your Senator's Name or Congressperson's Name] to make an appropriations request for Fiscal Year 2010 for $21.8 million for the Department of Health and Human Services to:

Fund, for the first time, case management and other services to assist U.S. citizen victims of human trafficking by making a request for $6 million.

Fund, for the first time, specialized shelters for minor victims of sex trafficking by making a request for $4 million. Continue to fund case management and other services for foreign national victims of human trafficking by making a request for $11.8 million.

If any Members say that they have finalized their Appropriations requests for 2010: Ask them to commit to asking for this in fiscal year 2011.

To find the phone numbers for your Senators and Representatives, click here.  If you are calling after hours, please leave a voicemail and be sure to include your name and address (the legislators must be made aware that you are a constituent).