Sara’s Law and the Preventing Unfair Sentencing Act of 2021 (H.R. 2858)

The Preventing Unfair Sentencing Act of 2021, or “Sara’s Law,” was introduced into Congress on April 26, 2021. The legislation is named after Sara Kruzan who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at 17 years old for killing her trafficker. She was groomed at age 11, then sex trafficked from 13-16 years old. After escaping, she returned to kill her abuser. In the trial, she was tried as an adult and was sentenced to life in jail without parole. The court did not consider the impact childhood trauma and victimization had on Kruzan’s decision-making. She served 19 years and 7 months before the governor commuted and reduced her sentence.

Today, many do not consider the impact childhood trauma has on a child sex trafficking victim’s criminal conduct. Child sex trafficking victims are often tried as adults and given harsh sentences for crimes they committed as a result of their victimization. This approach ignores the impact childhood trauma has on a victim’s decision-making process. Sara’s Law acknowledges that child sex trafficking victims are capable of rehabilitation and recovery and deserving of trauma-informed care.

Key Findings

• Youth as young as 13 years old can be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Over 2,500 U.S. children are serving this sentence.
• Research shows that girls who are sent into the juvenile justice system have typically experienced overwhelmingly high rates of sexual violence.
• Studies show that youth of color are vastly more likely to be charged as if they were adults.

Sara’s Law protects child sex trafficking victims by:

• Allowing courts to take a child’s history into account and depart from mandatory minimums for youthful victim offenders who have been trafficked, abused, or assaulted to consider the “effect of trauma on the offender’s conduct.”
• Allowing mandatory minimums to be reduced by 35% to reflect the juvenile’s age and prospect for rehabilitation.

Learn More & Take Action:

• Ask Congress to pass Sara’s Law here: act.sharedhope.org/vKWqG5C
• Take action on the TVPRA bills that incorporate Sara’s Law
• Visit sharedhope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/ to access Shared Hope’s research and advocacy resources.
• For technical assistance, contact Christine Raino at christine@sharedhope.org.

Additional Sources:

• Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders: sharedhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SH_Responding-to-Sex-Trafficking-Victim-Offender-Intersectionality2020_FINAL.pdf 
• National Survivor Network Member’s Survey: Impact of Criminal Arrest and Detention on Survivors of Human Trafficking: nationalsurvivornetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/VacateSurveyFinal.pdf
• The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls’ Story: The Sexual Abuse To Prison Pipeline: The Girls’ Story (georgetown.edu)

Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (S. 3946, S. 3949)

Updated: 2/1/2023

In 2022, Congress introduced four Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (“TVPRA”) bills which would most notably reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) authorizations which expired in September 2021. The TVPA provides critical tools needed to combat human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad by authorizing approximately $1 billion for FY 2022 through 2026 to continue currently enacted appropriation and authorization levels for successful anti-trafficking programs. Of the four TVPRA reauthorization bills, two (S. 3946 and S. 3949) were enacted in January 2023. The new laws reauthorize and enhance programs, strengthen laws, and add accountability that reflects the critical need for prevention, protection, and prosecution to combat human trafficking domestically and abroad.

Shared Hope International supports these laws because they are trauma-informed, survivor-centered, and proactive. The policies included in this legislation are bipartisan with broad support from at least 17 different national and state-based organizations. The passage of this legislation will have a direct impact on victims and survivors, whose needs would be addressed through the allocation of necessary funding and the implementation of training and educational programs. Overall, these laws ensure the continuation of existing programs, while also increasing transparency and awareness for human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad, and preventing harm to future victims.

Key Provisions

• Child welfare grants: Shared Hope supports HHS grants to eligible states to develop, improve, or expand programs that assist child welfare programs with identifying and responding to human trafficking, including children trafficked by a third-party (i.e., not familial) trafficker.
• Promoting consistent trafficking definitions: Shared Hope supports efforts to promote nationally consistent definitions of child sex trafficking by urging the removal of third-party control requirements from state trafficking laws that narrow the definition in conflict with the federal definition of child sex trafficking.

In addition to reauthorizing critically needed funds that support survivor-centered responses and accountability for exploiters, the following are some highlights of other important provisions in the TVPRA bills:

• The Abolish Trafficking Reauthorization Act of 2022 ( 3946)
  • Authorizes the Sec. of HHS to make grants to eligible states to develop, improve, or expand programs that assist with child welfare programs that assist with identifying and responding to human trafficking to states that have eliminated third-party control requirements. Also requires the state to develop and implement a specialized protocol for responding when victims are exploited by a third-party (i.e., not familial) trafficker.
• The Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022 ( 3949)
  • Makes grants to State child welfare and juvenile justice agencies and child- and youth-serving agencies to collaborate in the collection of data relating to dual status youth and to develop practices, policies, and protocols to confront the challenges presented and experienced by dual status youth.

Notes: Sara’s Law: Shared Hope advocated for the incorporation of “Sara’s Law,” named after child sex trafficking survivor Sara Kruzan, which would enable judges to take into consideration abuse or trauma a child sex trafficking victim has endured to ensure that they do not receive lengthy prison sentences, to be included in TVPRA. Unfortunately, H.R.5150, which would have codified Sara’s Law, did not ultimately pass.