Rep. Judge Ted Poe and Senator John Cornyn cross-filed the End Sex Trafficking Act of 2013 on July 24, 2013. The bill has the purpose of clarifying the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and its criminal provision, 18 USC 1591, to include actions by buyers – through the verbs “patronizes or solicits” – as […]
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act Advances in the Senate Thanks to the Violence Against Woman Act
On February 12, 2013, the Violence Again Women Act (VAWA) passed in the Senate with critical amendments made by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy’s (D-VT) to secure the reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) as part of VAWA and by Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to authorize grants to enhance […]
Unavoidable Destiny | Legally a Criminal, Legally a Victim: The Plight of the Bottom
Looking back at the 18 months of my victimization by a “guerilla pimp” (most abusive type of pimp), I have to make an honest decision in regard to my actions. While under the direction of the pimp, I did commit punishable offenses under the law and was charged with conspiracy to commit the Mann Act—driving […]
Everythang’s Bigger’n Texas, Except Their Grade!
This week, Shared Hope International traveled to the Lone Star State to release the third of 51 Protected Innocence Report Cards. In partnership with Children at Risk, Shared Hope International presented the Texas Report Card to trafficking survivors, former pimps, former NFL players, and congressional members in Dallas on Saturday at a community rally sponsored by […]
Political Asylum for Trafficking Victims in the TVPA: Rule or Exception?
Full of hopes and aspirations, thousands of women and children end up trafficked into the United States each year by false promises of a better opportunity, school or the fulfillment of a vocational dream, only to later realize that they have been forced into sex slavery. This is a story we hear too often, but […]