ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
Establishes a Trafficking Victims’ Task Force and prescribes its membership and duties.
Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, which defines human trafficking as the transport of persons from their home communities to unfamiliar destinations that is often linked to sexual and labor exploitations.
The TVPA defines “victim of trafficking” as one subject to the act or practice of sex trafficking and the recruiting, harboring, transportation, providing or obtaining of a person for labor or services with the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude.
According to the TVPA, trafficking in persons is a modern form of slavery and is the largest manifestation of slavery today, with approximately 50,000 women and children being trafficked into the United States each year. Trafficking exposes victims to serious health risks, affects interstate and foreign commerce and violates numerous laws including labor and immigration codes, kidnapping, slavery, assault, extortion, fraud and false imprisonment.
There is a minimal fiscal impact to the state general fund associated with this legislation.
1. Establishes a Trafficking Victims’ Task Force consisting of the Attorney General, the Director of the Department of Health Services, the Director of the Industrial Commission and the Director of the Criminal Justice Commission or their respective designees.
2. Requires the Task Force to:
a) Choose a chairperson from among the members and meet annually and at the call of the chairperson.
b) Collect research and information on trafficking victims and evaluate State and local government approaches to increase public awareness of the trafficking in persons.
c) Review the existing services and facilities available to meet the needs of the victims of trafficking, including health care, housing, education and legal assistance.
d) Develop a plan to combat the trafficking of victims in this State.
e) Recommend a system to coordinate support services to the victims, including health services, job training, English as a second language classes, interpreting services, immigration services and victims’ compensation.
f) Report annually to the Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate its findings and recommendations before December 31 annually and provide a copy to the Secretary of State and the Director of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.
3. Defines “victim,” using the TVPA definition, as one subject to the act or practice of the recruiting, harboring, transporting or obtaining a person for labor services with the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude.
4. Entitles members to receive reimbursement of travel expenses incurred in compliance with statutory requirements, but does not provide for compensation.
5. Repeals the program on July 1, 2012.
6. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 7, 2002