All States should post the National Human Trafficking Hotline

Recently, America achieved a huge victory in the fight against human trafficking in the form of legislation requiring the Department of Transportation and Homeland Security to ensure the National Human Trafficking Hotline is visible in every plane, bus, and train restroom.

In 2022, both the house and senate passed companion bills amending the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. This particular act of congress is known as the Human Trafficking Prevention Act of 2022.

About the Human Trafficking Hotline

The Trafficking Hotline works with victims to determine what they need to begin to break free and rebuild their lives. This is important because traffickers take consent, choice, and freedom away from victims. To effectively support survivors is to return to them control over their own lives and choices. When and if victims and survivors choose to involve law enforcement, the Trafficking Hotline supports the process every step of the way.

The Trafficking Hotline reports all situations involving children to appropriate authorities as directed by state and federal protocols. The Trafficking Hotline will also report situations where immediate and escalating violence can be heard or observed.

State-Level Examples

Here are a few examples of state governments requiring posting in specific places that other states could also require:

New York Law

A new law (S8874) requires facilities such as hotels, inns, and motels to provide informational cards on the services available to victims of human trafficking. Information about services, such as the national trafficking hotline, will be made readily available to trafficking victims and other hotel guests and displayed in public spaces such as public restrooms, individual guest rooms, and near the entrance.

Florida Laws

This new law requires all public lodging establishments to: - Implement a procedure for reporting suspected human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline or to a local law enforcement agency. - Post a human trafficking awareness sign in a conspicuous location in the establishment, which is accessible to employees.

We should continue this momentum on the individual state level to make the hotline more accessible. Hotels are one of the most common settings for sex trafficking. We should move to require legislators to pass similar state laws, including hotels, apartments and casinos.