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12/15/2005

CWA's Crouse Praises End Demand Legislation Against Sex Slavery
House Passes Legislation Reauthorizing Anti-Sex Trafficking Legislation with End Demand Provisions

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Concerned Women for America (CWA) rejoiced as the House passed H.R. 972 on Wednesday with an amendment that broadens the law to include tools for effectively fighting trafficking in local communities as well as focusing on ending the demand for prostitutes -- the factor that drives the crime of sex trafficking.

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, CWA's expert in combating sex trafficking, said, "The vote to pass H.R. 972 culminates months of intense negotiation and hard work by those of us who are passionate about ending the scourge of human trafficking. This comprehensive legislation will give us better tools for eliminating modern-day slavery and prosecuting those criminals who are modern-day slave masters."

Crouse, who has been on the front lines in the anti-trafficking efforts for nearly a decade, added: "Now, we have laws that will help us protect vulnerable women and girls as well as rescue those thousands of victims who are suffering horrible abuse. We know that demand fuels the whole sex trafficking industry, so instead of arresting the victims we can put those who perpetuate human slavery behind bars and turn the victims into survivors by providing the services they need to be rescued and restored."

Over 800,000 women and children are trafficked annually with nearly 20,000 of them coming into the United States every year. The new legislation will target the demand side of trafficking, provide grants to assist victims, establish pilot programs for rescuing and restoring survivors, strengthen prosecution efforts, underwrite programs to review and analyze anti-trafficking efforts and report on best practices for reducing the demand for unlawful commercial sex acts.

Crouse concluded, "We owe a debt of gratitude to those legislators on the House Judiciary Committee and the House International Relations Committee who have worked on this legislation over the past year -- especially Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) who authored the trafficking reauthorization bill (H.R. 972) and Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) who authored the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act (H.R. 2012), which was incorporated as an amendment into the comprehensive H.R. 972 bill. We are pleased to be partners with these legislators in helping to protect vulnerable women and children. The next step will be to have similar success when the bill comes to the floor of the Senate."

Concerned Women for America (CWA) is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.