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01/11/2006

Former Congresswoman Linda Smith Joins President Bush for Signing of Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act

 WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- Former Congresswoman Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope International, will join PRESIDENT BUSH as he signs into law The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, (HR972), Tuesday, January 10, 2006. This breakthrough piece of legislation both strengthen and expand laws against human trafficking at home and abroad.

Shared Hope Founder Linda Smith says "The swift and overwhelming support in Congress for this strong bill, authored by Congressman Chris Smith, sends a clear message to human traffickers that the United States is continuing its global effort to crack down on this violation of human dignity wherever it may occur. This is an important bill because it not only enhances our international efforts, but it also focuses on the trafficking problem in the United States."

For over seven years Shared Hope International (SHI) has fought diligently to increase laws to eradicate sex trafficking in the United States and around the world. In support of the President’s initiative to combat human trafficking, SHI co-hosted the World Summit in 2003, gathering representatives from over 114 nations to focus on comprehensive practices to eradicate sex trafficking.

"I am particularly pleased to see strong language in this bill aimed at helping trafficking victims in the United States," says former Congresswoman Smith. "I believe that most of the unidentified victims in the United States are young U.S. born teenage girls who are being prostituted by pimps in cities throughout the country. This bill increases the focus on the demand for young bodies in U.S. sex tourism markets like Las Vegas."

The bill also addresses a key aspect of the trafficking problem – the demand for victims. Demand for commercial sex creates marketplaces of victimization. "I have recently worked in several cities including Amsterdam, Tokyo and Las Vegas to research child sex tourism. Despite slight differences in procedure, when you begin to look beneath the surface, you see a shocking pattern of regulated exploitation and deprivation of human dignity. When the marketplace for demand is institutionalized, sex traffickers flourish" SHI will continue to expose this exploitation through the expansion of its Predator Project, which has captured hundreds of hours of interviews of predators and their victims in 14 different countries.