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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Fremont, CA, United States, 2010/01/13 - The non-profit group aims to collect one million signatures between January 25 and March 31 to place the initiative on the November 2010 ballot - CaliforniaAgainstSlavery.org.
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California Against Slavery today announced a state ballot initiative to strengthen human trafficking laws and increase trafficking victims' rights.
The initiative would revise state law to increase the sentences and fines for human trafficking offenses, add the sex trafficking of minors as a distinct type of a trafficking offense, mandate human trafficking training for law enforcement officers, and improve victims' restitution rights. The initiative also boosts funding for organizations that serve trafficking victims, providing that at least 50% of seized trafficker assets and fines assessed against traffickers will go to community-based organizations that provide direct services to victims.
Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery and its victims are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor. It happens in the United States and worldwide.
Due to the covert nature of the crime, it is difficult to quantify the scope of human trafficking, but experts suggest the problem is large and growing.
An unknown number of U.S. citizens and legal residents are trafficked within the United States, primarily for sexual servitude, according to the U.S. Department of State. Many victims are minors. An estimated 286,506 minors in the United States are at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation, according to a report from the University of Pennsylvania. Labor trafficking also happens in the United States in domestic service, factories, farms, restaurants, and other work sites.
Worldwide, human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry and it is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry. An estimated 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year, according to the U.S. Department of State.
California is a prime target for human traffickers because of its international borders, port cities, large economy, and metropolitan regions.
Despite the prevalence of the problem, current California law does not reflect the severity of the crime. A human trafficking offense is currently punishable by a state prison sentence of three to five years for trafficking of an adult or four to eight years for trafficking of a minor.
"Human trafficking is a criminal industry and it flourishes where the law is weak," said Daphne Phung, executive director of California Against Slavery. "The initiative will make this crime less lucrative and provide much needed assistance to victims that are often overlooked in the justice system."
California Against Slavery (californiaagainstslavery.org) will begin collecting signatures for the initiative on Jan. 25, 2010. The goal is to collect one million signatures by March 31, 2010, to place the initiative on the November 2010 ballot.
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info[.]californiaagainstslavery.org 
