Enslaved in the U.S.A.

Source: Corbis

From the National Review Online:

As public awareness has grown about global sex trafficking, Americans were shocked to learn that victims from places such as Mexico, Korea, and Ukraine were sexually enslaved in their towns and cities. In communities across the country, concerned citizens voiced calls for zero tolerance for modern-day slavery.

President Bush made combating human trafficking a priority. Both Attorney Generals Ashcroft and Gonzales have spoken out against trafficking in the U.S. and made the investigation and prosecution of trafficking a priority. Most of the focus on identifying and assisting victims and prosecuting offenders has been on foreign nationals trafficked into the U.S.

There are more American citizens than foreign nationals victimized by sex traffickers in the U.S., yet there are no federally funded services for them, particularly if they are over age 17.

Service providers who have requested funds from the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) to assist American victims have been turned down repeatedly by government agencies. The recent attorney general’s report states that TVPA funds are dedicated to non-U.S. citizen victims. Therefore, if you are a victim of sex trafficking in the U.S. from Mexico or Ukraine, there is money for immediate services ($1300 a month), but there are no funds similarly available for an American victim.

Read the full article…