Senate passes anti-trafficking bill, finally

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, originally passed in 2000, is the main law the United States has against human trafficking, addressing the problem on both a national and international level. While it has been reauthorized three times since it originally passed, it was not reauthorized in 2011.

International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights organization fighting to end human trafficking, praised Senator Leahy from Vermont and Senator Rubio from Florida for their efforts in working across party lines to see this bill passed. Not only did the bill pass Tuesday morning, but it passed with 93 senators voting in its favor!

IJM has provided a sample script online for you to call your senator and either thank him or her for voting in support of the bill or voicing disappointment for failure to vote for it. Included with the script is a list of how each senator voted.

The human trafficking industry targets the defenseless and helpless. IJM reports that the human trafficking industry grosses $32 billion dollars ever year while exploiting 27 million slaves.

This bill will now move to the House of Representatives.