Professor triumphs with sex trafficking legislation

01/22/09 - University of Rhode Island professor of women's studies Donna Hughes recently met with former President George W. Bush in the Oval Office as he signed new legislation regarding sex trafficking into law in one of his final acts.The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act is the third revision and reauthorization of an act first passed in 2000 by then-President Bill Clinton and intended to protect the victims of human trafficking, whether for labor, war or sexual purposes in the United States and abroad.

Hughes, who helped author the bill, witnessed its passage in the company of a select group of advocates and high-ranking government officials including Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on Dec. 23, 2008.

Hughes has been involved with the issue of sex trafficking for the past 25 years, and contributed to the bill as a member of what she described as a bipartisan coalition of groups that have worked to understand and address the problem.

The revised law expands the margin for prosecution of pimps and traffickers, closes a number of loopholes, and provides funding for prevention and victims support programs.

The original bill created the Trafficking in Persons Office, an organization to monitor trafficking worldwide and to rate countries in a three-tier system based on trafficking levels and government efforts to combat the trade.

The most recent revision updates the criteria by which nations are evaluated, requiring that they show "serious and sustained efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex." This new stipulation is intended to address nations in which prostitution is legal.

The bill provides for sanctions against countries that receive poor ratings. Countries scoring in the lowest tier risk losing aid in certain areas, and their officials can be denied admittance to the country.

The state of Rhode Island does not match up with this ranking system, Hughes said.

"In some ways you can say Cambodia is doing a better job than Rhode Island because for some reason our officials in Rhode Island are not using the laws that exist," Hughes said. "I'd like to know why."

Rhode Island is one of only three states in which the Attorney General has never prosecuted a trafficking case.

The bill also mandates a survey of the illegal sex industry in the United States, something Hughes described as a necessary first for the nation.

"You can't really begin to get a handle on anything until you have at least one study to start with," Hughes said.

At present, only estimates of the number of individuals trafficked for sexual purposes in the nation are available.

Hughes said the passage of the bill was fitting as one of the final acts of a President who had shown himself dedicated to the issue of human trafficking.

Hughes had the opportunity to speak with the former President during the signing, and thanked him for his support during the eight years of his administration, she said.

Although Barack Obama has given little indication of his position, Hughes is optimistic that the anti-trafficking effort will continue to receive presidential support under the incoming administration.

"It's a very popular topic. It's sort of hard to go wrong on combating slavery," Hughes said.

Hughes sees the effort to combat sex trafficking as the dominant human rights movement of today.

"If you like to look back and imagine what it would have been like to have been part of a really important movement, there's one happening right now," Hughes said. "In some ways it has been incredibly satisfying to be part of that kind of human rights movement."

Hughes became involved in the anti-trafficking work after being introduced to the issue while working at a rape crisis center in the 1980s.

The effort has come a long way since the time when she became involved, Hughes said.

"At that time if you had told me that I would have been in the Oval Office watching the President of the United States sign into law such a powerful act I don't think I would have believed you," Hughes said.

Hughes has conducted research in The United States, Russia and Ukraine, and addressed government officials and assemblies around the world, including the Czech Parliament, the Moscow Dumas, and closer to home in Mexico and Washington D.C.

The act is named for William Wilberforce, a 19th century English politician prominent in the movement to abolish slavery in the British Empire, as well as in various other humanitarian and religious causes of the time.