The Current

Advocacy News + Updates

Today marks the one year anniversary since the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), S.1301, was introduced in the U.S. Senate.  The TVPRA is the comprehensive legislation that enables us to fight human trafficking both at home and abroad.  The reauthorization is necessary to keep the law current and make sure we keep pace with an ever evolving crime. 

In just one year, human traffickers have generated an estimated $32 billion in illegal profit through buying, selling and exploiting 27 million men, women and children in slavery today.   Nearly 2 million of those were children exploited in the commercial sex industry.   Unscrupulous labor recruiters have duped over 69,000 men and women into serving on U.S. military bases overseas under the promise of a well-paying job in a safe place, only to find themselves in a combat zone making a fraction of the salary they were told at best and living in inhumane conditions with no hope of leaving.

To help combat trafficking and slavery in countries where we work,  IJM partnered with local authorities to secure the arrest of 220 suspected perpetrators of violent abuse in 2011 alone.  Additionally, 113 rapists, traffickers and other criminals were convicted in IJM cases last year.  12 establishments were ordered permanently closed for trafficking crimes as a result of IJM’s intervention. IJM had its largest rescue operation to date, securing freedom for 514 people in a brick kiln just outside of Chennai, India. 

But there is so much more that can be done.  Human trafficking is the second fastest growing criminal industry, second only to drug trafficking.  The U.S. government spends .003% of its annual budget to combat this illegal trade.  That is to say that for every $32 traffickers earn, the U.S. spends only 10 cents fighting them.  We spend more fighting drug trafficking in a single month than has been spent fighting human trafficking both at home and abroad over the course of an entire decade. 

Failure to act on this bill sends a clear signal to human traffickers that partisan politics is more important to the U.S. Congress than the lives of the millions of men, women and children suffering around the globe.  Call your Senator today and tell them you support S.1301, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, because 27 million people in slavery are counting on us to act.


Annick Febrey is the Legislative Affairs Manager for International Justice Mission. Justice Campaigns mobilizes people around the country in support of U.S. policies that will lead to the abolition of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Join us this summer for Recipe for Change, as we campaign for slave-free tomatoes.