The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) is pleased to endorse reauthorization of the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act (TVPRA). H.R. 5856, authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), and introduced with many bipartisan...
Author: Terry FitzPatrick
ATEST Applauds Senate Introduction of RHYA Reauthorization to Protect Vulnearable Youth
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking is pleased to support reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, introduced earlier this month. A significant percentage of unhoused youth become trafficking victims. The bipartisan bill addresses root...
ATEST Endorses Manifest Modernization Act
ATEST is pleased to announce our endorsement of bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday that will strengthen efforts to prevent the import of goods tainted by forced labor into the United States (S. 3217). Here’s the news release issued by the bill’s...
ATEST Joins Call to Increase Child Labor Enforcement Funding in FY24 Budget Negotiations
October 5, 2023 The Honorable Patty Murray, Chair The Honorable Susan Collins, Vice Chair Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Washington, DC Dear Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins: The thirteen undersigned organizations write to express our appreciation for...
ATEST Recommends $1.8 Billion Budget for U.S. to Combat Trafficking in 2025
Attention in Washington this week is keenly focused on federal fiscal year 2024, which begins Sunday, and whether Congress can agree on appropriations bills to keep the government running. ATEST works well ahead of lawmakers and the administration, and this week we've sent our...
ATEST Joins Anti-trafficking Movement Call to Oppose Proposed New Requirements for National Hotline
September 8, 2023 Dear Members of Congress: When survivors of violence or crime are deciding whether to reach out for help, they are often scared, unsure who they can trust, and taking a huge leap of faith. Knowing that they can choose when, how, and if they want to report their...
ATEST Joins 1000+ Orgs Asking Congress to Prevent Cutbacks in Grants that Help Trafficking Survivors
A broad coalition of organizations today reached out to key leaders of Senate and House appropriations committees to request that grant funding for the Victims of Crime Act program not be reduced. downloadable .pdf of letter September 7, 2023 Dear Chairwoman Murray, Vice...
ATEST Joins Other Orgs Calling for New Constitutional Amendment to Completely Outlaw Slavery
ATEST has joined a long list of organizations urging Congress to fix a loophole in the U.S. Constitution that allows for slavery and involuntary servitude to be used as punishment for a crime. A bipartisan Constitutional Amendment has been introduced to once and for all end slavery in...
ATEST Joins Allies Pledging Action to Center Survivors in Anti-trafficking Movement
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) today joined other organizations in pledging action to center survivors in the U.S. anti-trafficking movement. The pledge was presented at the global Freedom from Slavery Forum in the Dominican Republic, where movement leaders have...
ATEST Joins Call on Congress to Protect Trafficking Survivor Confidentiality
May 1, 2023 Dear Members of Congress, As a group of civil society organizations working directly with human trafficking survivors, and leading efforts to dismantle the systems that allow human trafficking to flourish in this country, we write today to share our perspectives on...