Introduction FY 2016
This briefing book provides concrete recommendations from ATEST to Congress on how to leverage federal funding for law enforcement to apprehend and prosecute traffickers, while providing much needed services for victims to rebuild their lives.
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) is a U.S. based coalition that advocates for solutions to prevent and end all forms of human trafficking and modern slavery around the world. We advocate for lasting solutions to prevent labor and sex trafficking, hold perpetrators accountable, ensure justice for victims and empower survivors with tools for recovery. Led and supported by Humanity United, a foundation dedicated to building peace and advancing human freedom, ATEST member organizations include: Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), End Child Prostitution and Trafficking–USA (ECPAT-USA), Free the Slaves, Futures Without Violence (FUTURES), International Justice Mission (IJM), National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), National Network for Youth (NN4Y), Polaris, Safe Horizon, Solidarity Center, Verité, Vital Voices Global Partnership, and World Vision.
The scope of human trafficking and forced labor has come into sharp focus over the past years with estimates between 20 and 27 million slaves worldwide—more than any other time in history. Human trafficking is also one of the largest criminal enterprises in the world, generating over $150 billion in profits to traffickers annually according to some estimates.1 Victims work in our agricultural fields, help construct buildings, provide domestic work in our homes, labor in the hospitality industry, and are forced into prostitution.
Human trafficking does not exist in a vacuum. Vulnerability appears in a number of different forms. For example, runaway and homeless youth are among the most vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking in our society. The more we explore intersections between human trafficking and other causes, the stronger and more effective our solutions become.
The U.S. Congress has the power to help end human trafficking. This briefing book provides concrete recommendations from ATEST to Congress on how to leverage federal funding for law enforcement to apprehend and prosecute traffickers, strengthening programs to prevent human trafficking, and providing much needed services for victims to rebuild their lives.