The U.S. State Department announced a new initiative and tools to help combat human trafficking. The announcement made on social media outlined a new website dedicated to human trafficking, public awareness and training programs, funding opportunities, and resources for victims and survivors. The announcement described the initiative as a whole-of-government effort.
We are proud to announce a new whole-of-government human trafficking website with federal resources for victims, current funding opportunities, public awareness and training efforts, and information on survivor leadership.
State Dept announcement on Social Media
The effort began with an announcement by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany in October 2020, when she gave details of “released the first-ever comprehensive National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking”.
McEnany wrote,
The National Action Plan (NAP) represents the broad-based, multi-disciplinary, whole-of-government strategy of the United States to eradicate human trafficking. This plan is built around the three pillars laid out in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000: Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution. The NAP’s fourth pillar recognizes the invaluable benefit of implementing collaborative and cooperative efforts that crosscut all three pillars and involve a multitude of stakeholders and professionals from various disciplines and sectors. Under the heading of each pillar, the NAP identifies foundational principles and associated priority action items.
The new initiative will bring these ‘stakeholders and professionals’ together in order to implement the new plan.
From the announcement on the State Department website:
The United States has made the global fight against human trafficking a policy priority and employs a whole-of-government approach to stop human traffickers, protect victims, and prevent this crime.
Combating human trafficking requires a comprehensive, multidisciplinary effort. Within government, this means the participation and coordination among agencies with a range of responsibilities, including criminal enforcement, labor enforcement, victim outreach and services, public awareness, education, trade policy and promotion, international development and programs, customs and immigration, intelligence, and diplomacy. Coordinated federal efforts that incorporate state, local, and tribal entities; the private sector; civil society; survivors; religious communities; and academia are essential to an integrated response to human trafficking that leverages resources and amplifies results.
