HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 146

(By Delegates Sobonya, C. Miller, Anderson, Andes,

         Howell, Ireland, Kump, J. Miller, Sigler,

              Snuffer, Sumner and Walker)

Requesting the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to study the     existence and extent of human trafficking in the State of     West Virginia and propose legislation consistent with the     committee's findings.

    Whereas, Important national and international legislation was passed in 2000 that launched a concerted effort to research and assess the extent of human trafficking across the world; and

    Whereas, Included in that legislation was the Trafficking Victims Protection Act which was passed by the United States Congress and the Palermo Protocol which was adopted by the United Nations and provided for the criminalization of all acts of trafficking including forced labor, slavery and slavery-like practices; and

    Whereas, Since 2000, the world has made great strides in combating this ultimate exploitation both in terms of what is known about this crime and how to respond. Nevertheless, trafficking of humans is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal industry in the world and is the fastest growing; and

    Whereas, According to UNICEF, as many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade; and

    Whereas, Through its state department, the United States has recently acknowledged that, like other countries, it has a serious problem with human trafficking for both labor and commercial sexual exploitation; and

    Whereas, The United States is not only a destination country for thousands of men, women and children trafficked largely from Mexico and East Asia, as well as countries in South Asia, Central America, Africa and Europe, for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation but, according to the 2010 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the United States is also a "source country for people held in servitude"; and

    Whereas, The TIP report found that in America, men, women and children were subject to trafficking for "forced labor, debt bondage and forced prostitution”; and

    Whereas, The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has estimated that fifty thousand people are trafficked into or transited through the U.S.A. annually as sex slaves, domestics, garment and agricultural slaves; and

    Whereas, Human trafficking is a human rights abuse that represents a global problem and imposes on everyone the responsibility to eradicate it; and

    Whereas, As part of this global effort, this state has both a moral and a legal responsibility to investigate and implement strategies to detect and eradicate human trafficking within its borders; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Joint Committee on the Judiciary study the existence and extent of human trafficking in the State of West Virginia and propose legislation consistent with the committee's findings; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on the Judiciary report to the regular session of the Legislature, 2012, on its conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this study, to prepare a report and to draft necessary legislation be paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.