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Member's Press Release

Release Date: 11/25/2014
Contact: Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer at (304) 319-2423

Delegate Fleischauer ;

Human Trafficking Forum in Morgantown on Monday, December 1st

Charleston, WV - A human trafficking forum will take place on Monday, December 1, 2014 at 7 p.m. in Courtroom 1 of Monongalia County Courthouse. Sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center (RDVIC) and the WVU Center for Women and Gender Studies, the forum is intended to provide information on what West Virginians need to know about the crime of human trafficking.

On hand will be the U.S. District Attorney for Northern West Virginia, William J. Ihlenfeld II, House of Delegates member Barbara Evans Fleishauer, (D-Monongalia), Joyce Yedloskey, a team coordinator for the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Monongalia County Prosecuting Attorney Marcia Ashdown.

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, where people profit from the control and exploitation of others. As defined under U.S. federal law, victims of human trafficking include children involved in the sex trade, adults age 18 or over who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of "labor or services," such as domestic workers held in a home or farm-workers forced to labor against their will.

“I commend the organizers of this forum for shining a much needed spotlight on the very real issue of human trafficking,” commented U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “It is difficult to believe that the concepts of slavery and forced labor continue to permeate modern society. Such crimes are particularly concerning because they target fundamental rights such as freedom and security. We are dedicated to aggressively prosecuting instances of human trafficking in the Northern District of West Virginia and appreciate the opportunity to bring awareness to such an important topic.”

The forum will also provide an opportunity to discuss state legislative solutions for this problem. On May 6, 2013, Governor Tomblin signed House Bill 2814, which expanded protections provided in West Virginia to victims of human trafficking. Fleischauer, who was lead sponsor of House Bill 2814, will be re-introducing House Bill 4344 in 2015 to further tighten the law on this issue.

Sponsored by both Democratic and Republican members, House Bill 4344 incorporates missing pieces of model legislation that was unanimously endorsed by the American Bar Association. “I am hopeful that this bill can pass this year,” said Fleischauer, “and that West Virginia will be rated as Tier One by the Polaris Project. After all, who could be in favor of human trafficking?”

The Polaris Project rates states for their progress on human trafficking legislation. There are four tiers, with Tier One being the most progressive. Thirty-nine states have now reached Tier One status, but not West Virginia.

For more information, visit the Polaris Project website, which has state-by-state information on legislation, statistics on National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline complaints from West Virginia, and more: Polaris Project. The hotline number is 1-888-373-7888.

Joyce Yedloskey is an advocate for human trafficking victims.

“To adequately address human trafficking in West Virginia, we need to shift our criminal justice system response away from identifying victims of trafficking as “offenders”, and build a survivor centered network of services that truly meet the needs of these victims,” said Joyce Yedloskey.

A first forum was held in Wheeling on November 24th, while a third is being planned for Parkersburg in early January, featuring R. Booth Goodwin II, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia.

For more information please contact Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer at (304) 319-2423.


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