HARRISBURG, October 17, 2012 – Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery/Delaware) announced that a companion bill to his human trafficking hotline bill, Senate Bill 338, was unanimously approved by the state Senate today.
“The fight against human trafficking is something I have been championing for more than two years and I am thankful that my colleagues in the House and Senate have approved this legislation,” Leach said. “It has been a long process bringing this plan to fruition, but with this vote we are now one step closer to saving hundreds of thousands of lives and fighting back against this horrible crime.”
House Bill 235, introduced by Rep. Paul Clymer (R-Bucks), and Leach’s Senate Bill 338 would require the Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline number to be placed prominently in certain establishments and locations. The bill earned support from Polaris Project, Women’s Way, the Wayne Foundation, Covenant House PA, the Tavern Association, the Tourism & Lodging Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association and dozens of state lawmakers.
Under the legislation, the Department of Health and Human Services funds the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline — a resource for the community to report suspicious activity that may be trafficking-related. The hotline is free to call, and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This resource saves lives and comes at no cost to the Commonwealth or its citizens.
Leach said that sexual exploitation is the most lucrative sector of the trafficking industry, involving anything from prostitution to the commercial sexual abuse of kids. An estimated 200,000 American children are at risk of trafficking each year. He added that he hopes this legislation will help those thousands of people who are victims of human trafficking by bringing a higher awareness of this crime to the public.
House Bill 235 will now head back to the House of Representatives for a final vote.
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