In the year 2016, Virginia ranked at 15th place in the United States for the most reported human trafficking cases. Last year, the state has reported 148 cases with 59 cases involving minors, reported from the National Human Trafficking Hotline. In response to the situation, the state of Virginia is enacting a new law to decrease the crimes of this nature and also to help its youngest victims.
The House Bill 2282, which will take effect from 1st July, will require the Virginia Board of Education to develop the guidelines to train the school counselors, school nurses and also other relevant school staff on the prevention of children trafficking.
The groups fighting human trafficking have applauded the move. Creating the awareness through education is a tactic used by many advocates, as they found it effective in combating human trafficking.
“We are grateful for any new legislation that helps this issue. Having the Department of Education require it helps push the effort forward,” said the co-founder of Virginia Beach Justice Initiative, Patrick McKenna.
Virginia is home to several nonprofit organizations which fight against human trafficking. Many of these organizations and also individuals were instrumental in persuading the General Assembly to adopt the new legislation. McKenna, an attorney, has worked with Del. James Leftwich of the Chesapeake to draft the bill.
House Bill 2282 is essentially an extension of the 2012 law, Senate Bill 259. Previous legislation required the state Board of Education, with the assistance from Department of Social Services, to provide the awareness and training materials for the local school division staff on human trafficking. The new law specifies which of the school professionals must be trained and also creates an actual training program, not just the materials.
However, the House Bill 2282 is just a small step. McKenna noted that the new bill does not set any timeframe for developing the guidelines or does not explain what areas must be covered in the training.
“How the law is implemented is just as important as it being passed,” said Jessica Willis, the executive director of the Richmond Justice Initiative, a group which is related to McKenna’s.
The Prevention Project, a Richmond Justice Initiative’s national award-winning program, has helped more than 10,000 youths nationwide since its start in the year 2012. The project was taught in seven states and also the program has grown from 18 to 60 schools during the past two years. It helps the young people to recognize and resist the lures of trafficking, develop character and also the leadership skills.
The statistics from the National Human Trafficking Hotline show that why the Prevention Project focuses more on the students. Nationwide, the number of cases of human trafficking against minors has doubled within the last four years. In the U.S., 1,016 cases involving the minors were reported in the year 2012 and 2,387 in the last year.
In Virginia, there was a 168 percent increase in the child trafficking cases in the span of four years. There were 22 cases involving minors in the year 2012 but 59 cases in the year 2016.
Victims of human trafficking are mostly forced into sex services. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, of the total 148 cases of human trafficking in the Virginia last year, over 70 percent of them fell into that category.
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