BILL NUMBER: SCR 88	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Runner

                        AUGUST 25, 2015

   Relative to Human Trafficking Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 88, as introduced, Runner. Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
   This measure would proclaim the month of January 2016 as Human
Trafficking Awareness Month, encourage all Californians to become
educated about human trafficking and work to eradicate these criminal
practices within and beyond our borders, and encourage members of
the Legislature, as well as organizations, businesses, and
individuals, to host or sponsor and attend community events in order
to bring visibility and support to efforts made by nongovernmental
organizations to recognize and combat human trafficking.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. It is
a crime that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to
recruit, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain a person for the
purposes of labor or sexual exploitation; and
   WHEREAS, Approximately 800,000 young children, teenagers, men, and
women are trafficked across international borders worldwide, and
between 14,500 and 17,500 of those victims are trafficked into the
United States each year according to the United States Department of
State; and
   WHEREAS, The public perception is that human trafficking victims
are from other countries, but data from the Attorney General's 2012
report on human trafficking in California indicates that 72 percent
of identified victims in the United States are American; and
   WHEREAS, The California Legislature recognizes the significant
moral and economic harm of forced labor and human trafficking to both
the State of California and citizens across the globe, and that
ignoring this problem is detrimental not only to those enslaved but
to society as a whole; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature recognizes that California's extensive
international border, its major harbors and airports, its powerful
economy and accelerating population, its large immigrant population,
and its industries, makes it a prime target for traffickers, and that
combating slavery within California will serve to improve conditions
both domestically and internationally; and
   WHEREAS, From mid-2010 to mid-2012, California's nine regional
human trafficking task forces identified 1,277 victims, initiated
2,552 investigations, arrested 1,798 individuals, and provided
training to 25,591 law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, victim
service providers, and other first responders; and
   WHEREAS, Nonprofit organizations, whose missions are to assist
trafficked individuals, provide resources allowing these victims an
opportunity to restore their lives through physical, mental,
emotional, and spiritual restoration; and
   WHEREAS, Americans are committed to individual freedom and will
take the necessary steps to nonviolently stop modern day slavery
around the world and help its victims through the continued work of
community organizations and human trafficking task forces; and
   WHEREAS, Opposition to human trafficking by the American people
will be directed against all individuals, groups, organizations, and
nations that support, advance, or commit acts of modern day slavery;
now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims January 2016 as
Human Trafficking Awareness Month in California in order to encourage
greater awareness of human trafficking within the State of
California, the United States of America, and internationally; and be
it further
   Resolved,That the Legislature encourages all Californians to
become educated about human trafficking and work to eradicate these
criminal practices within and beyond our borders; and be it further
   Resolved,That the Legislature encourages its members, as well as
organizations, businesses, and individuals, to host or sponsor and
attend community events in order to bring visibility and support to
efforts made by nongovernmental organizations to recognize and combat
human trafficking; and be it further
   Resolved,That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.