State Task Force Releases Bills to Combat Human Trafficking

Thursday, January 11th, 2024 -- 11:00 AM

(AP) -A task force that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos created last summer to bolster Wisconsin's response to human trafficking finished its work Wednesday by introducing a slate of bills that would increase awareness of the issue, impose tougher punishments for soliciting prostitutes and make it easier for victims to sue traffickers.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as using force, fraud or coercion to obtain some kind of labor or commercial sex act. That can include slavery and prostitution rings.

It is a worldwide problem; the National Human Trafficking Hotline has identified 796 cases in Wisconsin since the hotline began in 2007 involving 1,640 victims. Shared Hope International, an organization that works to eradicate trafficking, gave Wisconsin laws addressing trafficking an “F” grade for 2023.

The organization said it found multiple areas in the statutes lacking, including financial penalties for trafficking and crime victim compensation, as well as training for police, prosecutors, school workers and child welfare workers.

Vos, a Republican, appointed 13 lawmakers to the task force in August. The group held four public hearings with law enforcement officers, prosecutors and nonprofit organizations that support trafficking victims over the course of the fall.

The task force introduced 11 bills at a news conference in the state Capitol on Wednesday morning.

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