Justice Department unveils human trafficking combating initiative

The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled its new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking this week in accordance with the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.

“Human trafficking is an insidious crime,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Traffickers exploit and endanger some of the most vulnerable members of our society and cause their victims unimaginable harm. The Justice Department’s new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking will bring the full force of the Department to this fight.”

The initiative would bolster the Department’s capacity to prevent human trafficking, prosecute human trafficking cases, and support and protect human trafficking victims and survivors.

The multi-year strategy seeks to strengthen engagement, coordination, and joint efforts to combat human trafficking by prosecutors in all 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and federal law enforcement agents nationwide; form federally-funded, locally-led anti-human trafficking task forces supporting state law enforcement leadership and comprehensive victim assistance; and expediting departmental efforts to eliminate forced labor by expanding focus on resources and coordination in labor trafficking investigations and prosecutions.

The initiative also strives to make progress along the lines of innovative demand-reduction strategies executed through the National Human Trafficking Coordinator designated by the Attorney General under the Abolish Human Trafficking Act of 2017.