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Three Human Trafficking Bills Pass on Anti-Human Trafficking Awareness Day

April 13th, 2017 by Jake Stofan
Three bills to protect human trafficking victims passed a House committee in the State Capitol Wednesday.
As many as two hundred people marched from a church to the Capitol for Anti-Trafficking Awareness Day
In 2016 Florida received 1890 reports of human trafficking.
Advocates say many more go unreported.
At the Capitol, one victim, Christa Hicks,  shared her story of a abuse that began at the age of thirteen.
“Which led into just a long line of trauma and drug addiction and then at 24 I was trafficked for a second time,” said Hicks who has now become a victims advocate.
Inside, legislation allowing victims to sue those who profit from their enslavement cleared a House committee.
“I think it not only will allow victims to be compensated for their actual damages, but I think kind of suppress some of the activity among the traffickers if they know that everything they own is essentially going to be on the line,” said bill sponsor, Representative Ross Spano.
Not only can traffickers be held responsible, but business owners that allow sex trafficking to take place on there property would be held accountable.
“Now [it will] allow the Attorney General to file that civil forfeiture action to take that property away from that person who in willful blindness knows exactly really what’s going on,” explained Spano.
Those who work directly with victims say this legislation would incentivize victims to come forward.
“Often times victims of human trafficking do not self identify, but this would be an extra initiative to understand that this is giving the power back to them,” said DCF Human Trafficking Coordinator, Marina Anderson.
A second bill sets up a trust fund from assets seized from traffickers to help victims, while a third bill allows some court proceeding to be closed to keep victims anonymous
For the past six years Florida has passed a major piece of legislation on human trafficking.
The state is ranked among the top ten states working to tackle the issue.

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