Justice Department announces $44 million in grants against human trafficking
Attorney General Loretta Lynch today announced more than $44 million in grant funding to fight human trafficking.
In remarks to the Seattle-based Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking, Lynch said the grants will fund efforts to fight trafficking, support victims and expand research.
“Human traffickers prey on some of the most vulnerable members of our society and their crimes—which are nothing short of modern-day slavery—have no place in this country,” Lynch said.
Among the grants is $23 million in funding for anti-trafficking organizations working in cooperation with law enforcement. Sixteen collaborative groups around the country have already been selected for such grants.
Lynch noted that this is already in place with WashACT, the audience for her talk. WashACT is a project of the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network, the Seattle Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Twelve victim service organizations will get a total of $8.1 million for victim services; 10 more will get $5.6 million for victims with specific linguistic or cultural needs. Law enforcement will get more than $3.5 million for specialized training, and more than $1 million will go to groups serving youth victims. The National Conference of State Legislatures will get $477,000 to develop legal resources.
The ABA’s Fund for Justice and Education has been granted nearly $500,000 to train local jurisdictions in providing legal services for trafficking victims. The FJE will select six to nine jurisdictions to receive the training. The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking will also receive $500,00 for legal services training.
A full list of grantees is here (PDF).
The DOJ says the grants are part of the federal government’s larger push to address human trafficking, per a January 2014 plan (PDF) released by the White House.
The ABA has opposed human trafficking, including with a 2013 House of Delegates resolution adopting the Uniform Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking Act (PDF).
See also:
ABA Journal: “Slavery continues to haunt the modern world, but efforts to eradicate it are growing”
Updated Sept. 25 to note the ABA’s grant.
