Combating Human Trafficking
Congressman Smith has chaired numerous hearings and is the prime sponsor of five major laws and 17 international resolutions aimed at combating the scourge of human trafficking in the United States and around the world.
To report human trafficking in New Jersey, anyone can contact the NJ Office of the Attorney General NJ Human Trafficking Task Force, launched via's Smith's trafficking laws, through its toll-free hotline (855) 363-6548 (855-END-NJHT) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
To report human trafficking anywhere in the U.S., call the national human trafficking hotline, which also was created and maintained via Smith's laws, through its toll free hotline (888) 373-7888, or texting 233733, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Smith’s Laws to Combat Human Trafficking
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (P.L. 106-386)
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108-193)
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-164)
International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (P.L. 114-119)
Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act (P.L. 115-425)
House Passed Bills, Senate Failed to Act
H.R. 4506 – “International Child Labor Relief Act of 1998” (105th Congress)
H.R. 5138 – “International Megan's Law of 2010” (111th Congress)
H.R. 4573 – “International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking” (113th Congress)
H.R. 2283 – “Human Trafficking Prioritization Act” (113th Congress)
H.R.514 – "Human Trafficking Prioritization Act" (114th Congress)
Resolutions/Amendments Authored by Smith at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE)
1999 St. Petersburg Declaration
2000 Bucharest Declaration
2001 Paris Declaration
2002 Berlin Declaration
2003 Rotterdam Declaration
2004 Edinburgh Declaration
2005 Washington D.C. Declaration
2006 Brussels Declaration
2007 Kyiv Declaration
2008 Astana Declaration
2009 Vilnius Declaration
2010 Oslo Declaration
2011 Belgrade Declaration
2012 Monaco Declaration
2013 Istanbul Declaration
2014 Baku Declaration
2015 Helsinki Declaration
2016 Tbilisi Declaration
2017 Minsk Declaration
2018 Berlin Declaration
2019 Luxembourg Declaration
According to the International Labour Organization:
- At any given time in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people are in modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriage.
- There are 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world.
- 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.
- Out of the 24.9 million people trapped in forced labor, 16 million people are exploited in the private sector such as domestic work, construction or agriculture; 4.8 million persons in forced sexual exploitation, and 4 million persons in forced labor imposed by state authorities.
- Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labor, accounting for 99 percent of victims in the commercial sex industry, and 58 percent in other sectors
Congressional Hearings
January 15, 2020 The Trafficking Victims Protection Act at 20: A Look Back and a Look Ahead
May 2, 2017 Winning the Fight Against Human Trafficking: The Frederick Douglass Re-authorization Act
July 12, 2016 Accountability Over Politics: Scrutinizing the Trafficking in Persons Report
March 22, 2016 Getting it right this time: A Victims-Centered Trafficking in Persons Report
November 4, 2015 Demanding Accountability: Evaluating the 2015 "Trafficking in Persons Report"
May 14, 2015 A Pathway to Freedom: Rescue and Refuge for Sex Trafficking Victims
April 22, 2015 Accountability and Transformation: Tier Rankings in the Fight Against Human Trafficking
April 29, 2014 Effective Accountability: Tier Rankings in the Fight Against Human Trafficking
January 27, 2014 Lessons Learned from Super Bowl Preparations: Preventing International Human Trafficking at Major Sporting Events
July 11, 2013 The State Department 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report
April 18, 2013 Tier Rankings in the Fight Against Human Trafficking
November 2, 2011 Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime
October 27, 2011 The Trafficking in Person’s Report 2011: Truth, Trends, and Tier Rankings
June 13, 2011 Best Practices and Next Steps: A New Decade in the Fight Against Human Trafficking
May 23, 2011 Labor Trafficking in Troubled Economic Times: Protecting American Jobs and Migrant Human Rights
September 26, 2006 Enhancing the Global Fight to End Human Trafficking
June 14, 2006 Modern-Day Slavery: Spotlight on the 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report, Forced Labor, and Sex Trafficking at the World Cup
March 10, 2005 Markup of: H.R. 972, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
March 9, 2005 Combating Human Trafficking: Achieving Zero Tolerance
September 21, 2004 Briefing: Joint Issue Forum with the House Committee on Armed Services: Enforcing U.S. Policies against Trafficking in Persons: How is the U.S. Military Doing?
September 14, 1999 Trafficking of Women and Children in the International Sex Trade
August 4, 1999 Markup of H.R. 1356 (Freedom From Sexual Trafficking Act of 1999
