Kentucky’s attorney general is joining his counterparts across the country in pressing Congress to fund state efforts toward combating human trafficking.
Attorney General Jack Conway and the AGs of 46 states and territories sent a letter this week asking Congress to fund the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The funding would go toward programs that fight what’s called “modern-day slavery.”
"It's happening across the country, including right here in Kentucky," Conway wrote. "This is mission-critical funding necessary to better protect victims of human trafficking and prosecute traffickers."
The 2000 law up for reauthorization established human trafficking as a federal crime and increased the country’s efforts to protect underage victims. It also funded task forces and gave prosecutors more effective tools for prosecuting offenders.
Many victims of human trafficking are forced to work in prostitution, others are exploited for their labor in restaurants, factories, and on farms.
The number of cases prosecuted in Kentucky has grown from just one in 2007 to 12 this year.
