On January 30, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution (S. Res. 60) to observe National Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Month
The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), finds that “the United Nations estimates that nearly 21 million people around the world are victims of forced labor, including 4.5 million people who are victims of forced sexual exploitation.” In addition, the Department of Justice estimates that up to 83 percent of sex trafficking victims in the United States are U.S. citizens.
The resolution supports observing January 1-February 1 as National Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Month and calls on others to do so with “appropriate programs and activities culminating in the observance on February 1 of National Freedom Day” and “all other efforts to raise awareness of, and opposition to, human trafficking.”
