The Iowa Senate has approved two bills drafted in response to the growing problem of human trafficking. One bill calls for adding “human trafficking” to the state’s legal definition of child abuse. Senator Rita Hart, a Democrat from Wheatland, says the bill would also set up training for educators, doctors and other “mandatory reporters” of child abuse — to teach the warning signs that a minor may have been forced into sex or labor.
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The other bill would set up a new office in the Iowa Department of Public Safety to oversee efforts to combat human trafficking in Iowa. Senator Kevin Kinney, a Democrat from Oxford, is also a deputy sheriff in Johnson County who set up a sting in a small town that rescued three young women.
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A day-long hearing at the statehouse this past fall focused attention on the issue. Experts say 150-BILLION dollars will be spent this year on the international sex trade.