22 USC 7104 - Prevention of trafficking

U.S Code last checked for updates: Aug 16, 2025

§ 7104.

Prevention of trafficking

(a)

Economic alternatives to prevent and deter trafficking

The President shall establish and carry out international initiatives to enhance economic opportunity for potential victims of trafficking as a method to deter trafficking. Such initiatives may include—

(1)

microcredit lending programs, training in business development, skills training, and job counseling;

(2)

programs to promote women’s participation in economic decisionmaking;

(3)

programs to keep children, especially girls, in elementary and secondary schools, and to educate persons who have been victims of trafficking;

(4)

development of educational curricula regarding the dangers of trafficking; and

(5)

grants to nongovernmental organizations to accelerate and advance the political, economic, social, and educational roles and capacities of women in their countries.

(b)

Public awareness and information

(1)

In general

(2)

Grants to assist in the recognition of trafficking

(A)

Definitions

In this paragraph:

(i)

ESEA terms

(ii)

High-intensity child sex trafficking area

(iii)

Labor trafficking

(iv)

School staff

(v)

Sex trafficking

(B)

In general

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Labor, may award grants to local educational agencies, in partnership with a nonprofit, nongovernmental agency, to establish, expand, and support programs—

(i)

to educate school staff to recognize and respond to signs of labor trafficking and sex trafficking; and

(ii)

to provide age-appropriate information to students on how to avoid becoming victims of labor trafficking and sex trafficking.

(C)

Program requirements

Amounts awarded under this paragraph shall be used for—

(i)

education regarding—

(I)

avoiding becoming victims of labor trafficking and sex trafficking;

(II)

indicators that an individual is a victim or potential victim of labor trafficking or sex trafficking;

(III)

options and procedures for referring such an individual, as appropriate, to information on such trafficking and services available for victims of such trafficking;

(IV)

reporting requirements and procedures in accordance with applicable Federal and State law; and

(V)

how to carry out activities authorized under subparagraph (A)(ii); and

(ii)

a plan, developed and implemented in consultation with local law enforcement agencies, to ensure the safety of school staff and students reporting such trafficking.

(D)

Priority

(c)

Border interdiction

(d)

International media

(e)

Combating international sex tourism

(1)

Development and dissemination of materials

(2)

Monitoring of compliance

(3)

Feasibility report

(f)

Consultation requirement

(g)

Termination of certain grants, contracts and cooperative agreements

The President shall ensure that any grant, contract, or cooperative agreement provided or entered into by a Federal department or agency under which funds are to be provided to a private entity, in whole or in part, shall include a condition that authorizes the department or agency to terminate the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, or take any of the other remedial actions authorized under section 7104b(c) of this title, without penalty, if the grantee or any subgrantee, or the contractor or any subcontractor, engages in, or uses labor recruiters, brokers, or other agents who engage in—

(1)

severe forms of trafficking in persons;

(2)

the procurement of a commercial sex act during the period of time that the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement is in effect;

(3)

the use of forced labor in the performance of the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; or

(4)

acts that directly support or advance trafficking in persons, including the following acts:

(A)

Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or otherwise denying an employee access to that employee’s identity or immigration documents.

(B)

Failing to provide return transportation or pay for return transportation costs to an employee from a country outside the United States to the country from which the employee was recruited upon the end of employment if requested by the employee, unless—

(i)

exempted from the requirement to provide or pay for such return transportation by the Federal department or agency providing or entering into the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; or

(ii)

the employee is a victim of human trafficking seeking victim services or legal redress in the country of employment or a witness in a human trafficking enforcement action.

(C)

Soliciting a person for the purpose of employment, or offering employment, by means of materially false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises regarding that employment.

(D)

Charging recruited employees placement or recruitment fees.

(E)

Providing or arranging housing that fails to meet the host country housing and safety standards.

(h)

Prevention of trafficking in conjunction with post-conflict and humanitarian emergency assistance

(i)

Additional measures to prevent and deter trafficking

The President shall establish and carry out programs to prevent and deter trafficking in persons, including—

(1)

technical assistance and other support to improve the capacity of foreign governments to investigate, identify, and carry out inspections of private entities, including labor recruitment centers, at which trafficking victims may be exploited, particularly exploitation involving forced and child labor;

(2)

technical assistance and other support for foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations to provide immigrant populations with information, in the native languages of the major immigrant groups of such populations, regarding the rights of such populations in the foreign country and local in-country nongovernmental organization-operated hotlines;

(3)

technical assistance to provide legal frameworks and other programs to foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations to ensure that—

(A)

foreign migrant workers are provided the same protection as nationals of the foreign country;

(B)

labor recruitment firms are regulated; and

(C)

workers providing domestic services in households are provided protection under labor rights laws; and

(4)

assistance to foreign governments to register vulnerable populations as citizens or nationals of the country to reduce the ability of traffickers to exploit such populations.

(j)

Prevention of child trafficking through child marriage

The Secretary of State shall establish and implement a multi-year, multi-sectoral strategy—

(1)

to prevent child marriage;

(2)

to promote the empowerment of girls at risk of child marriage in developing countries;

(3)

that should address the unique needs, vulnerabilities, and potential of girls younger than 18 years of age in developing countries;

(4)

that targets areas in developing countries with high prevalence of child marriage; and

(5)

that includes diplomatic and programmatic initiatives.

(k)

Agency action to prevent funding of human trafficking

(1)

In general

(A)

the name and contact information of the individual within the agency’s Office of Legal Counsel or Office of Acquisition Policy who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of—

(i)

subsection (g);

(ii)

title XVII of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (22 U.S.C. 7104a et seq.); and

(iii)

any regulation in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 C.F.R. 1 et seq.) that is related to any subject matter referred to in clause (i) or (ii);

(B)

agency action to ensure that contractors are educated on the applicable laws and regulations listed in subparagraph (A);

(C)

agency action to ensure that the acquisition workforce and agency officials understand implementation of the laws and regulations listed in subparagraph (A), including best practices for—

(i)

ensuring compliance with such laws and regulations;

(ii)

assessing the serious, repeated, willful, or pervasive nature of any violation of such laws or regulations; and

(iii)

evaluating steps contractors have taken to correct any such violation;

(D)

(i)

the number of contracts containing language referring to the laws and regulations listed in subparagraph (A); and

(ii)

the number of contracts that did not contain any language referring to such laws and regulations;

(E)

(i)

the number of allegations of severe forms of trafficking in persons received; and

(ii)

the source type of the allegation (such as contractor, subcontractor, employee of contractor or subcontractor, or an individual outside of the contract);

(F)

(i)

the number of such allegations investigated by the agency;

(ii)

a summary of any findings from such investigations; and

(iii)

any improvements recommended by the agency to prevent such conduct from recurring;

(G)

(i)

the number of such allegations referred to the Attorney General for prosecution under section 3271 of title 18; and

(ii)

the outcomes of such referrals;

(H)

any remedial action taken as a result of such investigation, including whether—

(i)

a contractor or subcontractor (at any tier) was debarred or suspended due to a violation of a law or regulation relating to severe forms of trafficking in persons; or

(ii)

a contract was terminated pursuant to subsection (g) as a result of such violation;

(I)

any other assistance offered to agency contractors to ensure compliance with a law or regulation relating to severe forms of trafficking in persons;

(J)

any interagency meetings or data sharing regarding suspended or disbarred contractors or subcontractors (at any tier) for severe forms of trafficking in persons; and

(K)

any contract with a contractor or subcontractor (at any tier) located outside the United States and the country location, where safe to reveal location, for each such contractor or subcontractor.

(2)

Appropriate congressional committees

In this subsection, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(A)

the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives;

(B)

the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives;

(C)

the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives;

(D)

the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives;

(E)

the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives;

(F)

the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;

(G)

the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;

(H)

the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and

(I)

the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.

(l)

Information regarding human trafficking-related visa denials

(1)

In general

(2)

Decisions regarding allocation

The Secretary of State shall ensure that decisions regarding the allocation of resources of the Department of State related to combating human trafficking and to law enforcement presence at United States diplomatic and consular posts appropriately take into account—

(A)

the information described in paragraph (1); and

(B)

the information included in the most recent report submitted in accordance with section 7107(b) of this title.

(Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 106, Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1474; Pub. L. 108–193, § 3, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2875; Pub. L. 109–164, title I, § 101(a), title II, § 201(b), Jan. 10, 2006, 119 Stat. 3560, 3569; Pub. L. 110–457, title I, § 103(a), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5046; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title XVII, § 1702, Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 2093; Pub. L. 113–4, title XII, § 1207(a), Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 141; Pub. L. 115–425, title I, §§ 101(a), 112, Jan. 8, 2019, 132 Stat. 5473, 5476; Pub. L. 115–427, § 4, Jan. 9, 2019, 132 Stat. 5504; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XII, § 1299R(d)(1), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4027.)

cite as: 22 USC 7104