HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESCUE PROJECT
Dept. of Justice awards $900,000 to Hope House, Independence Police Dept.
October 3, 2006
KANSAS CITY - The Department of Justice has awarded grants of $450,000 each to Hope House and the Independence, Mo., Police Department as part of a national initiative to combat human trafficking.
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US Attorney launches initiative to combat 'modern slave trade'
MAY 24, 2006
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, was joined by Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and other law enforcement officials to launch the Human Trafficking Rescue Project. The new initiative, made up of the newly-formed Human Trafficking Working Group and the Coalition Against Human Trafficking, was announced today during a training seminar attended by area law enforcement officers, prosecutors and social service agencies.
“The Human Trafficking Rescue Project is designed to combat the modern slave trade,” Schlozman said. “Every year, an estimated 17,500 individuals – mostly women and children – are brought into the United States and held captive, coerced into forced labor or the sex trade. Human trafficking is an unconscionable tragedy that strikes at the core of our nation’s most cherished values of human dignity and freedom. Although this is a global problem, we are committed to fighting on the local front to protect the helpless victims who are brought into this district.”
Prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Schlozman, who served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division, traveled throughout the world to coordinate and implement the Justice Department’s human trafficking initiatives. Schlozman was also involved in launching several human trafficking task forces in other federal districts.
“I am pleased that Assistant Attorney General Wan Kim is present today, to underscore how seriously the Justice Department takes this commitment to protect vulnerable victims from exploitation and to aggressively prosecute traffickers,” Schlozman said.
Four of the Justice Department’s top human trafficking prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a representative from the Midwest Immigration and Human Rights Center conducted a full day of training on identifying and investigating human trafficking cases and assisting the victims.
“Today’s seminar gives us the knowledge and skills to effectively confront a horrific crime that so far has, in this area, operated mostly under the radar,” Schlozman said. “This new initiative brings together partners from federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as non-governmental organizations and other community members. We are empowered to better coordinate and focus anti-trafficking efforts.”
The Human Trafficking Rescue Project embodies the Justice Department’s victim-centered approach, Schlozman added, because it is specifically engineered to aid in identifying victims, providing them with immediate protection and support, and then working with them to further investigate and prosecute the traffickers.
The Human Trafficking Working Group and the Coalition Against Human Trafficking will facilitate the mission of the Human Trafficking Rescue Project.
The Human Trafficking Working Group is made up of the U.S. Attorney’s Office; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General and Wage and Hour Division; Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; Independence Police Department; Kansas City, Missouri Police Department; and Hope House.
Hope House also serves as the leader of the Coalition Against Human Trafficking, which is made up of non-governmental organizations working toward or with an interest in assisting victims of human trafficking.