Protecting Our Most Vulnerable from Trafficking and Exploitation

Attorney General Eric Holder has made one of the department’s four key priorities the protection of those most vulnerable – children, the elderly, and victims of hate crimes, human trafficking and exploitation. On Thursday, May 19, 2011, Attorney General Holder honored 52 prosecutors, law enforcement partners and victim advocates in 13 communities for their leadership protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation at the 2011 National Strategy Conference on Combating Child Exploitation in San Jose, Calif. At the conference, Attorney General Holder stated, “Through their work in urban, rural and tribal communities – and through cutting-edge online efforts – these individuals are advancing bold, innovative and collaborative solutions to keep our children safe from all forms of exploitation and abuse. By focusing on prevention and intervention, as well as proven enforcement and prosecution strategies, these award recipients are strengthening our ability to protect children in need and at risk, and to bring offenders to justice.”‪ Focused on protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation, the conference held this week in San Jose brought together more than 1,000 investigators, agents and prosecutors from all levels of government to receive state-of-the-art instruction in investigative techniques, court room advocacy, digital forensics, behavioral profiling, victim advocacy and community outreach. The conference was sponsored by the department’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.