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Press Release
Department Strategy Supports National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland this week released the
Justice Department’s new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking pursuant to the Justice for
Victims of Trafficking Act.
Rooted in the foundational pillars and priorities of the interagency National Action Plan to Combat
Human Trafficking, which President Biden released on Dec. 3, 2021, the Justice Department's
National Strategy is expansive in scope. It aims to enhance the department's capacity to prevent
human trafficking; to prosecute human trafficking cases; and to support and protect human
trafficking victims and survivors.
“Human trafficking is an insidious crime,” said Attorney General Garland. “Traffickers
exploit and endanger some of the most vulnerable members of our society and cause their victims
unimaginable harm. The Justice Department’s new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking will
bring the full force of the Department to this fight.”
“We have joined forces across the state to protect our citizens from human traffickers,” said
United States Attorney Will Thompson. “Investigators, prosecutors, victim advocates and
non-governmental service providers are working together through the West Virginia Human
Trafficking Task Force to raise awareness about human trafficking, investigate and prosecute human
trafficking cases and support survivors.”
“We are taking a more proactive approach to combat human trafficking in West Virginia than ever
before through the use of technology and via partnerships with law enforcement,” said United States
Attorney Ihlenfeld. “This new strategy will allow us to help more victims and to prosecute more
offenders.”
Among other things, the Justice Department’s multi-year strategy to combat all forms of human
trafficking will:
▪ Strengthen engagement, coordination and joint efforts to combat human trafficking
by prosecutors in all 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and by federal law enforcement agents nationwide.
▪ Establish federally-funded, locally-led anti-human trafficking task forces that
support sustained state law enforcement leadership and comprehensive victim assistance.
▪ Step up departmental efforts to end forced labor by increasing attention,
resources and coordination in labor trafficking investigations and prosecutions.
▪ Enhance initiatives to reduce vulnerability of American Indians and Alaska
Natives to violent crime, including human trafficking, and to locate missing children.
▪ Develop and implement new victim screening protocols to identify potential human
trafficking victims during law enforcement operations and encourage victims to share important
information.
▪ Increase capacity to provide victim-centered assistance to trafficking survivors,
including by supporting efforts to deliver financial restoration to victims.
▪ Expand dissemination of federal human trafficking training, guidance and
expertise.
▪ Advance innovative demand-reduction strategies.
The department’s strategy will be implemented under the direction of the National Human Trafficking
Coordinator designated by the Attorney General in accordance with the Abolish Human Trafficking Act
of 2017.
If you believe that you or someone you know may be a victim of human trafficking, please contact
the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, or Text 233733.
To learn more about the West Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force, go to
www.stophumantraffickingwv.org.
To read the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking click here.
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