During a committee hearing on the measure, lawmakers heard from a woman whose young daughter ran away, then was caught up and kept for years by captors who left her with physical and psychological scars.
Last year, state Attorney General Jeff Chiesa created a unit to focus on the problem as well as new guidelines to provide more supervision for local departments and better support for victims of the crime.
Until recently, human trafficking has remained largely in the shadows of society, says Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), the bill sponsor. Victims are often children and vulnerable women who are too afraid and dependent on traffickers to break their silence and seek help.
Like more than half of the victims forced into the trade or made to labor as slaves, she was a child,Online Education. just 14 at the time.
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The New JerseEditorial NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking rally shines light on horrors nj lawsy Coalition Against Human Trafficking is staging the rally to raise awareness of this rapidly growing criminal industry thats fueled by force, fraud and coercion for the purpose of ual exploitation or forced labor.
In Washington,Free insurance info. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Robbinsville) has been instrumental in drawing attention to the plight of the 600,000 to 800,000 people the State Department estimates are trafficked in the United States annually. He has written and championed federal legislation aimed at those who would, as hes said, peddle in human suffering.
They desperately need assistance.
Seeking to shine a powerful light on criminals who prey on the most vulnerable of victims, dozens of activists, organizations, law enforcement officers and lawmakers will gather today at the Statehouse to spell out the horrors of human trafficking and what can be done to help stop it.
Often undocumented immigrants, these helpless victims may be bound by drugs, debts and the knowledge that, should they try to escape, their captors could target their milies.
One pending effort is a measure, already approved by an Assembly panel, that would broaden New Jersey laws and increase the penalties for those found guilty of human trafficking to supply sweatshops and the trade.
Those initiatives have made a difference and Chiesa and Smith will be on hand today to discuss them but much more remains to be done.
Todays rally is a good opportunity to find out how to help.
Fortunately, the state has advocates working diligently to identify, investigate and prosecute modern-day slave traders who ensnare those who are usually transitory and often young.
Unfortunately, New Jersey is a prime location for human trafficking because its a major national and international transportation and shipping corridor.
