On July 2, 2014, Governor Corbett signed Senate Bill 75 (now Act 105 of 2014), which will help combat human trafficking in Pennsylvania.
Human trafficking is modern day slavery – one person profiting from the exploitation of another. It can take the form of prostitution, slave labor, pornography or other abuses. A leading human trafficking hotline reported over 2,100 calls to report suspected human trafficking in Pennsylvania alone.
Act 105 provides Pennsylvania’s first ever comprehensive definition of human trafficking, which will make it easier for law enforcement to prosecute traffickers. Further, the new law provides other tools to help combat this modern day slavery.
Pope Francis said that we “must not allow these women, men and children to be treated as objects, to be deceived, raped, often sold and resold for various purposes, and in the end either killed or left devastated in mind and body, only to be finally thrown away or abandoned. It is shameful.”
Senate Bill 75 was introduced by Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf (Montgomery, Bucks) and was passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate. Send a message to your legislators and Governor Corbett thanking them for their stand against human trafficking.
