Pennsylvania HR 386: A Resolution recognizing the month of January 2026 as "Human Trafficking Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 2743
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 386
Session of
2026
INTRODUCED BY YOUNG, BURGOS, CONKLIN, GREINER, WAXMAN, SAPPEY,
McNEILL, GUZMAN, OWLETT, HILL-EVANS, KUTZ, DONAHUE,
HOHENSTEIN, PICKETT, SAMUELSON, ISAACSON, SANCHEZ,
M. MACKENZIE, RIVERA, ANDERSON, BRENNAN, FREEMAN, JAMES AND
NEILSON, JANUARY 8, 2026
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JANUARY 8, 2026
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing the month of January 2026 as "Human Trafficking
Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Human trafficking is a crime involving the coercion
and exploitation of a person for labor, services or commercial
sex; and
WHEREAS, The Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000 recognizes and defines the two primary forms of human
trafficking as sex trafficking and forced labor; and
WHEREAS, According to the National Institute of Justice, sex
trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing or soliciting
of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act in which the
commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in
which the person induced to perform the act has not attained 18
years of age; and
WHEREAS, Forced labor is defined as the recruitment,
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person
for labor or services through the use of force, fraud or
coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude,
peonage, debt bondage or slavery; and
WHEREAS, An estimated 27.6 million people, including adults
and children, are subjected to human trafficking around the
world, including in the United States; and
WHEREAS, The United Nations' International Labour
Organization estimates that 77% of all worldwide victims are
trafficked for forced labor and 23% of all victims are
trafficked for sex; and
WHEREAS, Worldwide, it is estimated that 78% of sex
trafficking victims are women and girls and 22% are men and
boys; and
WHEREAS, Worldwide, it is estimated that 33% of forced labor
victims are women and girls and 67% are men and boys; and
WHEREAS, Victims of human trafficking suffer physically,
mentally and financially as a result of their ordeal; and
WHEREAS, Human trafficking is an affront to the conscience of
our nation and our Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Human trafficking robs persons of their dignity and
freedom and enriches criminal elements at the victims' expense;
and
WHEREAS, It is the collective responsibility of every person
in this Commonwealth to recognize, report and prevent this most
heinous crime; and
WHEREAS, Since 2010, each President of the United States has
dedicated the month of January as "Human Trafficking Prevention
Month" to raise awareness about human trafficking and to educate
the public on identification and prevention; therefore be it
20260HR0386PN2743 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
month of January 2026 as "Human Trafficking Awareness Month" in
Pennsylvania.
20260HR0386PN2743 - 3 -
1
2
3