Progress Being Made On Child Trafficking Laws

     While the world may seem frightening and full of bad news, positive developments do arise, such as the news that laws designed to stop child sex traffickers have improved markedly in less than a decade. Shared Hope International conducted this study of laws between 2011 and 2019 and gave each state a letter grade.

     States were ranked based on a number of key criteria: criminalization of the acts themselves; criminal provisions for demand, traffickers, and facilitators; protective provisions for victims; and criminal justice tools for investigation and prosecution.

     Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and Utah all improved 4 letter grades, from F to A. 12 raised their grades by 3 levels, 21 by 2 levels, and 10 by 1 level. Only 2, Illinois and Missouri, failed to improve. Tennessee, Montana, Nevada, Georgia, and Louisiana received the best scores. There were 15 states rated A, with only Maine and South Dakota rated as D and no F scores. The overall national score improved from D to B, or one letter every 5 years.

     If this trend continues, the United States could have an "A" score for stopping child sex trafficking by 2030. The change has been bipartisan, with improvements under Presidents Obama and Trump and gains and flaws in both liberal and conservative states, which demonstrates that any reasonable person can agree on protecting children.

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