IHM Sisters take action

Leadership Council signs onto the following letter to Congress, urging passage of the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1144)

Dear Members of the 119th Congress,

Human trafficking is not a new problem; it often remains hidden in plain sight. With the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, a horrific barrage of emails, documents, and images, we have come face-to-face with the brutal reality of human trafficking.

We are in a moment that requires us to make definitive statements and policy actions to ensure these unacceptable acts end and to provide care for those who already have endured trafficking. We urge Congress to take up and pass the bipartisan Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act (FD TVPRA), H.R. 1144.

As Frederick Douglass said, “It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” Change must come.

We, the undersigned of many faiths, come together as one voice recognizing the human dignity and worth granted to every individual on Earth. As we work to end human trafficking, it is in your hands to make an immediate difference by passing H.R. 1144.

We must not lose sight of the victims and survivors behind the Epstein files, nor of the devastating impact of ‘but one’ international trafficking ring, one in which many “elite” high-powered individuals, including government and private sector leaders, willingly took part.

Yet those exploited in this ring are not the only human trafficking victims. Trafficking is not limited to young girls, and it is not limited to sex. Human trafficking also includes labor, child soldiers, debt bondage and domestic servitude. All forms of trafficking are an affront to human dignity.

Epstein and his cohorts are an example of why we need transparency in government, accountability for those involved in these crimes, and guardrails to protect all who have been trafficked and to help them avoid being re-trafficked.

The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act, H.R. 1144, would provide protections. This bipartisan bill would take special care to prevent child trafficking and ensure that those who have been trafficked can heal and thrive.

As faith-based organizations, our shared call is to protect the vulnerable and uphold the individual worth of every person. Pope Francis, a spiritual leader on the world stage who sought to be a shepherd to all, recognized that ending human trafficking requires a global response and coordinated efforts at every level “especially representatives of governments and organizations that share this commitment, to join [the cause], animated by prayer, to promote initiatives in defense of human dignity, for the elimination of human trafficking in all its forms and for the promotion of peace in the world.” H.R. 1144 heeds this call.

This critical bill would also help hold perpetrators to account by reauthorizing funding for investigations and prosecutions of traffickers. Representative Chris Smith’s landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), the foundation of the FD TVPRA, was used to arrest and charge Epstein in 2019 and to convict his associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2020. H.R. 1144 would renew and enhance the TVPA.

Confronted with the atrocity of human trafficking, we must respond and prevent the continuation of these horrors. Our collective faiths teach us that each person is created in love and with inherent rights to their own body and life trajectory. And our democracy allows us to act and insist on prevention efforts and accountability, as well as healing for survivors. H.R. 1144 is the faithful response to would-be victims and human trafficking survivors. Join us and pass the bipartisan H.R. 1144.

The Washington Interfaith Staff Community (WISC), the writer and circulator of this letter, is a network of over 80 Washington, DC offices of national religious bodies and faith-based organizations, encompassing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Humanist faiths. WISC offices collaborate on advocacy for U.S. government policies that advance a more just, peaceful and ecologically sustainable world.

Sincerely,