The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has provided $87 million in grants to programs that combat human trafficking, conduct research on its origins and provide support to victims.
The grants, funding initiatives targeting both labor and sex trafficking, reflect the DOJ’s commitment to helping state and local partners end trafficking operations and providing relief and support to survivors nationwide, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a Dec. 23, 2021 DOJ press release.
“Human trafficking is a global problem that reaches into many of our nation’s communities, causing victims unimaginable harm, violating basic human rights and undermining fundamental principles of dignity and justice,” Garland said in the release.
The awards will provide housing, counseling, legal aid and other services to help survivors reclaim their lives, the release said. A majority of the federal funding is managed by the OJP Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), which is responsible for investigative activities, victim aftercare and field response.
“OVC-funded human trafficking task forces initiated more than 2,800 new investigations nationwide between June 2019 and July 2020, and its victim service grant programs reached nearly 10,000 clients over a 12-month period,” the release said.
The aforementioned OJP investments are part of the White House’s recently updated National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. The plan, released on Dec. 3, 2021, intends to better address the needs of underserved and underrepresented trafficking victims and emphasizes the growing link between societal marginalization and human trafficking, a fact sheet released by the White House said.
Migrants and the unemployed are specifically mentioned in the fact sheet as groups particularly vulnerable to trafficking.
“Victims of human trafficking suffer unspeakable trauma while being systematically and cruelly denied their most fundamental emotional and material needs," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon for OJP said in the release.
Moving forward, the grants awarded by OVC hope to increase both the quantity and quality of services available to survivors of human trafficking.
