1. At least 15,000 women and girls are trafficked into the United States each year for forced labor.

2. Trafficked women come into the United States from desperately impoverished communities in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America.

3. Traffickers employ a variety of deceptions to lure desperately poor women with false promises of jobs and opportunities in the United States.

4. Human trafficking for forced sexual or labor exploitation takes a variety of forms—forced prostitution, forced participation in the production of pornography and other forms of commercial sexual activity, forced labor in sweatshops, households, agricultural fields and other workplaces, and commercial or exploitative marriages.

5. Women and girls who are trafficked for exploitive labor, as domestic workers in private homes and as laborers in sweatshops or agricultural fields, are almost always subject to sexual violence.

1. It shall be unlawful for any person to recruit, harbor, transport or obtain a person for the purpose of forced labor or forced sexual exploitation by:

2. Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of the crime of human trafficking, which is a [Class B felony] punishable by imprisonment for not more than [five] years or by a fine not to exceed [$500,000], or both.

3. The court shall order restitution to victims of human trafficking, including the value to the offender of the victim’s labor or services.

4. In any civil action by a victim of human trafficking against violators of this section, the court may award attorney’s fees and costs, and impose punitive damages.

1. In a criminal prosecution, the defendant may offer as an affirmative defense or a mitigating factor that the defendant participated in the crime because he or she was the victim of human trafficking.

2. The victims of human trafficking shall be eligible, without regard to their immigration status, for benefits available through the [crime victims’ fund].

1. Within 15 business days of the first encounter with a victim of human trafficking, law enforcement agents shall provide the victim with a completed Form I-914 Supplement B, Declaration of Law Enforcement Officer for Victim of Trafficking in Persons (LEA Declaration) in accordance with 8 C.F.R. § 214.11(f)(1).

2. Where state law enforcement agencies find the grant of an LEA Declaration is inappropriate for a trafficking victim, the agency shall within 15 days provide the victim with a letter explaining the grounds of the denial of the LEA Declaration. The victim may submit additional evidence to the law enforcement agency, which must reconsider the denial of the LEA Declaration within seven days of the receipt of additional evidence.

1. The Secretary of the Department of [Social Services] shall convene and chair a work group to develop written protocols for delivery of services to human trafficking victims. In addition to the Secretary, the work group shall include senior representatives from the Departments of [Health, Public Safety, Labor, and Education, the Attorney General, and five representatives from nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to trafficking victims].

2. The protocols shall set forth guidelines for providing for the social service needs of human trafficking victims, including housing, food, health and mental health care, English language classes, job training and placement. These services shall be available to victims of human trafficking without regard to their immigration status.

3. The work group shall finalize the protocols and submit them with a report to the legislature and the governor on or before July 1, 2008.

1. On or before October 1, 2007, the Attorney General shall establish training standards for law enforcement officers on the subject of human trafficking. The course of instruction, learning and performance objectives, and training standards shall be developed by the Attorney General in consultation with experts in the field of human trafficking.

2. The training shall be compulsory for all state and local law enforcement officers and shall include:

3. Where appropriate, the training presenters shall include human trafficking experts with experience in the delivery of services to victims of human trafficking.