House Bill 133 passed its third reading in the House on Friday and has now moved onto the Senate.
HB 133 will officially incorporate human trafficking legislation into Wyoming’s law books, making Wyoming the last state to do so.
The Polaris Project and University of Wyoming chapter of the International Justice Mission held a press conference at the Capitol building in Cheyenne on Friday, asking for support for the bill.
“This is a momentous time in our state’s history, especially in our fight against human trafficking,” IJM Wyoming Advocacy Leader Daniel DeCecco said.
DeCecco went on to describe human trafficking as a “form of modern-day slavery and global billion dollar industry.”
“Traffickers are profiting based on the exploitation of men, women and children by inducing or coercing them to engage in commercial sex or forced labor against their will,” he said.
The Polaris Project and IJM have both been working for human rights and to bring an end to human trafficking, both nationally and internationally.
“We are united here to make a stand for those victims,” DeCecco said.
Rep. Cathy Connolly, a sponsor of the bill, also spoke at the press conference about why she is backing the legislation.
“No one is immune to this problem. People from all walks of life are preyed upon by traffickers including women trapped in brothels and men forced to work long hours in deplorable conditions,” Connolly said.
If the legislation passes, Wyoming will become the last state to have a human trafficking bill. Even though the federal government has trafficking laws, Connolly says it is important for states to have anti-trafficking laws as well.
“While we do have a federal anti-trafficking statute, states have needed to respond with our own pieces of legislation in order to send traffickers the message that they’re not welcome here,” she said.
While a rural state, Wyoming has still had cases of human trafficking. One of the biggest problems in Wyoming is forced labor, according to Rep. Keith Gingery, who is also sponsoring the bill.
“The part that a lot of people haven’t mentioned is the forced labor part that does not give any sexual servitude, and that’s actually a big part that happens here in Wyoming,” Gingery said. “People’s documents are taken from them and they’re forced to work and they don’t understand our system. Hopefully this will help them.”
While there is no official statute regarding human trafficking in Wyoming, cases were still being prosecuted, Gingery said. However, it was much more difficult for prosecutors to charge the criminals in these cases as they had to collect what existing statutes they could.
This legislation will make it easier for prosecutors to charge those involved in human trafficking cases, Gingery said.
“Being the last state, you don’t want it to become a safe harbor or a state that it’s a little easier to get away with it [human trafficking],” Gingery said.
HB 133 is now in the Senate’s hands as it was introduced on Monday on the Senate floor.
