Senate Vote Supports Human Trafficking Victims

There are new developments in putting a stop to human trafficking. State senators have unanimously voted to allocate $1 million to a pilot project that helps victims.

The money will go towards raising awareness for the crime and treatment and counseling. It will also go towards developing a statewide protocol for intervention.

Experts will analyze the results of the project for the next legislative session.

“Yesterday’s unanimous commitment from the North Dakota State Senate is a wonderful example of the steps our state is taking as one community united in our resolve to combat human trafficking and protect its victims. This bill and funding are critically important to putting in place the necessary infrastructure to serve victims of human trafficking, while also working towards statewide intervention and response to address this issue,” says Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.

“The full senate has been very supportive of almost all of these bills. I think that’s a testament to how important this is to legislature right now that we combat this issue,” says State Sen. John Grabinger, D-Jamestown.

The bill now moves to the House. This is one of 15 bills in the senate related to human trafficking.