I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4326 
To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 relating to deter-
minations with respect to efforts of foreign countries to reduce demand 
for commercial sex acts under the minimum standards for the elimination 
of trafficking. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 
Mrs. WAGNER (for herself, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, and Mr. 
WALBERG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
relating to determinations with respect to efforts of for-
eign countries to reduce demand for commercial sex acts 
under the minimum standards for the elimination of 
trafficking. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sex Trafficking De-
mand Reduction Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) It has been the longstanding position of the 
United States to reduce the demand for sex traf-
ficking victims. There is also a wide international 
consensus on the necessity of demand reduction in 
order to prevent human trafficking. 
(2) The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, 
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Espe-
cially Women and Children, Supplementing the 
United Nations Convention Against Transnational 
Organized Crime of 2000 (also referred to as the 
‘‘Palermo Protocol(s)’’) expressly addresses the re-
quirement that nations make serious efforts to re-
duce demand for trafficked persons. 
(3) Article 9, addressing prevention of human 
trafficking, specifically directs that, ‘‘States Parties 
shall adopt or strengthen legislative or other meas-
ures, such as educational, social or cultural meas-
ures, including through bilateral and multilateral co-
operation, to discourage the demand that fosters all 
forms of exploitation of persons, especially women 
and children, that leads to trafficking.’’. 
(4) The United Nations Protocol, the Europe 
Convention on Action against Human Trafficking, 
and the 2011 European Union Directive of the Eu-
ropean Parliament and the Council on preventing 
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and combating trafficking in human beings also spe-
cifically address the need to prevent human traf-
ficking by reducing demand for trafficking victims. 
(5) Research has shown that legal prostitution 
increases the demand for prostituted persons and 
thus increases the market for sex. As a result, there 
is a significant increase in instances of human traf-
ficking. 
(6) In 2012, researchers Seo-Young Cho, Axel 
Dreher, and Eric Neumayer published their findings 
in World Development establishing that, ‘‘The scale 
effect of legalized prostitution leads to an expansion 
of the prostitution market, increasing human traf-
ficking . . . . On average, countries where prostitu-
tion is legal experience larger reported human traf-
ficking inflows.’’. 
(7) In 2005, a study focused on 11 European 
Union countries requested by the European Par-
liament’s committee on Women’s Rights and Gender 
Equality and performed by Transcrime found that 
stricter prostitution laws are correlated with fewer 
human trafficking victims. 
(8) Case studies published by researchers 
Niklas Jakobsson and Andreas Kotsadam support 
the possibility of a causal link between harsher pros-
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titution laws and reduced human trafficking. Ja-
kobsson and Kotsadam found that trafficking of per-
sons for commercial sexual exploitation is least prev-
alent in countries where prostitution is illegal and 
most prevalent in countries where prostitution is le-
galized. 
(9) Further data has demonstrated the correla-
tion between the adoption of legislation that crim-
inalizes demand and reductions in sex trafficking. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT RELATING TO DETERMINATIONS 
WITH RESPECT TO EFFORTS OF FOREIGN 
COUNTRIES TO REDUCE DEMAND FOR COM-
MERCIAL SEX ACTS UNDER THE MINIMUM 
STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TRAF-
FICKING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (12) of section 108(b) 
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 
U.S.C. 7106(b)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(12) Whether the government of the country 
has made serious and sustained efforts to— 
‘‘(A) prohibit the purchase of commercial 
sex acts to the extent such prohibition is within 
the authority of the central government or im-
plement a policy against the purchase of com-
mercial sex acts to the extent that prohibition 
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is not within the authority of the central gov-
ernment; 
‘‘(B) educate buyers of commercial sex on 
how traffickers exploit prostituted persons for 
human trafficking; and 
‘‘(C) reduce demand for participation in 
international sex tourism by nationals of the 
country.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) takes effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act and applies with respect to determinations 
under subsection (a)(4) of section 108 of the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 that are made on or after 
such date of enactment. 
Æ 
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