page_title: Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015
section_title: Title I -- Justice for Victims of Trafficking
hierarchical_section_title: Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 / Titles / Title I -- Justice for Victims of Trafficking
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry poses for a photo with the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking at the Annual Meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF), at the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2016. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
context_page_description: The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 is an Act of Congress introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2015, and signed into law by United States President Barack Obama on May 29, 2015. It is also known as the JVTA. Broadly speaking, it aimed to increase services for survivors of human trafficking as well as to strengthen and empower law enforcement and first responders.
context_section_description: This is the longest of the ten titles. It establishes a $5,000 penalty (which expires on September 30, 2019) which is assessed on people convicted of offenses related to human trafficking and sexual abuse. That fine is paid into a fund the JVTA establishes called the "Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund," which the Department of Justice (DOJ) uses to support victims of trafficking. The U.S. government matches the amount generated by the $5,000 fines. As part of a political compromise to ensure the bill passed, Congress agreed that none of the private money in the Fund may be used for health or medical expenses (to ensure none of the Fund's money is used for abortions). (See "Controversy" section above for more information.) 
  The Title clarifies that victims who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents should not be denied services simply because they have not received a certification from Health and Human Services (HHS) or the Secretary of Homeland Security, the way that non-citizen victims of human trafficking must in order to access services and benefits.
  It also creates a block grant program (financed by the Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund) to pay for efforts aimed at deterring domestic child sex trafficking. This includes funding for efforts that establish or expand: training programs for professionals combatting human trafficking such as health care officials, police, prosecutors, and child welfare officials; law enforcement units or task forces geared at investigating instances of child sex trafficking and rescuing survivors; law enforcement units to help track down runaway and homeless youth; and court programs for trafficking victims. It clarifies that grant awards may be used to fund programs that identify and assist victims of child pornography, including by paying for investigation expenses such as wiretaps.
  This Title also adds to the TVPA's definition of trafficking by adding "patronizing, or soliciting" to the sex trafficking statute to clarify that those who purchase sex acts from trafficking victims can be prosecuted as trafficking offenders. (The full definition now includes anyone who "recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, advertises, maintains, patronizes, or solicits" someone over 18 by using force, fraud, or coercion, or someone under 18, for the purposes of commercial sex.) It requires DOJ to direct pre-existing Innocence Lost National Initiative task forces to target those who buy sex acts from trafficking victims. It also requires law enforcement officers to file a recent photo with all reports they submit to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as well as for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to be notified every time a child is reported missing from a foster home or childcare institution. The Title also criminalizes knowingly selling advertising for sexual services provided by minors or trafficking victims.
  It clarifies that victims have the right to be notified of plea bargains and deferred prosecution agreements, as well as that, in cases where district courts have denied victims their rights, victims' petitions to courts of appeals are to be reviewed under the ordinary appellate standard of review (legal error or abuse of discretion) rather than the higher standard (clear and indisputable error) that is typically used in such appeals.
  Finally, the Title establishes the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, which is composed of 8-14 survivors of human trafficking. The Council is designed to assess U.S. policies and programs and provide advice and recommendations to the federal government to ensure that its policies and programs align with best practices in the anti-human trafficking field. The Council generates an annual report detailing its findings.
caption: Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry posing for a photo with the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking in 2016.
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