Senate Passes Ayotte-Backed Bill to Help Victims of Trafficking

Press Release

The U.S. Senate today voted 99 to 0 to approve the bipartisan Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, legislation U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) cosponsored that would provide law enforcement with the tools they need to crack down on human traffickers while better supporting victims. During consideration of the bill today, the Senate also voted 99-0 to adopt an amendment offered by Ayotte and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) based on the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act, legislation they introduced last year that incentivizes states to pass laws allowing women to petition for the termination of their attacker's parental rights if there is clear and convincing evidence that the child was conceived through rape.

"As a cosponsor of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, I'm glad the Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass this important legislation that will help victims of these terrible crimes in New Hampshire and across our nation. Our bipartisan bill will help ensure that victims of trafficking receive the services they need to help rebuild their lives and strengthen law enforcement tools to crack down on traffickers," said Ayotte. "I'm also pleased that the bill includes an amendment I offered with Senator Brown that encourages states to pass laws allowing rape victims to more easily petition for the termination of their attacker's parental rights, enabling mothers to better protect themselves and their children."

Senator Ayotte is an original co-sponsor of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, along with a bipartisan group of 32 senators, and voted repeatedly to advance the bill during the past month.

The Brown-Ayotte Rape Survivor Child Custody Act would protect rape victims and help them terminate their attackers' parental rights. Courts are reluctant to terminate parental rights without an explicit statute. Twenty-one states, however, including Washington D.C., do not have an explicit statute that allows women to restrict the parental rights of men who impregnate them through rape. And of the 30 states that do, 20 require a conviction of rape. To protect rape victims and their children, the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act incentivizes states to pass laws allowing women to petition for the termination of their attacker's parental rights if there is clear evidence that the child was conceived through rape. Brown's and Ayotte's legislation would achieve this by making states eligible for additional Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) formula grants if they pass such an explicit statute. The award would be equal to or up to 10 percent more than what the state already receives in VAWA formula grants. To ensure these funds are helping rape victims, at least 75 percent would be used toward the Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP) which funds services for survivors of sexual and domestic violence. The funds would also be used toward the Services, Trainers, Officers, Prosecutors (STOP) program, which funds training for the legal and criminal response to violence against women.

In February, Ayotte also helped introduce a separate bill - the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act - that would help curb youth homelessness and help victims of human trafficking in New Hampshire and nationwide. She helped offer this legislation as amendment to the trafficking bill today but unfortunately it did not receive the 60 votes necessary for adoption. She also testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee with several of her female colleagues about the urgent need to prevent trafficking in New Hampshire and across the country.

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