Notice2023-11605
Request for Public Comment; National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 1, 2023
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration
Abstract
This notice informs the public of the opportunity to provide input on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework (Framework), which contains strategies and approaches to prevent human trafficking and its recurrence while increasing capacity to identify and reduce harm caused by human trafficking. HHS will consider this input as it updates the Framework. The draft Framework is available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ otip.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35881-35882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11605]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Request for Public Comment; National Human Trafficking Prevention
Framework
AGENCY: Office on Trafficking in Persons, Administration for Children
and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice informs the public of the opportunity to provide
input on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS)
National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework (Framework), which
contains strategies and approaches to prevent human trafficking and its
recurrence while increasing capacity to identify and reduce harm caused
by human trafficking. HHS will consider this input as it updates the
Framework. The draft Framework is available at <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip">https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip</a>.
DATES: Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. EDT on June 9, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please submit all responses via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#10557e74446271767679737b797e77507173763e7878633e777f66"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f0b59e94a48291969699939b999e97b0919396de989883de979f86">[email protected]</span></a> with ``Public Comment: Prevention
Framework'' in the subject. Submissions can include attachments of or
links to any supporting documentation. Please provide your contact
information for possible follow-up from the Office on Trafficking in
Persons.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Casey, Communications and
Prevention Specialist, Office on Trafficking in Persons, Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#400b292d2225322c396e0321332539002123266e2828336e272f36"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="baf1d3d7d8dfc8d6c394f9dbc9dfc3fadbd9dc94d2d2c994ddd5cc">[email protected]</span></a>, Phone: 202-594-7026.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The International Labor Organization estimates 27.6 million people
were experiencing forced labor and/or commercial sexual exploitation
globally on any given day in 2021. The global prevalence of human
trafficking increased from 3.4 to 3.5 per thousand people between 2016
and 2021, driven entirely by the private economy. Although there is
still no rigorous prevalence estimate of human trafficking within the
United States, cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50
states and the District of Columbia, on tribal land, and within U.S.
territories.
Human trafficking is a public health issue and crime with adverse
physical and mental health, developmental, financial, and social
effects, which often reach beyond the individual directly impacted to
affect families, communities, industries, and society at large. In
response to the U.S. Government's recognition that human trafficking is
both a transnational and national issue of significant concern, the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and its subsequent
reauthorizations created a three-pronged (``3P'') federal framework to
address human trafficking--prevention, protection, and prosecution. A
fourth ``P''--for partnership--serves as a complementary means to
achieve progress across the 3Ps and engage multiple sectors of society
in the work
[[Page 35882]]
to address human trafficking. Steady progress has been made since the
TVPA was first authorized; however, efforts to assemble a focused array
of prevention strategies addressing both victimization and
perpetration, while essential, are largely absent.
Establishing the Prevention Framework
HHS plays a critical role in the U.S. Government's efforts to
prevent and respond to human trafficking. The HHS Task Force to Prevent
Human Trafficking, comprised of 21 divisions and offices across HHS,
helps implement HHS's priority actions in the National Action Plan to
Combat Human Trafficking and related national strategies. The Framework
contributes to the implementation of National Action Plan Priority
Action 1.1.2 to increase the scale and quality of human trafficking
prevention efforts utilizing a collective impact strategy.
The Framework is informed by a public health approach to violence
prevention, recognizing human trafficking is not an isolated incident
but a widespread issue impacting the health and well-being of
individuals, families, and communities across generations. Human
trafficking is a dynamic form of violence, shifting and adapting as
traffickers refine recruitment schemes, methods of control, and modes
of exploitation. As understanding and knowledge of human trafficking
grow, strategies to address it must evolve as well. Treating human
trafficking as a public health concern grants a renewed sense of
urgency and fundamentally alters how collaborators prevent and respond
to it.
A public health approach to human trafficking is proactive rather
than reactionary, moving upstream to identify prevention measures that,
combined with downstream interventions, can decrease the number of
people who experience trafficking. Focusing on three levels of
prevention--primary, secondary, and tertiary--a public health approach
seeks to stop human trafficking before it occurs, reduce its impact or
duration, mitigate lasting effects, and prevent it from recurring.
The Framework harnesses established concepts of violence prevention
to strengthen efforts to prevent human trafficking, outlining
strategies and approaches that diverse sectors of society can use to
prevent human trafficking and its recurrence while increasing their
capacity to identify and reduce harm caused by human trafficking. The
Framework encourages collaboration, coordination, and integration to
enhance human trafficking prevention, inviting partnerships with
federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local governments; business,
industry, and other private sector entities; nonprofits and non-
governmental organizations; educational institutions; and
philanthropic, faith-based, and research organizations; and more.
Through this collective effort, HHS and its partners will be prepared
to test and scale solutions that will prevent human trafficking and
improve the lives of people affected by human trafficking across the
United States.
Comments: HHS is seeking public feedback on the Framework,
including comments on understandability and suggested changes. HHS will
use comments to make updates to the Framework as needed.
Dated: May 25, 2023.
Linda Hitt,
Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2023-11605 Filed 5-31-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-48-P
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