Human trafficking convictions are low in Nevada despite federal funds being used to combat the issue. | Hermes Rivera on Unsplash
Human trafficking convictions are low in Nevada despite federal funds being used to combat the issue. | Hermes Rivera on Unsplash
While efforts have been made to fight human trafficking, a report from the Human Trafficking Institute has shown that there have not been many convictions in the state of Nevada.
Funds have been used to combat the issue, however. The U.S. federal government awarded $101 million last year to the cause, according to the Justice Department website.
“The scourge of human trafficking is the modern-day equivalent of slavery, brutally depriving victims of basic human rights and essential physical needs as it erodes their sense of dignity and self-worth," then Attorney General William Barr said in a September 2020 press release. “The Department of Justice is relentless in its fight against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. Working with state and local law enforcement and community victim service providers, we will continue to bring these criminals to justice and deliver critical aid to survivors.”
The Human Trafficking Institute released a report Oct. 4 detailing the records of federal trafficking prosecutions in the state of Nevada in 2020, according to This Is Reno. The federal human trafficking report noted that four Nevada-based human trafficking cases were pursued by federal prosecutors, but none resulted in successful convictions during 2020.
The report said that Nevada had 11 active cases of defendants who had been charged with sex trafficking in 2020. In 2019, Nevada reported one new sex trafficking case filed, and one that ended with a conviction. In 2018, there were no new trafficking cases filed in Nevada, though four earlier cases ended with convictions. The report added that since 2010 there have been 33 sex trafficking convictions in the state.
The UNLV Center for Crime and Justice Policy reported that Nevada is ninth in the nation for most human trafficking cases, reporting 199 cases in a single year. In Nevada, sex trafficking is the most common form of trafficking at 89% of trafficking cases in the state. Nationally, 71% of total trafficking cases are centered around selling sex.
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