Concord, NH - After a year of work, New Hampshire’s Interagency Commission on Human Trafficking released its report, The Hidden Problem of Human Trafficking: Addressing Modern Day Slavery in New Hampshire. A press conference was held on Monday, November 10th at 10:00am in the lobby of the Legislative Office Building to discuss the report.

One of the recommendations made by the Commission, formed with the passage of SB 194 in 2007, is to include human trafficking in New Hampshire’s Criminal Code in an effort to deter traffickers from committing their crimes in our state. “We want to make sure that New Hampshire is not a safe haven for these activities to take place,” said Rep. Suzanne Harvey (D-Nashua) who chaired the Commission and will file legislation for the 2009 Session. “Modern day slavery is not specifically addressed by current NH law. The complexity of this crime should be addressed in a separate statute that defines human trafficking as a separate criminal offense.”

Many state legislatures are moving toward establishing the crime of human trafficking in their state criminal codes. While the federal government passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, states are beginning to recognize the need to address this problem locally because it is the local law enforcement, victim advocacy groups, churches, hospitals, and the like who are more likely to identify and work with victims of trafficking.

Human Trafficking in New Hampshire
New Hampshire was the location of only the second labor trafficking case brought under the federal law. Timothy Bradley and Kathleen O’Dell both of Litchfield, New Hampshire were convicted of human trafficking in 2003 for withholding promised wages and living conditions and refusing to release passport and legal travel documents of four Jamaican men.

There has also been evidence of sex trafficking in New Hampshire. In August 2007 a former victim advocate for a domestic violence crisis center received a call from the National Human Trafficking Hotline in New York City. The victim was a 17-year-old girl who had been kidnapped from her native country 5 years before at the age of 12. She had been working for those 5 years as a sex slave in a house in New Hampshire with 5 other young women of similar age. Unfortunately, this young woman fled because she was undocumented and feared getting in trouble with law enforcement. Her status is currently unknown.

“This is a growing problem that we need to start addressing,” Jennifer Durant, Public Policy Specialist with the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence said. “The sex trafficking case is an example of a missed opportunity to safely support the recovery and ability of trafficked persons to regain control of their lives, while assisting with the prosecution of their captures.”

Captain Robert Quinn, NH State Police, believes that New Hampshire needs to start raising awareness and implementing trainings. “It is extremely important to increase our knowledge on the issue of human trafficking,” he stated. “Without training law enforcement, prosecutors, and other key stakeholders throughout the state, we are in serious danger of not holding traffickers accountable, while innocent men, women and children are continually victimized.”

For more information on this report contact Jennifer Durant, 224-8893 extension 310.