FOSTA Does Not Protect Communities at Risk of Sex Trafficking
Freedom Network USA (www.freedomnetworkusa.org) is the largest network of anti-trafficking
service providers and advocates in the United States. Our 57 members from over 30 different
cities include attorneys, social workers, case managers, researchers, and advocates. Together,
we serve well over 1,000 human trafficking survivors per year. This wealth of experience
informs our understanding of the best practices of anti-trafficking work and the policy changes
needed to effectively combat human trafficking in the US. We believe that FOSTA will not
provide a meaningful improvement in anti-trafficking efforts, and may cause severe
consequences for sex workers and trafficking victims alike.
The Problem with FOSTA
The CDA currently allows federal agencies to prosecute websites and other third parties that
actively participate in human trafficking, including both labor and sex trafficking. Prosecutors
can, and should, identify any third parties that are collaborating with human traffickers, and
prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. FNUSA supports legislative change that
empowers trafficking victims with increased access to justice and services, reduces vulnerability
to trafficking in communities that have been put at risk, or increases prosecution of traffickers
who intentionally exploit others for commercial gain. FOSTA not only fails to accomplish these
goals, but may actually harm victims and consensual commercial sex workers.
FOSTA expands the criminalization of consensual commercial sex workers under the guise of
addressing sex trafficking. This squanders limited federal resources and puts sex workers at risk
of prosecution for the very strategies that keep them safe. Consensual commercial sex workers
use harm reduction tools such as online forums to screen clients, avoid high risk activities,
share resources, and protect each other. Further criminalizing consensual commercial sex work,
where there is no force, fraud or coercion, is no way to protect victims.
An Alternative Way Forward
Websites have an instrumental role to play in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers.
They should be further incentivized and encouraged to report potential signs of human
trafficking (both labor and sex trafficking of adults and minors) and child exploitation. They
should be given clear guidelines for responding to possible trafficking activity on their sites,
including fraudulent labor recruitment practices. Congress should ensure that websites are
given the tools necessary to engage in best practices when it comes to preventing and reporting
all forms of trafficking. These best practices should be determined by stakeholders, including
prosecutors, anti-trafficking service providers, technology groups and impacted
communities in order to improve outcomes for trafficking victims without creating unintended
harm.
For more information, contact FNUSA’s Executive Director, Jean Bruggeman, at
jean@freedomnetworkusa.org.

www.freedomnetworkusa.org