Health care providers would receive new tools and training to identify and protect victims of human trafficking under bipartisan legislation reintroduced by U.S. Sen Susan Collins (R-ME) on Tuesday.
The Stop, Observe, Ask and Respond (SOAR) Act, introduced by Collins and U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), would expand a pilot program that trains doctors, nurses and social workers to identify and report human trafficking.
“Every state in America is affected by the evils of sex trafficking,” Collins said. “Human traffickers prey upon the most vulnerable, often homeless or runaway children. Identification is the first, and frequently missed, step in helping victims and stopping these atrocities.”
Approximately one-third of women trafficking into the United States visit a health care professional while being held captive, recent studies suggest.
“This bipartisan legislation would bolster the current success of the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) pilot program by expanding it and greatly increasing the number of our health care providers who will have the training to protect victims and expose these heinous crimes,” Collins said.
The current HHS pilot program has trained medical providers at six sites across the country to identify and report suspected human trafficking since 2014.
The SOAR Act would expand the pilot program, engage victims, survivors, advocates and officials at all levels to communicate and collaborate on effective training. The measure would also lead to the development of a national strategy and require reporting and data to track progress being made.
“Sen. Collins and I are reintroducing our bipartisan bill to make sure health providers –— sometimes some of the only people victims interact with without their trafficker in the room — can identify and get help for victims of sex trafficking,” Heitkamp said. “… By building on the success of pilot training programs of about 60 doctors, nurses and others in Williston and New Town, we can strengthen our community and nationwide network that unmasks and effectively combats human trafficking, protects victims, and prevents these crimes from proliferating in our towns.”