Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (“TVPA”), codified at 22 U.S.C. §§ 7101–7115, is the first federal law to address human trafficking, which includes both sex and labor trafficking. The TVPA establishes a comprehensive framework to combat interstate and international trafficking in persons, which focuses on the “three Ps”: (1) prevention, (2) protection and assistance for victims, and (3) prosecution. The TVPA also forms the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, which publishes an annual Trafficking in Persons Report that lists and ranks international efforts to prevent trafficking. In addition, the TVPA establishes significant benefits and services for victims, such as refugee protection, restitution, and assistance programs. Since the TVPA was passed in 2000, it has been reauthorized several times to offer new and expanded provisions, such as penalties for persons who knowingly financially benefit from human trafficking. Other expansions include the refusal of U.S. foreign aid to countries that conscript children, as well as the use of the 2003 Protect Act to prosecute U.S. citizens who live abroad and engage in the commercial exploitation of children. 

See also: U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report - 2025

Topics

• Gender violence in conflict
• Gender-based violence in general
• Sexual violence and rape
• Statutory rape or defilement
• Trafficking in persons

Geographical location

• North America
• United States

Keywords

• child soldiers
• duty to protect
• Epstein
• exploitation
• immigration law and asylum
• modern slavery
• protocol to prevent
• state duty to prosecute
• state responsibility
• victim protection
• vulnerable victims
• war crimes

Year

• 2023

External URL

• Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)

Type

• Legislation

Jurisdiction

• United States