From Supporters Like You to the Halls of Congress: ZOE Advocates for Justice
Ester Yu, ZOE’s Western Regional Director, and Andrea Smith, ZOE East Coast’s Community Manager had the privilege of participating in the Interparlimentary Task Force on Human Trafficking’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ATIP) Roundtable in Washington D.C. meeting with legislators, nonprofits, and survivor leaders from all over the nation to advocate for legislation that will better protect and support victims of trafficking.
According to the CEO of Ascend Consulting, Anne Basham, “Good laws save lives. Policy combined with collaborative action among leaders is paramount to addressing human trafficking at its roots.”
One policy in discussion is the GRACIE Act (Generate Recordings of All Child Protective Interviews Everywhere Act), a bipartisan legislation designed to protect vulnerable children by encouraging states to record all Child Protective Services (CPS) interviews during abuse investigations. This matters because nearly 60% of trafficked youth have spent time in foster care, and CPS is often the first point of contact for children living in unsafe situations.
Recording them would help preserve children’s voices, improve accountability, strengthen investigations, and reduce the risk of important details being lost. It could also help identify trafficking victims earlier and remove children from dangerous environments sooner. The bill has been introduced in Congress and is currently working its way through the legislative process and is in the committee stage, but has not yet been passed into law. ZOE USA is grateful for opportunities to be apart of policy change that creates a safer world for children.
