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THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />RESOLUTION SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO END HUMAN <br />TRAFFICKING IN NORTH CAROLINA <br />WHEREAS, human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery in which men, <br />women, and children are exploited for commercial sex and labor purposes; and <br />WHEREAS, human trafficking is currently the second largest criminal industry in <br />the world after drug dealing, and is the fastest growing; and <br />WHEREAS, victims of human trafficking can frequently be found in domestic <br />labor situations, sweatshop factories, construction, farm work, hotel, restaurant <br />and tourist industries, janitorial work, and the commercial sex industry; and <br />WHEREAS, traffickers use force, fraud and coercion to draw victims into lives of <br />servitude and abuse, frequently subjecting victims to rape, beatings, <br />confinement, debt bondage, involuntary servitude, and psychological and <br />emotional abuse; and <br />WHEREAS, systematic approaches to detecting trafficking, creating protocols for <br />assisting victims, providing services to trafficking victims, and holding traffickers <br />accountable are all crucial steps in eradicating trafficking; and <br />WHEREAS, the U.S. Congress responded to the problem of human trafficking by <br />passing the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, a <br />comprehensive statute designed to hold traffickers accountable and provide <br />services for trafficking victims; and <br />WHEREAS, North Carolina's location on the I-95 corridor, large military bases, <br />large immigrant population and demand for immigrant labor creates an <br />environment hospitable to'trafficking in our area; and <br />WHEREAS, U.S. government studies estimate that approximately 800,000 <br />persons are trafficked across international borders each year, with 18,000 to <br />20,000 persons trafficked into the United States and thousands more trafficked <br />domestically; and <br />WHEREAS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that 23% of <br />those trafficked into the United States are trafficked into the southeast; and <br />WHEREAS, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed House Bill 1896 <br />into law in August, 2006, which addresses human trafficking and sexual servitude <br />by increasing criminal .penalties, especially for those individuals who harbor <br />children; and <br />