House approves sex trafficking study

By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Trafficking in sex workers and laborers -- modern slavery -- has attracted the attention of the Georgia Legislature, which is moving ahead with a study commission.

The Georgia House passed a resolution Tuesday urging the creation of a 13-member commission to study human trafficking and the treatment of victims.

Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, will pick up the issue and push it in the state Senate, which also must approve it. The state passed legislation in 2011 cracking down on pimping and offering help to those exploited.

"We have developed a system of care and services for up to one year for victims," Unterman said. "Now we need to know statistics as to how well we are doing, and that is what we need to look at."

Rep. Buzz Brockway, R-Lawrenceville, who sponsored House Resolution 1151, said he hopes the commission will look at what other states are doing and copy practices that seem to be working.

He praised nonprofits and church groups, who have pushed the Legislature for better laws and founded services to help the victims get out of the trade and re-establish their lives.

Shared Hope International, a nonprofit dealing with sex trafficking, gives Georgia a grade of C on having good laws, but that is up from where it was. Georgia is among 10 states that got a B or C; none got an A, and more than half of the states failed.

The FBI says Atlanta and its suburbs are a top U.S. destination for trafficking. Estimates say 400 girls are prostituted each month in Georgia, with the average age of beginning exploitation 12 to 14 years old.