Statewide Human Trafficking Reports - Washington State Department of Commerce

Washington State has been considered a leader among the states in addressing trafficking. In 2002, Washington was the first state in the country to create a Task Force Against the Trafficking of Persons. The state was the first in the country to pass a law specifically addressing trafficking in 2003. And since 2002, nearly 40 state laws have been passed addressing aspects of trafficking, from mail order brides to stiffer penalties for commercial sexual abuse of minors.

In 2002, House Bill 2381 create the Washington State Task Force Against the Trafficking of Persons. In the subsequent years, the Task Force was renewed by the Legislature several times. It submitted three reports to the Legislature, in 2002, 2004, and 2008. An additional Work Group on Human Trafficking was also convened in 2005, and issued a report to the Legislature in 2005.

The Statewide Coordinating Committee on Sex Trafficking was convened by the Legislature in 2013, and expired in 2015. It submitted one report to the Legislature in December 2014. Lastly, the Washington Statewide Coordinating Committee on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, also created in 2013, submitted a report to the Legislature in 2014.

Twenty years of the State of Washington Legislative Accomplishments to Prevent and Address Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Minors has been compiled into a fact sheet that can downloaded here.

Click on the links below to access reports.