,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dcbf  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #ab1      
#bjai,mrs4 ,wagner 7for herself1 ,mr4   
,jeffries1 ,mr4 ,smith of ,new ,jersey1 
and ,mr4 ,walberg7 introduced the       
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs  ,a 
,,bill  ,to amend the ,trafficking      
,victims ,protection ,act of #bjjj      
relating to determinations with respect 
to efforts of foreign countries to      
reduce demand for commercial sex acts   
under the minimum standards for the     
elimination of trafficking4  #a4 ,short 
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,sex ,trafficking ,demand ,reduction    
,act4  #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the
 following3  7#a7 ,it has been the      
longstanding position of the ,united    
,states to reduce the demand for sex    
trafficking victims4 ,there is also a   
wide international consensus on the     
necessity of demand reduction in order  
to prevent human trafficking4  7#b7 ,the

 ,united ,nations ,protocol to ,prevent1
 ,suppress and ,punish ,trafficking in  
,persons1 ,especially ,women and        
,children1 ,supplementing the ,united   
,nations ,convention ,against           
,transnational ,organized ,crime of     
#bjjj 7also referred to as the ,palermo 
,protocol7s77 expressly addresses the   
requirement that nations make serious   
efforts to reduce demand for trafficked 
persons4  7#c7 ,article #i1 addressing  
prevention of human trafficking1        
specifically directs that1 ,states      
,parties shall adopt or strengthen      
legislative or other measures1 such as  
educational1 social or cultural         
measures1 including through bilateral   
and multilateral cooperation1 to        
discourage the demand that fosters all  
forms of exploitation of persons1       
especially women and children1 that     
leads to trafficking44  7#d7 ,the       
,united ,nations ,protocol1 the ,europe 
,convention on ,action against ,human   
,trafficking1 and the #bjaa ,european   

,union ,directive of the ,european      
,parliament and the ,council on         
preventing and combating trafficking in 
human beings also specifically address  
the need to prevent human trafficking by
 reducing demand for trafficking        
victims4  7#e7 ,research has shown that 
legal prostitution increases the demand 
for prostituted persons and thus        
increases the market for sex4 ,as a     
result1 there is a significant increase 
in instances of human trafficking4  7#f7
 ,in #bjab1 researchers ,seo-,young     
,cho1 ,axel ,dreher1 and ,eric ,neumayer
 published their findings in ,world     
,development establishing that1 ,the    
scale effect of legalized prostitution  
leads to an expansion of the            
prostitution market1 increasing human   
trafficking ''' 4 ,on average1 countries
 where prostitution is legal experience 
larger reported human trafficking       
inflows44  7#g7 ,in #bjje1 a study      
focused on #aa ,european ,union         
countries requested by the ,european    

,parliament's committee on ,women's     
,rights and ,gender ,equality and       
performed by ,transcrime found that     
stricter prostitution laws are          
correlated with fewer human trafficking 
victims4  7#h7 ,case studies published  
by researchers ,niklas ,jakobsson and   
,andreas ,kotsadam support the          
possibility of a causal link between    
harsher prostitution laws and reduced   
human trafficking4 ,jakobsson and       
,kotsadam found that trafficking of     
persons for commercial sexual           
exploitation is least prevalent in      
countries where prostitution is illegal 
and most prevalent in countries where   
prostitution is legalized4  7#i7        
,further data has demonstrated the      
correlation between the adoption of     
legislation that criminalizes demand and
 reductions in sex trafficking4  #c4    
,amendment relating to determinations   
with respect to efforts of foreign      
countries to reduce demand for          
commercial sex acts under the minimum   

standards for the elimination of        
trafficking  7a7 ,in general ,paragraph 
7#ab7 of section #ajh7;b7 of the        
,trafficking ,victims ,protection ,act  
of #bjjj 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #gajf7;b77 is   
amended to read as follows3  7#ab7      
,whether the government of the country  
has made serious and sustained efforts  
to-- 7,a7 prohibit the purchase of      
commercial sex acts to the extent such  
prohibition is within the authority of  
the central government or implement a   
policy against the purchase of          
commercial sex acts to the extent that  
prohibition is not within the authority 
of the central government2  7,b7 educate
 buyers of commercial sex on how        
traffickers exploit prostituted persons 
for human trafficking2 and  7,c7 reduce 
demand for participation in             
international sex tourism by nationals  
of the country4  4  7b7 ,effective date 
,the amendment made by subsection 7a7   
takes effect on the date of the         
enactment of this ,act and applies with 

respect to determinations under         
subsection 7a77#d7 of section #ajh of   
the ,trafficking ,victims ,protection   
,act of #bjjj that are made on or after 
such date of enactment4