The Alliance to End Human Trafficking and the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd have been raising awareness of the dangers of human trafficking and the bipartisan legislative solutions that Congress should easily take to reduce and prevent human trafficking in the U.S. and support survivors.
We know that time is short for Congress to act this session. But time is achingly ticking away for survivors searching for relief and for children to receive prevention programs before prevention is too late. The time for action is now.
We are hosting a key briefing on Capitol Hill at 9:30 am on Tuesday, July 14, titled From Awareness to ACTION: PREVENT Human Trafficking.
Hill Briefing:
From Awareness to ACTION: PREVENT Human Trafficking
Tuesday, July 14, 2026 | 9:30 - 11:00 am
Capitol Visitor Center – Room 215
Q&A included | media interview availability following briefing
REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR ENTRY
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CONGRESSIONAL MEDIA BADGE
DEADLINE TO REGISTER: COB FRIDAY, JULY 10
AEHT and NAC are pleased to announce Honorary Co-Chairs for the briefing are Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Members of the House of Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), and Maria Salazar (R-FL). We are grateful for their support and active concern for people endangered by human trafficking.
Speakers include Jessie Boye-Doe, Gina Cavallo, Mary Graw Leary, and Members of Congress. The event will be moderated by Sr. Ann Scholz.
Jessie Boye-Doe, LCSW, is the Vice President of Mental Health Services Impact and Strategy at Good Shepherd Services in New York. She is an advocate, trainer and clinician specializing in human trafficking prevention, intervention, survivor support, and trauma-informed care.
Gina Cavallo is a survivor and is the founder and executive director of the survivor-led nonprofit organization, We RISE USA. She serves on the Survivor Advisory Council of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking and has been working actively for the passage of H.R. 1144, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act.
Mary Graw Leary, JD, is professor of law at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. Professor Graw Leary is a former federal prosecutor. Her scholarship examines the intersection of criminal law and procedure, technology, and contemporary victimization. She focuses on the exploitation and abuse of women, children, and the marginalized. She is a recognized expert in the areas of criminal law and procedure, exploitation, human trafficking, missing persons, victimization, technology and the Fourth Amendment.
Name Withheld is a lived-experience expert dedicated to supporting other survivors of human trafficking.
Sr. Ann Scholz, SSND, PhD, is a School Sister of Notre Dame and Director for Corporate Social Responsibility for the SSND Cooperative Investment Fund. In addition, she consults with nonprofit organizations engaged in faithful advocacy for systemic change. Sr. Scholz previously served as Associate Director for Social Mission at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, where she was responsible for research, education, and action to help shape public policy.
AEHT and NAC believe that two pieces of bipartisan legislation currently pending in the 119th Congress are strong responses to the evils of human trafficking. These bills build on the foundation of human trafficking policy, raise up the pillars of support for survivors, and strengthen the protective layers against online predators. We look forward to partnering with organizations, policymakers and Members of Congress and their staffs to make or update laws and policies to better protect people from human trafficking and to improve support for survivors. Specifically, we are advocating for the passage of:
Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 1144): This bill builds on the foundational, landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) designed to prevent modern-day slavery, protect victims, and enhance civil and criminal penalties against traffickers. Unfortunately, the TVPA has not been reauthorized for several years. An identical version of this bill passed the House of Representatives in the last Congress by a vote of 414-11.
The Frederick Douglass TVPRA would reauthorize both domestic and international provisions of the last amended version of the TVPRA, along with International Megan’s Law which requires covered sex offenders to have a special warning in their U.S. passports identifying them to foreign governments. The bill also would provide funding for cybersecurity, the National Human Trafficking Hotline and public education campaigns for education prevention grants serving high-intensity child sex trafficking areas or areas with significant child labor trafficking while focusing on at-risk populations, in addition to housing assistance and wrap-around social services.
Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) (S. 1748): The internet, devices, and applications are tools with great benefits and tremendous risks, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Over the years, much has been promised, and technology companies have done little to protect children from predators on the internet.
S. 1748 would hold tech companies accountable for duty of care on their platforms. It also would provide tools for parents and children, while increasing transparency so that children may be safe in their virtual spaces.
About AEHT and NAC:
AEHT and NAC are dedicated to eradicating human trafficking through advocacy, collaboration, and education. They work tirelessly to bring awareness to the issue and support legislative measures that protect and empower the most vulnerable in society.
Alliance to End Human Trafficking was founded in 2013 by a group of Catholic Sisters committed to ending human trafficking and supporting survivors. They created a national network of resources and support that includes many different congregations of women religious and mission-aligned partners. Today, this member-based organization has grown to include more than 200 congregations, organizations and individuals spread throughout the United States. AEHT is also the U.S. member of Talitha Kum, the international network of consecrated life working to end human trafficking.
The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd educates and advocates on social justice issues for the transformation of society to the benefit of all people reflecting the spirituality, history and mission of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. NAC advocates at the Federal level for people living in poverty, immigrants, survivors of human trafficking, survivors of domestic abuse, and other vulnerable populations. NAC reflects the spirituality, history and mission of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (better known as the Sisters of the Good Shepherd). The sisters and their agencies work in solidarity with the disenfranchised – particularly families, women and children – who often are forgotten, left-behind or dismissed.