“Crimes Against Children Are Among the Most Horrific and Devastating Offenses Imaginable, And Too Often They Are Enabled by Rapidly Evolving Technology.”
Legislation Would Strengthen Collaboration to Prevent Child Exploitation and Support Victims
WASHINGTON — Congressman Vern Buchanan and Congressman Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) introduced the Stop Crimes Against Children Act, a bipartisan bill to strengthen the nation’s response to child abuse, exploitation and trafficking by expanding collaboration between law enforcement, nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education.
“Crimes against children are among the most horrific and devastating offenses imaginable, and too often they are enabled by rapidly evolving technology,” said Buchanan. “Law enforcement cannot fight this crisis alone, I’m proud to join Congressman Pappas in advancing this bipartisan legislation. By bringing together nonprofits, researchers and institutions of higher education, we strengthen prevention efforts, improve victim support and ensure our communities are using every available tool to protect children.”
“The fight against child exploitation and abuse requires an all hands-on-deck-effort, and that means bringing together stakeholders with a broad array of expertise to put in place strategies that will keep our kids safe,” said Congressman Pappas. “This bipartisan legislation ensures that leaders from the nonprofit sector and institutions of higher education, who are doing vital work to protect children from abuse, will be part of our national strategy to identify, prevent, and respond to crimes against children right alongside law enforcement and government agencies. I remain committed to doing all I can to stop crimes against children, hold perpetrators accountable, and provide every resource available to keep children safe in New Hampshire and across the country.”
The bill would require the nonprofit sector and institutions of higher education to collaborate with the Department of Justice’s National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. This legislation seeks to ensure that communities can leverage the full spectrum of expertise and resources alongside government and law enforcement agencies to keep children safe.
The legislation is supported by the UNH Crimes Against Children Research Center and the Zero Abuse Project.
“There is a rapidly growing foundation of research and best practices that have been shown to protect children from violence and crime,” said Dr. David Finkelhor, Director of UNH Crimes Against Children Research Center. “The Stop Crimes Against Children Act will help disseminate those programs and practices more rapidly and effectively. We are making progress but we could do a lot more with this Act as support,”
Buchanan has long championed efforts to combat human trafficking and child exploitation. He introduced the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act to educate students and teachers on trafficking risks, as well as the Curbing Realistic Exploitative Electronic Pedophilic Robots (CREEPER) Act 2.0 to stop the sale of lifelike sex dolls resembling children.
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