The TVPA's statement of purpose is "to combat trafficking in persons,
a contemporary manifestation of slavery whose victims are predominantly
women and children, to ensure just and effective punishment of
traffickers, and to protect their victims."" Implementation of the TVPA
mirrors the Palermo Protocol's imbalanced focus on prosecution over
victim protection. Yet despite the focus on prosecution, fewer than 1% of
traffickers within the U.S. have ever seen a courtroom.'" This priority
imbalance is most exemplified by the provision which allows for the "assets
seized from convicted traffickers [to] go into law enforcement's budget,
not into helping the slaves rebuild their lives."'54 At a Congressional
hearing held a year after the drafting of the TVPA, Rep. Chris Smith who
introduced the bill stated that its "essential principle" was to ensure that:
[C]riminals who knowingly operate enterprises that profit from sex
acts involving persons who have been brought across international
boundaries for such purposes by force, fraud or coercion, or who
force human beings into slavery should receive punishment
commensurate with the penalties for kidnapping and forcible rape.
This would not only be a just punishment, but also . . . a powerful
deterrent.