Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, better known as the Helsinki Commission, today expressed his concern that the war has placed Ukrainian refugees in jeopardy and made women and children more vulnerable to exploitation.
In an opening statement for a hearing on “Protecting Ukrainian Refugees from Trafficking,” he said in part:
“Wherever there are people who are vulnerable, there will be people who will take advantage of them. That’s going to happen. This flow of refugees caused by Putin’s war requires us to oversee as closely as possible the welfare of the women and children, not to be trafficked and used by people who have about the same conscience and concern for others…as Vladimir Putin.”
See the entire opening statement here.
Congressman Cohen has a long history working to prevent human trafficking. In 2016, he held a human trafficking awareness event at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. In 2018, his Stop, Observe, Ask and Respond (SOAR) to Health and Wellness Act, which expanded training for health care professionals in detecting victims of human trafficking, became law.
Original source can be found here.
