City Hall: Commissioners Approve Funding to Fight Human Trafficking

Portland City Council voted 5-0 this morning to allocate $285,000 from the general fund to help fight human trafficking, a crime that earned Portland the nickname "Pornland" from Dan Rather.

"This is not the kind of recognition I want for the city I love," Mayor Sam Adams told his colleagues this morning.

The one-time money will double the number of sexual-abuse-victim advocates at the Sexual Assault Resource Center, which currently has only two such positions. The funding will also help support the creation of additional wrap-around services for four to six victims of human trafficking who seek shelter at Janus Youth Programs in Portland.

"This is a start," Adams says. "It's not a panacea."

Today's action marked the second time City Council has addressed juvenile sex trafficking in recent weeks. Last month, Commissioner Dan Saltzman successfully pushed a measure to create a new, dedicated funding stream for fighting human trafficking. That measure allows Portland Police to take assets from pimps that are forfeited during prostitution crimes and direct the money from those assets to services for victims of human trafficking.