US legislates to prevent child marriage worldwide: In a development welcomed by child marriage activists, the United States Congress has passed a bill stating that child marriage breaches fundamental human rights – and requiring the US to integrate the prevention of this harmful practice across its development programmes. View the article here
Hawaii Gov. Abercrombie Signs Human Trafficking Bills: three new bills combating human trafficking in Hawaii and increasing services for victims.
The most important of these measures is SB 192, which mints the offense of solicitation of a minor (a person under the age of eighteen) for prostitution, graded as a class C felony that carries a minimum $2,000 fine, while extending the civil statute of limitations for coerced prostitution to six years, expanding asset forfeiture laws to cover an increased range of solicitation offenses, and adding solicitation of a minor to the state's list of crimes subject to the sex offender registry.