HOUSTON – Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced a new initiative that will target human trafficking and domestic violence in Houston Monday afternoon.
Turner said he is expanding the mayor’s office of human trafficking to include domestic violence. He said the office’s new name will be Mayor’s Office of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence, which will be led by Minal Davis.
The mayor’s decision to add domestic violence to the office is due to both being forms of gender-based violence.
Law enforcement officials have seen an uptick in domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse for women and girls nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, Turner said.
The city of Houston became the first major city in the nation to pass a hotel ordinance that will require hotels to train employees on human trafficking and indicators of sex and labor trafficking, Turner said.
It is a natural fit that the domestic violence work falls within an expanded scope for what was my anti-trafficking division. That was also made clear when I asked this division to step up and lead the #COVID19 response to help victims that were shut in with their abusers.
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) September 14, 2020
Watch the full press conference below:
WATCH LIVE: Mayor Turner to announce new initiative targeting human trafficking, domestic violence in Houston
Posted by KPRC2 / Click2Houston on Monday, September 14, 2020