Beebe signs anti-human-trafficking bill

— Gov. Mike Beebe has signed legislation that toughens the state’s anti-human-trafficking law.

The new law offers protections for victims, including a right to sue their abductors. The law also creates new penalties for anyone who knowingly patronizes a prostitute who is a human-trafficking victim.

Also under the law, the attorney general will now be allowed to create a task force to suggest other ways to address human trafficking.

A national group last year called Arkansas one of the “faltering four” states in terms of legislation to protect victims of human trafficking.

Law enforcement officials said that although the state has had a human trafficking law on the books since 2005, but no one has ever been arrested under the statute.

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