The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction

c. National Institute of JusticeThe National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of theDepartment and is dedicated to researching crime control and justice issues. NIJ providesobjective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime andjustice, particularly at the state and local levels. NIJ's principal authorities are derived from theOmnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended (see 42 USC § 3721-3723)and Title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. NIJ supports a variety of research in the areaof child exploitation, which is summarized in Section G, below.d. Office for Victims of CrimeThe Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) oversees diverse programs that benefit victims of crime.The agency supports training programs designed to educate criminal justice and alliedprofessionals regarding the rights and needs of crime victims. Since 2003, the Office for Victimsof Crime has provided over $37 million to serve human tracking victims and responding serviceprovides, training over 90,000 practitioners in communities across the United States about thedynamics of human trafficking, to include sex trafficking of minor children.e. Bureau of Justice StatisticsThe Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is the primary source for criminal justice statistics in theUnited States. In 2007, the BJS released Federal Prosecution of Child Sex ExploitationOffenders, 2006, which presents federal criminal case processing statistics on child pornography,sex abuse, and sex transportation status in the U.S. criminal code for 2006. This includesnational data on the number as well as type of offenders referred to and prosecuted by the U.S.Attorneys and describes the sentences they receive. Additionally, the BJS collects federalcriminal case processing data as part of the Federal Justice Statistics Programs. This databasecompiles comprehensive information on individuals processed through the federal justicesystem.Further, the BJS is conducting a project through Northeastern University and the Urban Instituteto create and maintain an online reporting system for human trafficking cases. The primary usersare the human trafficking task forces funded by the Department through the Bureau of JusticeAssistance.The project has been a success, and at this moment the system – called the Human TraffickingReporting System (HTRS) – is online and receiving data. Pursuant to the goal of accuratelyreporting statistics on human trafficking, the following has been achieved:• A common definition and reporting protocol has been developed based on the TVPA.• Retrospective data from 2007 have been entered into the HTRS by almost all of the taskforces and internal reports have been submitted to BJS. On-site technical assistance hasbeen provided to those task forces experiencing difficulties with the system.53