(20 ILCS 5086/2)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2025)

Sec. 2. Findings. The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) A 2014 study by the Urban Institute found that sexual predators believed that if they were caught trafficking women and girls of color, they would get less jail time. According to the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center, 40.4% of victims of sex trafficking are black women, yet black women only make up 13.1% of the United States population.

(2) Black women are 7% of the national population but constitute 10% of missing persons cases. Their disappearances are less likely to be reported in the media and less likely to be solved by police. Missing children cases among the country's black population are also dated cases that are more often left open, compared with white children during the same time spans. Many missing persons cases that involve black women and girls are classified as "runaways", a classification that may not reflect the fact they are victims.

(Source: P.A. 102-323, eff. 8-6-21.)