Elizabeth Smart backs three-digit number for abuse survivors and trafficking victims
A bill that stalled in the 2026 Legislature is expected to be refiled in 2027, with Sen. Heidi Balderree as sponsor.
Based on reporting by KSL.com News. Read the original story →
Elizabeth Smart is supporting an effort to create a three-digit emergency number that sexual abuse survivors and trafficking victims could call for help, KSL.com reported. Smart spoke at a panel at Weber State University in Ogden hosted by WAM Safety, a Utah advocacy group led by Wendy Jensen Nicholls. [1]
Smart, who was kidnapped in 2002 and held for nine months, compared the idea to 9-1-1 and said everyone should know the number. Nicholls told the panel that survivors and their families often don't know where to turn, and that a single number would simplify that. [1]
A Utah bill, HB411, would have asked the state attorney general and the Department of Health and Human Services to petition the Federal Communications Commission for a three-digit National Human Trafficking Hotline. It stalled in the 2026 session, and supporters plan to refile it in 2027. [1]
Sen. Heidi Balderree, R-Saratoga Springs, plans to sponsor the bill. She said trafficking victims may not have regular access to a phone, so a short number could help during a brief window to call. House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, expressed general support for the effort. [1]
Sources
This story was written by AI from the report by KSL.com News, which has the full story. How we write stories.