Human Trafficking

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

As a member of the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition, the Labor-Religion Coalition celebrates passage of one of the strongest laws against human trafficking in the country. Governor Eliot Spitzer signed the bill into law on June 6. All six elements identified as essential by the Anti-Trafficking Coalition are included!

Click here for the Governor's News Release

BACKGROUND

In "Stop the Trafficking," (April 30, 2007) the Editorial Board of the Albany Times Union said, "If the legislature wants to repair its image as the most dysfunctional in the nation, it can start by passing these bills. Stop the abuse, and stop it now." FULL TEXT

The NYS Anti-Trafficking Coalition has identified six essential elements of an effective anti-trafficking law:

Meaningful penalties: Trafficking should be classified as a C-violent felony or higher. Some bills have proposed that the basic crime of human trafficking, absent extreme aggravating factors, be classified as a D-nonviolent felony, a low-level felony for which almost no defendant ever serves jail time. This is simply inadequate to reflect the serious harm inflicted by human traffickers, or to deter potential offenders in the face of this industry’s huge potential profits.

A comprehensive definition. Traffickers use forms of coercion that may not look like the knife-at-the-throat situation typical in a street corner robbery and may not meet the legal definition of an imminent threat of force. Traffickers use fraud, intimidation, immigration abuse, and a wide range of other techniques to control their victims. The crime of trafficking must be defined broadly enough to meet the experiences of real trafficking victims.

Address demand. Sex trafficking flourishes because there is a huge demand for commercial sex. An effective anti-trafficking law must raise penalties on those who patronize illegal commercial sex (prostitution, and especially underage prostitution). It would be utterly ineffective to raise penalties only on those who knowingly patronize trafficking victims, as this requirement would be impossible to prove.

Clarify the law on sex tourism. New York law must make it clear that, whatever the status of prostitution in other jurisdictions, sex tour businesses are prohibited from operating here.

A defense for victims. Victims of sex trafficking should not be subjected to arrest and prosecution for prostitution. A person’s status as a trafficking victim should be a defense to prostitution charges.

Services. Survivors of human trafficking need a comprehensive set of immigration and social services to assist them in rehabilitating their lives.

We consider these elements too essential to be compromised.

On February 26, 2007, the New York State Senate passed S.78-A, sponsored by New York State Senator Frank Padavan. This legislation fails to meet the above criteria. While strong on definition and penalties, S. 78-A does not address services for victims, private right of action and defense for victims. Furthermore, S.78-A makes demand and sex tourism very difficult to prove as it states that the "john" has to have known that the person was a victim of human trafficking.

In the New York State Assembly, bill number A.2771, sponsored by Jeffrey Dinowitz, was referred to the Codes Committee on January 19, 2007. It includes services for victims, defense for victims and a private right of action. This bill addresses demand and sex tourism. Assemblymember Joseph Lentol is Chair of the Committee on Codes. He can be contacted at the Legislative Office Building, Room 632, Albany, NY 12248 or 518/ 455-4477.

We invite you to call your legislators and urge them to pass an anti-trafficking bill this session which would provide penalties for perpetrators and services for victims. Thanks to the New York Coalition of Religious Congregations--Stop Trafficking of Persons (NYCRC-STOP) for leadership on this issue and for update information.

Click here for an opinion article by Marianne Comfort, CSJ, a member of NYCRC-STOP.