The post The Necessity of Safe Harbor Legislation and Its Implementation appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Since the law’s passing in 2008, 11 states have followed suit and passed similar Safe Harbor laws. While some states have passed some measures that fall in line with some of the Safe Harbor provisions, there are still a total of 38 states that have yet to pass true “Safe Harbor” laws. That means in 38 states children can be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted as criminals when they are being sold for sex. The government recognizes the fact that children do not have the mental capacity to consent to a sexual act, but at the same time is holding them responsible for a criminal act. On top of their lack of the ability to consent, these children are immersed in an environment of constant duress, suffering from physical and sexual abuse from their trafficker or pimp. When these children are committing these acts they are doing so in a very confused and damaged mental state created by their trafficker or pimp.
With increasing awareness of the sex trafficking of children it has been acknowledged that these children are not criminals but victims, but both the laws and enforcement of child sex trafficking have not yet been modernized thus these children are not always treated as the victims they are. It is imperative that Safe Harbor laws are passed and implemented in the 38 states that have not already done so.
Even though there are 12 states that have Safe Harbor laws, few of them have yet to properly enforce their laws. Minnesota, one of the states to pass such a law, has been the first to make substantial efforts to enforce the legislation. “Safe Harbor laws go into effect August 1, 2014 and will shift the paradigm for at risk and sexually exploited youth, viewing them as crime victims rather than criminals,” said Linda Riddle, the program manager of Safe Harbor at Life House, a grantee agency in Duluth [2]. Since the law’s passing, Minnesota has allocated 2.8 million dollars for the provisions of the Safe Harbor laws which include training for law enforcement when dealing with child trafficking victims as well as housing for rehabilitative services for child victims [1]. While this is a substantial amount of resources diverted to these necessary programs, the estimated amount of money required to fully implement the Safe Harbor laws is 13.5 million dollars [1]. “The 2.8 million the Legislature allocated last session is about 21% of what we need to fully fund Safe Harbor,” stated Vednita Carter, executive director of Breaking Free [2]. Even Minnesota which has been pushing Safe Harbor into implementation can be doing more to increase and improve its efforts.
While New York was the model for the law itself, Minnesota will be the model for the law’s enforcement. Hopefully other states will follow Minnesota’s example and realize how essential Safe Harbor laws are for our children.
Sources
[2] https://www.breakingfree.net/files/breakingfree/files/Safe%20Harbor%20Press%20Release.pdf
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]]>The post NY Legislators Block Anti-Trafficking Bill in Order to Advance Political Goals appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Yet the bill, which was proposed last year, failed to pass in 2013. This year’s legislative session ended with the bill still locked in a stalemate. Governor Andrew Cuomo had included the bill as a part of his ten-point proposal entitled the “Women’s Equality Act,” which contained a highly divisive abortion provision opposed by many in the State Senate. Instead of voting on the ten proposals as a group, the Senate voted on each individually, passing nine of them. The Assembly leadership, however, refused to allow separate votes on each of the bills, holding the TVPJA hostage in order to pass the Governor’s act as a whole. Under pressure from the Governor and with the urging of the New York Times [2], the Assembly refused to pass anything but the Women’s Equality Act in its entirety. Despite Assemblywoman Paulin’s objections, the TVPJA never even came to a vote in the Assembly.
The Assembly has kept a common-sense law from being implemented in order to use it as a political weapon. Governor Cuomo has already begun to attack what he describes as a “failure” [3] of the Senate, promising to use his influence to punish those who opposed his agenda. Cuomo and the Assembly leadership have chosen to sacrifice the dignity of the men, women, and children exploited by human trafficking in an attempt to gain power over political opposition. Human trafficking is not a partisan issue, and it is unacceptable for politicians to construct barriers between victims of human trafficking and the laws that would help them.
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/opinion/keep-the-womens-rights-bill-intact.html
[3] https://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/06/8547663/cuomo-what-senates-failure-will-mean
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]]>The post The Merseyside Model appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Criminalizing prostitution created barriers to reporting crime primarily because victims of prostitution felt that society and the authorities looked down on them. This view of prostituted persons as criminals also led to an increased risk of them “losing their livelihood, their home and their status within their wider community, as well as the risk of being alienated by family and friends and the risk of losing custody of their children.” (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2104) (Jacobs ImpoliteConversation 2014) Casting prostituted persons in a criminal light leads people to “judge them, look down on them, and by some they are deemed ‘unrapable.” (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2014)
In one interview, Kate, a victim of prostitution, stated that “I felt [the rapes] would be categorized as ‘alleged’ rapes, with question marks over my reliability and circumstances … and that feeling would be too hard to handle.” (Navarro 2014) She went on to say, “It’s like I have to take responsibility for everything: being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being raped, not fighting back, not trying harder to get away and now not letting it happen to anyone else.” (Navarro 2014)
With the implementation of the Merseyside Model, police not only categorized violent crimes against prostituted persons as hate crimes, but they also began to collaborate with programs “that offer services such as harm reduction, counseling and outreach”, which in turn made victims of prostitution “feel safe reporting crimes committed against them.” (Huffington Post)
How the Model Changed Reporting and Violence against Prostituted Persons
Categorizing violence against prostituted persons as a hate crime led to a 67% conviction rate for rape of sex workers in 2010 and an 84% conviction rate for crimes against prostituted persons in general. (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2014) This is compared to the United Kingdom’s national conviction rate of 6.5%. (Jacobs Huffington Post 2014) More prostituted persons felt safe, and were more willing to report incidences of rape and violence against them. (Jacobs Ms.Magazine 2014) By prioritizing protection of prostituted persons, over the enforcement of actions against prostitution, women have reported crimes against them at a much higher rate. (Summerford 2014)
Possible Drawbacks of the Merseyside Model
Although the Merseyside Model has significantly impacted the conviction rate for rape and violence against prostituted persons, and has led to increased reporting by victims to law enforcement, there are still some possible drawbacks to the approach overall.
To begin with, the Merseyside model does not offer any rehabilitative services for the victims of prostitution. The strict focus on conviction of people who are violent toward prostituted persons, although well-intentioned, does not provide for any supportive mechanism that women and men can turn to in trying to escape the prostitution industry. A rehabilitative mechanism is essential, because without such a measure, it both very likely and possible that victims will end up right back into the system.
Another major drawback of the Merseyside Model is that it does not provide a sufficient prevention method for preventing the violence against prostituted persons in the first place. Although the categorization of violence against prostituted persons as a hate crime may de-incentivize some prospective violent offenders from raping or assaulting victims, it does not provide any formal mechanism that could be put in place to stem the tide of violence occurring in the first place. The Merseyside Model is an ex post system designed only to correct past wrongs without really preventing future ones.
Also, in terms of prevention, the model does not prevent victims from being lured or forced into prostitution in the first place. This once again reflects the ex post nature of the system. It works to bring justice to prostituted persons in terms of punishing violent offenders after they have already been raped or assaulted, but it does not consider the preclusion of the man or woman from entering into the prostitution industry.
A final drawback of the Merseyside Model is that it does not criminalize the pimps and sex traffickers who lure, force, and keep men, women and children into the prostitution industry. It is true that if a victim reports that their trafficker raped or beat them, the trafficker will be subject to the hate crime laws at hand. However, if there is no report of violence toward a prostituted person, or there is no violence toward them in general, but instead just psychological and mental manipulation, the trafficker themselves will not be subject to punishment under hate crime laws.
What Could be Done to Improve the Model?
The aforementioned weaknesses of the Merseyside Model could be remedied by making the model more inclusive of prevention and rehabilitation considerations essential to the eradication of the sex trafficking industry in general.
Law enforcement could collaborate with programs to ensure that once a crime has been reported, the victim has established and reliable resources to which they can turn. In addition to helping victims escape their situation without financial fear or fear of retaliation, collaborating with prostituted persons help programs will assist in preventing victims from re-entering the system. These programs also provide a safe place where people can feel comfortable reporting the pimps and sex traffickers that lured and kept them in prostitution.
In considering how the model could be improved, it is important to note that the act of selling sexual services is legal in the United Kingdom, whereas, with the exception of Nevada, it is illegal in the United States. Thus, implementing the Merseyside model in the United States may be much more difficult due to the fact that when law enforcement gets in touch with prostituted persons, they may be more interested in arresting them for committing the crime of prostitution, than making sure that any violent offenders are brought to justice. Due to this difference, the model may need to be altered so that it fits with American law.
Conclusion
The Merseyside Model, although a step in the right direction, has room to improve. It does not provide sufficient mechanisms to prevent the violence, rehabilitate victims, or criminalize their traffickers. Overall, however, the model provides a successful and innovative approach to a growing problem. More academic research and peer reviewed examinations on the effects of the model could shed light on additional strengths and weaknesses as well as provide a guideline on the best ways to implement it. Once more information is collected, law enforcement and other institutions can begin to look at whether the model is an effective tactic that should be used in the efforts toward ending domestic sex trafficking.
Sources
Jacobs, Ruth. “The Merseyside Model–Why Crimes Against Prostitutes Are Hate Crimes.” .
https://msmagazine.com/durr/2013/03/13/cry-for-the-merseyside-model/ (accessed May 14, 2014).
Jacobs, Ruth. “Policing Prostitution – The Merseyside Hate Crime Model That Prioritises
Protection of Sex Workers.” The Huffington Post UK. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ruth-jacobs/prostitution-law-merseyside-model_b_4731381.html (accessed May 14, 2014).
Summerford, Jackie, Ruth Jacobs, and Alex Bryce. “Petitioning Rt Hon Mrs Theresa May MP:
Make the Merseyside hate crime model of policing prostitution law UK wide.” . https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/rt-hon-mrs-theresa-may-mp-make-the-merseyside-hate-crime-model-of-policing-prostitution-law-uk-wide (accessed May 14, 2014).
Jacobs, Ruth. “The Merseyside Model Saves Lives So why is it not being rolled out nationally?.” .
https://impoliteconversation.co.uk/merseyside_model?utm_content=bufferfc6f3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer (accessed May 14, 2014).
The Oxford Dictionary. “Definition of Model.” model: definition of model in Oxford dictionary
(American English) (US). https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/model?q=model (accessed May 14, 2014).
Navarro, Donna. “Looking at the Merseyside model.” Womens Views on News RSS.
https://www.womensviewsonnews.org/2013/05/looking-at-the-merseyside-model/
(accessed May 14, 2014).
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner. “Jane Kennedy pledges support for National Ugly
Mugs scheme.” Jane Kennedy pledges support for National Ugly Mugs scheme. https://www.merseysidepcc.info/News/News-Archive/2013/Jane-Kennedy-pledges-support-for-National-Ugly-Mugs-scheme.aspx (accessed May 14, 2014).
CliffsNotes. “Police Stategies.” . https://www.cliffsnotes.com/more-subjects/criminal-
justice/police-function/police-strategies (accessed May 14, 2014).
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Lauren Hersh, New York Director of Equality Now and head of its Sex Trafficking program, states, “Prostituted persons are not only dehumanized by the act of prostitution but by society treating prostituted persons like second class citizens.” The negative stigma places prostituted persons at a higher risk of violence by abusers who act with impunity. In hope of getting rid of the negative stigma, governments around the world have been legalizing prostitution.
Rachel Moran, a formerly prostituted person, stated (when talking about the possibility of registration as a prostituted person), “I understand exactly why many reject that and work illegally to avoid it, because if I had been forced to choose between working in secret or being officially tagged a prostitute I would have done exactly the same thing. The pro-prostitution lobby would say I was suffering from the ill-effects of ‘whore stigma.’ No. The only ill-effects I was suffering from were the ill-effects of prostitution.”
Many countries legalized prostitution in hopes of getting rid of the stigma. For example, in the past thirty years, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia legalized prostitution in hopes of getting rid of the negative stigma and underage prositution. Today trafficking still exists in both the legal and illegal sector. According to Prime Minister John Key, there are no significant reductions in sex trafficking and underage prostitution because of the legalization. The negative stigma still exists and is still used against prostituted women. (article)
Rachel Moran wrote about her stigma in a book titled “Paid For”, which focuses on her story of being a victim of sexual exploitation. At the age of fourteen, she was brought into state custody and within one year she became homeless. Due to the lack of resources, Moran had no option but to prostitute herself. During the seven years of being prostituted, she was repeatedly raped, physically harmed, exploited, and more. In her book, she recounts not only her experience but also expounds on the negative effects of the legalization of prostitution.
The Renewal Forum believes prostitution is the buying of a person’s organ and treats people as objects; it is inherently against the dignity of a person to pay a person not for the work of a person or a service provided but for their body parts. It contributes and adds to violence against women and we must see prostitution for what it is: the objectification of a person and violence against women.
“To be prostituted is humiliating enough; to legalize prostitution is to condone that humiliation, and to absolve those who inflict it. It is an agonizing insult”, stated Rachel Moran. Check out Rachel’s story and how she overcame being prostituted. (to see more)
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]]>The post Florida’s Safe Harbor law is good, but needs more provisions for services. appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Because of the lack of safe houses trafficked children needing a place to stay will be forced to live either in group homes, foster homes, or facilities for abused and abandoned children. Foster homes place other children at risk as trafficked children will continue to be targeted in these homes. Many pimps see this lack of housing as an opportunity for more profit. Since it is easier to get into these types of facilities sometimes pimps will hire assistants to get someone to go inside these facilities to exploit children. One example was at the Joshua House foster care facility where a woman went undercover to manipulate children. She had false documents which allowed her to get into the foster care program. Once admitted, she convinced three girls between the age of 13 and 14 years old to go to a McDonalds where they were kidnapped and drugged. The three girls were placed in a sex house where they were abused then thrown out on the streets. The woman was soon arrested when attempting to do the same act again.
There is a big difference between a safe house and a group home. A safe house is more secured and more intense when dealing with residents. There are no visitors allowed at any time. Natasha Nascimento from Department of Children and Families states “That’s because the girls are brainwashed and traumatized; they’re loyal to their pimps and want to go back”. Nascimento read from a 14 year old victim’s journal, where the girl had written about how it is okay to love the ones that abuse us. With the lack of housing and treatment, trafficking children have little chance of recovering.
Though the Safe Harbor Act increases charges from $500 to $45000, these increases are nothing compared to what pimps are making from trafficking. According to DePaul University, studies shown that the median for pimp earnings were $350,000.link Pimps are working fast to get children off the street without the fear of being charged. These children need a safe environment but they also need the right treatment. They also need to have a stable environment and not constantly having to move because of the lack of space .
A safe harbor law is a start by not letting children being prosecuted, but there is a lot of work to be done to keep these children off the streets. In order to be successful with this Act, there needs to be more safe houses and treatment facilities.
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]]>The post An Evaluation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2011 appeared first on Renewal Forum.
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]]>The post Why Sex Trafficking Should Not Have a Statute of Limitation appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Human Trafficking Statute of Limitations Report
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]]>The post Exploitation as Mitigating Factor in the Prosecution of Prostitution appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Explanation of Model Mitigation Statute and Example Provision
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]]>Renewal Forum Position on VAWA Reauthorization 2012
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