With
Super Bowl Expected to Increase Problem, Lawmakers Takes Aim at
Exploitation
(TRENTON) – The General Assembly on
Thursday unanimously granted final legislative approval to bipartisan
legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Cleopatra
Tucker, Peter Barnes III, Angel Fuentes, Linda Stender and Shavonda Sumter to
crackdown on human trafficking. The measure now heads to the Governor’s
desk.
The legislation (A-3352), known as
the Human Trafficking Prevention, Protection and Treatment Act, builds upon more
than a year’s worth of research and consultations with experts and advocates to
tackle a growing crime that is estimated to claim up to 20 million victims
worldwide.
“Human trafficking is a horrific
crime that is vastly underreported, making it all that much harder to crack down
on,” said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). “Because the victims, often children and
vulnerable women, are too afraid and dependent on traffickers to break their
silence, human trafficking has remained largely in the shadows of society. Many
times they are exploited for years and coerced into prostitution, labor, and
drug activity. This bill will help raise awareness and toughen prosecutorial
tools, two key elements needed in the fight to end this modern day
slavery.”
The sponsors noted that although the
Division of Criminal Justice has reported 179 cases of sex and labor trafficking
in New Jersey in the past seven years, experts estimate that there are actually
thousands of incidents occurring each year in the state. On a national level,
the U.S. State Department estimates that 50,000 men, women and children are
trafficked into the United States annually, on top of the 100,000 victims who
are already in the country when they are enslaved. This reporting discrepancy is
often attributed to victims’ fear of coming forward.
Following passage of the bill, the
sponsors joined with advocates from the Polaris Project and the NJ Human
Trafficking Coalition to underscore the importance of the bill and the urgent
need for Gov. Christie to sign it into law. Among the many important avenues of
redress offered in the bill for victims are:
- Unjust convictions can be removed from a survivor’s criminal record so they will no longer be denied housing, higher education, or a promising career because of convictions that occurred as a result of being trafficked.
- A 15-year-old sex trafficking victim will be able to testify against her trafficker via closed circuit television, saving her from a re-traumatizing confrontation.
- A survivor of labor trafficking whose abuse left him with years of medical bills can sue his trafficker for their cost.
- The National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline will be posted where victims are most likely to see it, putting them one phone call away from hope and help.
“Human
trafficking is a vast and often highly secretive crime,” said Barnes
(D-Middlesex), who chairs the Judiciary Committee. “We must be more coordinated
and sophisticated to crack down on this illegal trade, especially with the Super
Bowl headed our way in 2014. Statistics from other bowl games have shown a
sharp increase in human trafficking leading up the event.”
The comprehensive legislation would
crack down on every aspect of trafficking by revising and expanding the state’s
current laws to create a new human trafficking commission, criminalize
additional activities related to human trafficking, upgrade certain penalties on
existing human trafficking or related crimes, increase protections afforded to
victims of human trafficking, and provide for increased training and public
awareness on human trafficking issues.
In drafting the legislation, Vainieri
Huttle spent the better part of last year gathering input by meeting with
experts and advocates, including the NJ Coalition against Human Trafficking, an
alliance comprised of diverse organizations, including the Junior League, the NJ
Catholic Conference, The League of Women Voters and the NJ State Association of
Jewish Federations.
“With
the importance President Obama has begun to place on this issue, the world is
starting to wake up to the realities of this crime,” said Tucker (D-Essex).
“It’s time for all of us to stand together and send a strong message to those
that prey on the weak and vulnerable that we’re not going to take it
anymore.”
Specifically, the bill would
establish a 15-member Commission on Human Trafficking, to be located in the
Department of Law and Public Safety, which would evaluate existing laws
concerning human trafficking and enforcement, as well as review existing victim
assistance programs, and promote a coordinated response by public and private
resources for victims of human trafficking.
“Human
trafficking is not just a crime that touches on developing nations or those
wishing to immigrate,” said Fuentes (D-Camden/Gloucester). “It is thriving in
the United States and many victims are vulnerable teenagers targeted by
predatory criminals looking to profit off their weaknesses. This bill will help
cut traffickers off at the knees and take away many of their resources.”
“I was
proud to sponsor the first law in 2005 that cracked down on human trafficking
because at the time there was little attention being paid to the issue,” said
Stender (D-Middlesex/Somerset/ Union). “Now I’m pleased that this multi-pronged
approach will increase penalties and fines and expand law enforcement training.
By turning up the heat on these perpetrators and targeting many of the havens
where human trafficking is able to fester, hopefully we can begin to put an end
to this horrific industry.”
Additionally, the bill would
establish a separate, non-lapsing, dedicated fund known as the “Human
Trafficking Survivor’s Assistance Fund,” which would be administered by the
Attorney General’s Office with recommendations from the commission, to provide
services to victims of human trafficking and promote awareness of the
crime.
To that
end, the bill takes aim at those that promote or enable human trafficking by
sharply increasing fines and penalties for activities associated with human
trafficking. All fines collected would be deposited in the “Human Trafficking
Survivor’s Assistance Fund,” including:
§
Any form of criminal human trafficking, such as
recruiting individuals or financing an operation, would be a crime of the first
degree with a fine of at least $25,000;
§
Anyone who knowingly owns, controls, manages, leases
or supervises a premises where human trafficking is carried on, and fails to
make a reasonable effort to eject the tenant or notify law enforcement
authorities would be charged with a crime of the first degree, carrying a term
of imprisonment of 10 to 20 years, a fine of at least $25,000, or both;
§
Anyone who promotes prostitution by transporting a
person into or within the state for that purpose or knowingly leases or permits
a place to be used for that purpose would be charged with a crime of the third
degree, punishable by imprisonment of three to five years; a fine of up to
$15,000; or both; and
§
A person would be strictly liable for a crime of the
first degree for holding, recruiting, luring, enticing, harboring, transporting,
providing, or obtaining, by any means, a child under 18 years of age to engage
in sexual activity, whether or not the actor mistakenly believed that the child
was 18 years of age or older, even if that mistaken belief was reasonable.
§
Anyone who advertises commercial sexual abuse of a
minor, such as escort services, would be charged with a crime of the first
degree, punishable by imprisonment of 10 to 20 years, a fine of at least $25,000
but not more than $200,000; or both.
“Human
trafficking is a crime against humanity,” said Sumter (D-Bergen/Passaic).
“Perpetrators profit off the exploitation of the weak and vulnerable. This is
not something that should be allowed to continue in 21st century
society. It’s time to pull the rug out from under these profiteers and stand up
for those who are being exploited.”
The bill
also provides an additional measure of redress for any person injured as a
result of human trafficking by allowing them to file a civil claim regardless of
whether or not a criminal prosecution of human trafficking occurred. The bill
would also create an expedited removal process for tenants engaged in human
trafficking.
“There
are two important messages contained in this bill. To victims: You’re not alone.
To perpetrators: We’re coming after you,” added Vainieri Huttle. “We’re taking a
spotlight and shining it on this issue so that it can’t operate in the shadows
anymore.”
Furthermore, the bill would establish
the Prostitution Offender Program, a "Johns School," to educate anyone who has
been convicted of engaging a prostitute about the health risks and legal
ramifications of their unlawful activity. Each defendant would be subject to a
penalty of $500, $200 of which would be deposited in the “Human Trafficking
Survivor’s Assistance Fund” with another $200 being used to fund the program and
$100 going to the arresting municipality to provide incentives for investigation
and enforcement. The program is modeled after similar “john school” programs
that have been implemented in Buffalo, New York; Brooklyn, New York; Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania; and West Palm Beach, Florida.
The bill
would also mandate law enforcement training on responding to the needs of
victims of human trafficking.
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