Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., urges senators to bring human sex trafficking “out of the shadows” at a Judiciary Committee meeting on Tuesday. (Photo by Haley Hinkle/MNS)
WASHINGTON — Senators are looking for ways to support victims of human trafficking in the United States as they move toward a likely vote next week on legislation to curb abuses.
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard first from female senators who have worked to combat human trafficking, then from a panel of prevention professionals on Tuesday morning. All 20 female senators requested Tuesday’s hearing.
Judiciary committee members and other senators speaking at the hearing said that sex trafficking is prevalent across the United States, with the U.S. Department of Justice estimating that 300,000 children are at risk of prostitution. Human trafficking is the kidnapping, marketing, and sale of children and adults as prostitutes or slave laborers.
“There are some things that we know about this form of modern-day slavery. We know, for example, that the United States is a source, transit and destination for individuals that are being trafficked,” said Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Two bills aimed at human trafficking are expected to come out of the Judiciary Committee this week, Grassley said. One would enact “safe harbor” laws to protect victims of trafficking from prosecution, and another would help law enforcement officials catch and prosecute human sex trafficking offenders.
Anti-human trafficking professionals stressed the importance of enacting laws that protect young victims from being arrested for prostitution.
Author Holly Austin Smith, a sex trafficking survivor, said “safe harbor” laws would have helped her. “Perhaps law enforcement would have immediately recognized that I was a victim, not a criminal,” Smith said.
Approximately 12 states have already adopted these safe harbor laws.
Michael Ferjak, director of the human trafficking and enforcement prosecution Initiative for the Iowa Department of Justice, said police may feel they have to arrest victims to get them out of harm’s way.
“Sometimes the only option for law enforcement to remove the child as quickly as possible is arrest,” Ferjak said. Officials may employ that strategy with the knowledge that arresting a child does not necessarily mean she or he will be prosecuted.
Another concern is the use of websites to advertise and sell child sex. Advocate Malika Saada Saar, executive director of Human Rights Project for Girls, said she helped lead efforts to have sexual acts removed from sale on Craigslist.com, only to see those services then move to Backpage.com.
Saada Saar said men are not afraid of purchasing child sex through these websites and other means because the threat of legal consequences is not severe. “There is a culture of impunity.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the country must start uniformly prosecuting anyone who seeks to purchase child sex. “I’m going to be looking for a vehicle to do just that. I think this thing has gone on long enough, it needs to be stopped, ” Feinstein said.
Ferjak urged caution in shutting down sites like Backpage.com, as they are “one of the best tools” available to law enforcement. Last month, the U.S. House passed legislation that would make it easier to prosecute anyone who advertises child sex online.
Saada Saar said the U.S. has largely failed to address trafficking issues. “We owe it to… the girls still left behind to hold accountable those who have purchased them and raped them,” Saada Saar said.
