Special protections for survivors of sex trafficking

September 24, 2010 |
Valor

@colorlines.com

In August, New York Governor, David Paterson, signed a bill that allows survivors of sex trafficking the ability to clear their criminal records in order for them to have the opportunity to move on and obtain jobs, housing and even their immigration status without fear of repercussions.

Colorlines reports that:

The law is one step toward acknowledging trafficking survivors as victims of crime and not perpetrators. And it moves conscientiously toward the decriminalization of sex work in general.

The bill was sponsored by the Sex Workers Project, an advocacy group for individuals who are involved in sex work “regardless of whether they do so by choice, circumstance, or coercion.”  Their hope is that more states will look to pass similar bills in order to protect and help survivors of sex trafficking in similar ways. Also, in the long term, the hope is that this will begin to shift people’s current perceptions of, as well as the existing stigma around, sex workers in our society.
You can access the press release here and you can read more at Colorlines.
You can also find more information about human/sex trafficking at:
The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST)
Human Trafficking.org