Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act Passed by NYS Assembly
The Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act (A.506), written by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale), was passed by the NYS Assembly and is on its way to Governor Cuomo to be signed into law.
“I can’t begin to say how thrilled I am that the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act has finally passed,” Paulin said. “Human trafficking is a heinous crime in which pimps take advantage of some of the most vulnerable in our society. It’s a $32 billion industry and of the approximately 27 million people who are trafficked each year, the majority are girls and young women.
Paulin continued, “New York is a leading entry, transit and destination point for trafficking victims with young women being sexually exploited in all regions of the state, urban, suburban and rural It is about time that we are holding the traffickers and buyers accountable, clamping down on a practice that harms so many people, contributes to the death of many and strips away a person’s basic human dignity.”
In addition to making sex trafficking a Class B violent felony, A506 creates three aggravated patronizing offenses when the person being patronized is a minor. Previously, an individual convicted of patronizing a minor for the services of prostitution would receive a lesser penalty than one who rapes a minor of the same age. This distinction undercut “safe harbor laws” in place and common understanding that minors in prostitution are sexually exploited children. Imposing a lesser penalty for individuals who pay to abuse suggests that the exchange of money minimizes the magnitude of the offense. Also, the bill improves the school-zone prostitution law by making the offense of patronizing a person for prostitution within the vicinity of a school a Class E felony.
The passing of this bill in the Assembly also represents a victory for Paulin in that she was able to get it voted on as a stand-alone rather than keeping it as part of the Governor’s 10-point Women’s Agenda. The Assembly would not vote on the bill as a stand-alone in each of the last two years because it wanted to pass the 10-point agenda as a whole rather than vote on pieces of it.
“That my colleagues were willing to get over partisan politics and vote on this bill as a stand-alone is significant,” Paulin said. “In doing so, they did the right thing and decided that helping the victims of these crimes was far more important than waging a political battle.”
The New York State Senate passed the TVJPA earlier this year.
