Mission Statement
The New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition is a group of organizations that have joined forces to increase public awareness of human trafficking in our communities, enact anti-trafficking laws, improve law enforcement response and increase social services to help women and girls escape trafficking. New York is a leading entry, transit and destination point for trafficking victims. Last year, the New York Anti-Trafficking Coalition drove the passage of the first Anti-Human Trafficking Law in New York.
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U.S. Department of Justice Releases New Trafficking Statistics
According to the stats released in January of this year, over 1,200 alleged incidents of human trafficking were reported in the U.S. over the 21-month period from January 2007-September 2008. The recent stats released by the U.S. Department of Justice paint a bleak picture for young women and girls:
• 83% of all alleged reported trafficking incidents involved sex trafficking, and one third, or 32%, of the total involved the sex trafficking of children. 71% of sex trafficking victims were under age 25.
• Over 90% of the victims, overall, were female. Hispanics are particularly hard hit: Hispanic victims constituted 37% of all sex trafficking victims and 56% of labor trafficking victims.
• It’s also clear that sex trafficking is a local problem. The stats show that U.S. citizens accounted for 63%, or a clear majority, of sex trafficking victims.
The full press release can be found here.
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Governor Paterson Signs Safe Harbor Act Into Law!
The Safe Harbor Act will create specialized services to help children involved in prostitution, instead of punishing these children for being victims of sexual exploitation. The bill requires the state to create a range of services so that these children can reclaim their young lives.
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Mean Streets: NY Teens Caught in the Sex Trade
On April 28th, over 150 people joined us at the LGBT Center for a documentary screening and community forum on changing laws, policies and attitudes about teen sexual exploitation. Advertised in places like Craigslist, sex with children is a thriving part of the NYC sex trade. Every year, kids as young as 12 are sexually exploited by pimps and johns, and they face a system ill-equipped to provide the services needed to help them reclaim their young lives. This disproportionately affects African-American girls, as well as gay and transgender youth.
The documentary, “Teen Prostitution; Sex Workers or Victims?” was produced by National Geographic and is part of the Oxygen network’s “Who Cares About Girls” documentary series. Speakers on the panel included Patti Binder, Deputy Director of Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS), Lori B. Iskowitz, Senior Trial Counsel, Asistant Deputy Borough Chief in the Family Court Division of the NYC Law Department, Jo Rees, Deputy Executive Director of Friends of Island Academy, and Lise Zumwalt, Producer of the film. The discussion was by moderated by NOW-NYC President, Sonia Ossorio. This event was sponsored by NOW-NYC.
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Hey HBO: Pimping Women Has Got to Go!
Thanks to all the coalition members who joined CATW, NOW-NYC, ECPACT, and others to make this protest a success! HBO has been normalizing the demand for prostitution which fuels human trafficking. The most recent example is “Cathouse” which distorts the reality of sex industry by transforming pimps into businessmen, and presenting the buying and selling of women as harmless and normal. Our protests help spread the truth about prostitution and sex trafficking and how HBO is profiting and promoting the world’s oldest oppression. Multiple protests have been held-one in April and another on September 23rd-in front of the HBO Corporate Offices. Thanks to CATW for organizing.
NY’s Anti-Trafficking Law Gets its First Conviction
A Queens’ pimp is the first person to be convicted under New York’s new Anti-Trafficking Law passed by former Governor Elliot Spitzer in November 2007. Pimps and traffickers now face up to 25 years in prison, a substantial increase from the previous sentence of 2 ½ to 7 years. The law also provides further social services for victims of sex trafficking. The first convicted pimp is accused of kidnapping and forcing a 16-year-old girl to have sex with nearly 200 men. Click here to read the full story
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Real Funding Needed for Anti-Human Trafficking Measure
The New York Anti-Trafficking Coalition helped pass the first-ever New York State Anti-Human Trafficking Law last June, which established penalties for traffickers and provided services for victims. Getting the law on the books was the first step, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services has launched training workshops for law enforcement, but the state needs to put real dollars behind the new law for improved services, investigations and statewide training for police, judges, DAs and social service agencies. Get in touch with your state senator and assemblymember and ask them to adequately fund the new law in next year’s budget. Ensure that our leaders keep their promise to fight human trafficking.
Human Trafficking in the News
In Prostitution Raids, Let’s Remember Men Break the Law, Too (NY Daily News, July 26, 2008)
New York pimp accused of enslaving girls (Boston Globe, July 14, 2008)
Woman in Family-Run Prostitution Ring Pleads Guilty (New York Times, July 23, 2008)
Protecting Pimps and Traffickers (Huffington Post, July 15, 2008)
N.Y. Struggles to Aid Child Prostitutes (Washington Post, July 13, 2008)
The Justice Department, Blind to Slavery (New York Times, July 11, 2008)
Helping Girls as Victims, Not Culprits (New York Times, July 8, 2008)
Pimp first to face Spitzer’s law (Daily News, June 18th, 2008)
A Task for Senator Obama (New York Times, June 16th, 2008)
When sex is a business, you can’t forget about demand (Huffington Post, March 25, 2008)
State must protect sex-trade victims (Albany Times Union, March 24th, 2008)
A Right to Not be Prostituted (Women’s E-News, March 19, 2008 )
The Myth of the Victimless Crime (New York Times, March 12, 2008)
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According to the stats released in January of this year, over 1,200 alleged incidents of human trafficking were reported in the U.S. over the 21-month period from January 2007-September 2008. The recent stats released by the U.S. Department of Justice paint a bleak picture for young women and girls:
• 83% of all alleged reported trafficking incidents involved sex trafficking, and one third, or 32%, of the total involved the sex trafficking of children. 71% of sex trafficking victims were under age 25.
• Over 90% of the victims, overall, were female. Hispanics are particularly hard hit: Hispanic victims constituted 37% of all sex trafficking victims and 56% of labor trafficking victims.
• It’s also clear that sex trafficking is a local problem. The stats show that U.S. citizens accounted for 63%, or a clear majority, of sex trafficking victims.
The full press release can be found here.
U.S. Department of Justice Releases New Trafficking Statistics
According to the stats released in January of this year, over 1,200 alleged incidents of human trafficking were reported in the U.S. over the 21-month period from January 2007-September 2008. The recent stats released by the U.S. Department of Justice paint a bleak picture for young women and girls:
• 83% of all alleged reported trafficking incidents involved sex trafficking, and one third, or 32%, of the total involved the sex trafficking of children. 71% of sex trafficking victims were under age 25.
• Over 90% of the victims, overall, were female. Hispanics are particularly hard hit: Hispanic victims constituted 37% of all sex trafficking victims and 56% of labor trafficking victims.
• It’s also clear that sex trafficking is a local problem. The stats show that U.S. citizens accounted for 63%, or a clear majority, of sex trafficking victims.
The full press release can be found here.
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Governor Paterson Signs Safe Harbor Act Into Law!
The Safe Harbor Act will create specialized services to help children involved in prostitution, instead of punishing these children for being victims of sexual exploitation. The bill requires the state to create a range of services so that these children can reclaim their young lives.