New York Anti-Trafficking Coalition

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Safe Harbor Act (September 2008)

In September 2008, Governor Patterson signed the Safe Harbor Act into law. The passage of the bill is the result of four years of advocacy by Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) and members of the NYS Anti-Trafficking Coalition. Led by Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director of GEMS, survivors lobbied in Albany to push legislators to revamp a system that criminalized sexually exploited girls, some as young as 12 years old. 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.

NYATC lobbied legislators across New York State, held public education forums, and, in an effort to raise awareness about trafficking of young girls, held street protests such as those below on this page. Once the bill was passed, NYATC’s efforts culminated in an action to send pens to the Governor’s office. The response among the Coalition’s members was extraordinary, and the Governor received over 1,000 pens!

We also sent letters:

Governor David A. Paterson
Executive Mansion
138 Eagle Street
Albany, NY 12207

Dear Governor,

I urge you to sign into law the SAFE Harbor for Exploited Children Act (A.5258; S.3175) which will stop the prosecution of sexually exploited children in our state and create a range of community-based programs to assist these children. Human trafficking is a serious crime in New York State and throughout the country. This legislation recognizes the urgent need to extend critical protection to some of its youngest victims.

Each year, thousands of children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation throughout New York State. According to a report by WESTAT for the New York State Office of Child and Family Services, 67% of victims in New York City are African-American, 74% of exploitation takes place in a hotel or outside, and 75% of it is by strangers. In Upstate New York, 52% of abuse occurred in the child’s home while 58% of abusers were adult friends or acquaintances. Finally, 17% of the sex acts were used in films, photos or pornography.

In our state, selling sex is a harsh reality for girls as young as twelve, yet our current legal system re-victimizes these children by treating them as criminals and denying them access to the services they desperately need. With this new law in place, the funds that New York State now spends to incarcerate sexually exploited children can be re-directed to cover the cost of providing the specialized services these young victims need in order to live free from abuse.

We believe the Safe Harbor Act will be a critical tool in helping New York State move from prosecuting to protecting children exploited in the commercial sex trade. This law will enable these children to rebuild their young lives. We ask you to signal your clear understanding of the failure of past policies and the promise of this new approach by signing this bill into law. We thank you for your leadership in protecting all victims of crime in our state.

Sincerely,

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P.S. To ensure that you have a pen at hand with which to sign, we enclose this nominal gift. Use it in good health on this and other worthy legislation.

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Mean Streets: NY Teens Caught in the Sex Trade (April 2008)

On April 28th, 2008, 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! (April 2008)

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 protest help spread the truth about prostitution and sex trafficking and how HBO is profiting and promoting the world’s oldest oppression. The event was held on April 24th in front of the HBO Corporate Offices. Thanks to CATW for organizing this protest.

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