New York Anti-Trafficking Coalition

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. The New York Anti-Trafficking Coalition helped drive the passage of two momentous laws in New York State: The New York Anti-Trafficking Law and the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act.

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NOW-NYC’s Trafficking Action Network Meeting

Come get involved in current efforts to combat human trafficking. Our next meeting is set for Tuesday, July 20th at 6:30 pm at the NOW-NYC office, 150 West 28th Street, Suite 304. (Note: the Network usually meets the second Tuesday of every month) Please email Chanelle Pearson at chanellepearson@gmail.com to RSVP or to find out more information.

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Coalition Member Protests Craigslist at San Francisco Headquarters

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women- in partnership with Prostitution Research and Education and other co-sponsors- held a protest in front of Craigslist Headquarters in San Francisco on July 8, 2010.

Craigslist’s growing revenues are largely due to profits made through its facilitation of sex trafficking. CATW, along with members of over 75 human rights organizations, is calling upon Craigslist to help create a sex trafficking free internet by refusing to host the brazen prostitution ads that have become an industry standard. By hosting such ads, Craigslist becomes complicit in the exploitation and suffering of thousands. Learn more here.

Craigslist Protest Announcement

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U.S. Department of State Releases Annual Trafficking in Persons Report

The Department of State released its annual report on human trafficking on June 14, 2010- for the first time ever including a ranking of the United States and evaluating national efforts to combat and prosecute human trafficking, and protect those who have fallen victim.

116 countries have enacted legislation to prohibit all forms of trafficking. Despite this, an estimated 12.3 million adults and children are in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world. Last year, according to the International Labour Organization, “the world imported and exported billions of dollars in products tainted by forced labor in manufacturing and raw materials procurement.”

You can read the State Department’s full report here.

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Charges in Sex-Trafficking Case Lead to Creation of Special Unit

Following a wide ranging investigation and the indictment of eight on sex trafficking charges, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes ordered the creation of a new Sex Trafficking Unit to investigate the sexual exploitation of women and girls. The unit will allow for a more comprehensive approach to the investigation of sex trafficking, and will also go into schools and community centers to “raise awareness of sex trafficking and its potential signs.”

The investigation uncovered four forced prostitution rings, three run by Bloods gang members. Girls as young as 15 were recruited from junior high schools, and routinely beaten and deprived of food if they did not achieve their daily quotas. The operation, run out of hotels, motels, apartments, and the streets, was uncovered following a domestic violence complaint from a woman claiming to be a prostitute. The teenage girls involved in the operation are now in foster care or reunited with family members.

You can learn more about this story here in the NY Times or here in the NY Daily News. Read the DA’s Press Release here.

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Former Football Star Involved in Forced Prostitution Case

Former NY Giants Linebacker Lawrence Taylor was charged with rape in a case that has garnered national media attention, but for the advocates who have been fighting the commercial sexual exploitation of young girls, this story is nothing new. The runaway girl at the center of the case, barely sixteen years old, was forced into prostitution by 36-year old Rasheed Davis, who was formally charged with sex trafficking in Manhattan federal court on May 7, 2010.

To learn more about this story click here.

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Queens Man is First Convicted Under New York State Sex Trafficking Statute

The Queens District Attorney Richard A Brown announced on December 2nd that St. Alban’s resident David Brown has been convicted of second-degree kidnapping, sex trafficking, third degree promoting prostitution, first degree unlawful imprisonment, and third degree assault. He is the first person to be convicted under New York State’s Anti-Trafficking Law, which was enacted in 2007. According to trial testimony, in August of 2008, Mr. Brown was “sold” a 19-year-old for $2,000, who he then forced to work as a prostitute. She was imprisoned in his apartment, assaulted, raped, and under constant threat of death. Attorney Brown said that “this is exactly the kind of case that the legislature had in mind when it enacts New York’s Sex Trafficking Statute,” and that “this office continues to use every tool allowed under the law to prosecute dangerous individuals like this defendant.” The investigation was conducted by the New York City Police Dept.’s Queen Gang Squad. Read the District Attorney’s press release here.

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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, which established penalties for traffickers and provided services for victims, and the Safe Harbor Act, which provides services for youth trafficking victims. Getting those laws on the books was the first step, but the state needs to put real money behind the new measures. Get in touch with your state senator and assembly member and ask them to adequately fund these acts in next year’s budget. Ensure that our leaders keep their promise to fight human trafficking.