ALBANY – Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski said New York needs to do more to support victims of human trafficking, prevent exploitation of women and minors and bring those responsible for human trafficking to justice.
The Assembly Republican Task Force on Human Trafficking released its report this week. Co-chaired by Assemblyman Brian Maher and Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, the Task Force met with stakeholders across the state including survivors, social workers, members of law enforcement, border patrol agents and prosecutors.
“The main takeaway is that we need to do more to support survivors of human trafficking so they can recover from the horrible abuse they suffer. Devoting resources to victims’ services is the right thing to do. It’s also responsible fiscal policy because we know that when we devote resources to early victim services, it saves money in the long run. We also need to reverse soft-on-crime policies like bail reform, raise the age and the green light law that make it easier for traffickers to ply their trade and avoid justice,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.
The Task Force found that victims of human trafficking are overwhelmingly women and that 75 percent of the cases involve sex trafficking. Many of the victims are under the age of 17. New York’s migrant crisis also created a new population of both vulnerable individuals and a criminal element who exploit the vulnerable for sex and labor trafficking.
“No one should ever be trafficked and treated like property. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect as a human being. I want to thank Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay for forming the Task Force and for Assemblyman Maher and Assemblywoman Walsh for co-chairing it. Our job now is to create policy to implement the Task Force’s recommendations,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.
