(Sacramento, CA) – A group of legislators team together with California’s largest anti-human trafficking non-profit organization, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), to protect survivors of human trafficking.
Yesterday, Assemblymembers Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), Nora Campos (D-San Jose), and Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego), introduced three separate bills as part of a comprehensive legislative package to address the complex issue of human trafficking. Citing the dual needs to address this issue on all fronts, including both sex and labor trafficking, this package takes a three-pronged approach to better identify and protect the victims of modern-day slavery.
Assembly Bill 1760 (Santiago, Liu) grants immunity to all children arrested for, charged with, or suspected of engaging in prostitution. The measure ensures that all children who are granted immunity are referred to the child welfare system to receive supportive services. Finally, to ensure that a collaborative approach is taken to address child trafficking, AB 1760 requires the development of a coordinated plan to deliver comprehensive care and protect all victims of human trafficking – both sex and labor.
“We need to eliminate the criminal stigma placed on trafficked children and ensure they are protected, not punished,” said California State Assembly Majority Whip, Miguel Santiago. “It is important that we collaborate and create strong partnerships – locally and statewide – to ensure that California combats human trafficking on all fronts, especially when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable.”
Assembly Bill 1761 (Weber) establishes a human trafficking victim affirmative defense for California, which currently has none. This protection ensures that trafficking victims charged with crimes their traffickers forced them to commit can make a case to have the charges dismissed. The defense also applies automatically for children charged with commercial sex crimes, and courts would have an independent duty to apply the defense upon finding that a person charged with such a crime was under 18 at the time of the offense.
“The majority of trafficking victims come from backgrounds where they have already been victimized. We have to stop criminalizing these victims and, instead, address the underlying causes of their exploitation,” said Assemblymember Weber. “Providing an affirmative defense for trafficking victims helps empower them to break free from their trafficker and pursue reintegration into society.”
Assembly Bill AB 1762 (Campos) would ensure that trafficking victims convicted of crimes their trafficker forced them to commit could have their criminal records cleared. This would ensure that survivors do not face long-term barriers to employment or housing, or feel like they face additional hurdles because of their own victimization.
“It is our responsibility to help pull trafficking victims from their terrible and abusive environments, as well as to help them have a clear path for recovery” said Assemblywoman Campos. “We have to dismantle the institutional barriers that these victims face if we want them to heal.”
Historically, criminalization of human trafficking has been the dominant legislative response in California. But according to a new report headed up by Northeastern criminologist Amy Farrell, it is most important for state human trafficking legislation to be “comprehensive across all categories rather than being extremely harsh in only one category. The research suggests that in the absence of strong state investment, safe harbor, and civil action provisions, a state’s human trafficking enforcement will be lacking.” [1] This legislative package attempts to reach these goals by placing emphasis on the innocence, protection, and comprehensive care for all victims of human trafficking.
“We applaud legislators Santiago, Liu, Weber, and Campos for championing these important pieces of legislation that address the complex issues facing survivors,” said Stephanie Richard, Policy & Legal Services Director of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST). “For too long, human trafficking survivors face not only the loss of freedom, choice, and movement to their trafficker, but also, as one survivor aptly put it, to the “invisible bars of criminal convictions.”
AB 1760 (Santiago), AB 1761 (Weber), and AB 1762 (Campos) are most likely to be referred to the Assembly Public Safety Committee for a hearing in March.
Assemblymember Miguel Santiago is the Majority Whip of the California State Assembly and sits on the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee. He represents the 53rd District composed of the cities of Los Angeles, Huntington Park, and Vernon.
Assemblymember Nora Campos represents the 27th Assembly District which includes roughly half of the City of San Jose in Santa Clara County – the tenth largest city in the nation, and third largest in California. Assemblymember Campos served as a San Jose City Councilwoman before she was elected to the Assembly in 2010.
Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber is the Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, the Assembly Select Committee on Higher Education in San Diego County, and the Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate. She represents the 79th Assembly District which includes the cities of Chula Vista, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, National City, and San Diego.
CONTACT: Jackie.Koenig@asm.ca.gov, (916) 319-2053 (Santiago), Edson.Perez@asm.ca.gov , (916) 319-2027 (Campos), Joe.Kocurek@asm.ca.gov, (916) 319-2079 (Weber)