Last week, the state Assembly passed a package of bills designed to increase awareness of sex trafficking and child sex trafficking, impose tougher punishment for soliciting prostitutes, make it easier for victims to sue their traffickers. Representative Jerry O’Connor, chair of the Speaker’s Task Force on Human Trafficking, says the goal of these bills and other related initiatives is to set the captives of sex trafficking free and help them begin rebuilding their lives.
Sex trafficking is here; it’s real, and it’s destroying lives. Experts say sixty to seventy percent of sex trafficking begins in junior and senior high schools, which is when youth are the most vulnerable. They then become dependent on their trafficker for every need. This is a clarion call for parents to watch their kids for signs of being sucked into this dark world via the Internet.
