The South Jersey Times published the following article on May 8, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Human trafficking act aims to help victims, spread awareness
By Alex Young/South Jersey Times
on May 08, 2013 at 4:00 PM, updated May 08, 2013 at 4:09 PMTRENTON — New legislation aimed at taking a tougher stance on human trafficking in the state was signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie Monday.
Championed by Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle (D- Bergen), the Human Trafficking Prevention, Protection and Treatment Act increases penalties and helps provide resources to prevent what has been called modern-day slavery.
“As public officials, we have a solemn responsibility to prevent and protect citizens from the dark world of human trafficking,” Christie said in a written release. “This comprehensive and bipartisan approach strengthens and expands the state’s ongoing efforts to aggressively combat this brutal practice.”
The law increases financial penalties and prison time for people involved in trafficking.
Christie also signed bills that designate January as “Human Trafficking Awareness Month” and Jan. 11, as “Human Trafficking Awareness Day.”
According to the Trafficking Victim Protection Act of 2000, human trafficking can be the recruitment or obtaining of a person for labor through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, debt bondage or slavery. Trafficking in the commercial sex industry uses the same tactics to force people into prostitution.
Any person working in the commercial sex industry under the age of 18 is automatically considered a victim of human trafficking.
More than 175 cases of human trafficking were reported in New Jersey between September 2005 and March 2012, according to the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, and fighting the problem has become even higher priority in the last year.
Just one day after the Human Trafficking Prevention, Protection and Treatment Act was introduced in the assembly on Oct. 11, 2012, the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office arrested 12 men in a prostitution bust at a house on Pearl Street, in Bridgeton. Two women found inside were believed to be victims of human trafficking.
At the time of the bust, Jennifer Webb-McRae, Cumberland County Prosecutor, said that trafficking is a problem that she thinks goes more or less unnoticed.
“It’s hard to think that it could be a problem,” she said last year. “But it’s a lot more prevalent than people realize.”
The new law also combats this this lack of awareness by creating a Human Trafficking Survivor’s Assistance Fund.
The fund will make sure that victims are provided with the proper treatment following their rescue, and will develop educational materials to ensure that human trafficking will no longer be a little-known problem.
“This bill is a big step forward toward protecting the most vulnerable members of our society,” Christie said. “And I am proud to sign it into law.”
Contact staff writer Alex Young at 856-451-1000 ext. 550 oralexyoung@southjerseymedia.com