Bill expands legal protections for child trafficking survivors

(The Center Square) – Child victims of human trafficking in Pennsylvania may soon see new Safe Harbor protection from criminal prosecution.

State senators introduced a bill earlier this month that would enhance existing laws to prevent survivors from funneling into the juvenile justice system.

More specifically, the legislation protects children from facing charges of prostitution and related crimes, reversing a longstanding status quo in which sexually exploited minors are held responsible for crimes during which they were victimized.

Ideally, advocates say, a shift in accountability would lead to increased identification of victims – a historically elusive task. People who have been trafficked are often hesitant to come forward because doing so would expose them to criminal charges.

What’s more, many children who have been trafficked aren’t aware they’re the victims of a crime.

“We need to change how the law treats children who have been sexually exploited and implement provisions that seek to reverse the long-term impact on victims of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking,” said Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie who co-sponsored the bill. “These children should be recognized as victims and provided with the necessary support services to help them recover from their exploitation.”

The bill also mandates courts to protect the identities of trafficked children. By keeping their names out of the public eye and steering their paths toward human services, lawmakers believe victims will benefit more during recovery.

“By no means limited to faraway foreign nations or remote private islands, sex trafficking rings are actively operating within our local communities, many times as close as next door,” said Sen. Cris Dush, R-Brookville, co-sponsor of the bill.

Most children who become trafficked begin their journeys in vulnerable spaces. They’re groomed, often over long periods of time, by predators in their local communities who find opportunities in difficult circumstances like homelessness, drug addiction and family estrangement.

The wording of the bill places strong emphasis on uniformity and coordination across law enforcement agencies. Legislators hope to ensure that officers and prosecutors are speaking the same language, both across localities and across fields.

This requires them to cross over to the victim-centered approach of organizations within the realm of health and human services. It prioritizes the needs and experiences of the victim in order to prevent future engagement with the criminal justice system, advocates say.

“Being aware of the statistics and horrors of human trafficking is useless without taking serious legislative action,” said Dush, who was moved to act following informational meetings around the topic earlier this year.