They want New York to pass a law that holds buyers of ‘sexual services’ accountable

A year after Rex Heuermann was arrested in New York, accused of murdering six sex workers between 1993 and 2010, the Coalition of New Yorkers for Model Equality is calling on authorities and the society in general to push the implementation of a measure that was stopped in the state legislature.

If the Sex Trafficking Survivors Justice and Equality Act (STSJEA) is passed, it would start punishing sex buyers. In addition, assistance would be extended to survivors of both violence, such as those that led to Heuermann’s arrest, as well as victims of human trafficking and their families.

In a virtual meeting held this week on World Day Against Human Trafficking, Democratic Senator for District 28, Liz Krueger, and sponsor of the STSJEA, pointed out that sex trafficking is “always a ‘ take advantage of the most vulnerable in our society. “society” and insisted that “violence and coercion” were the norm in that activity.

In that sense, Krueger points out that the STSJEA resolution he is sponsoring with Congresswoman Pamela Hunter, “is a proven way to help survivors and hold whistleblowers accountable,” which has already been proven in other countries. He argued that sex trafficking remains a hidden but devastating reality throughout New York State. And for the same reason it is urgent to “decriminalize and to help people involved in prostitution.”

Gabrielle Prieto, a counselor for the organization Sanctuary for Families, says that as a survivor of human trafficking and prostitution, Heuermann’s stories “blood to the bone” because she could have been “like one of their victims. “

Prieto recalled that Heuermann’s murder of women in the sex trade “is not an anomaly.” He cited a study in which up to 43% of victims of serial killers between 2000 and 2009 were “involved in prostitution.”

For the same reason, the approval of the STSJEA is urgently needed to change the cultural paradigm that sees “women who are disposable prostitutes and sex buyers as deserving of protection and privacy.” paid sex.

Meanwhile, Katrina Massey, director of PACT, an organization that has been dedicated to discovering and reporting the sexual exploitation of young people since 1991, points out that human trafficking and sexual exploitation of young people occurs across the country, “disproportionally affecting vulnerable communities who “They suffer. generational trauma and systemic inequality.” He specifically refers to LGBTQ+ children and children of color. He clarifies that any record of the exploitation of young people is preserved because there are few cases of the statement.

Trade, everyone’s problem

Also at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Pastor Enrique Salvo, the first Hispanic rector of the cathedral, received this week a panel of fighters against this scene. allows, according to the UN, criminal organizations to obtain profits of 3 billion. dollar a year, in Europe only.

“Let’s remember that St. Patrick suffered himself in human trafficking,” said Salvo, and recited a prayer in which he thanked for the opportunity to be a tool to help those most in need.
Karola de la Cuesta, who survived the Trevi-Andrade clan in Mexico and is now the director of the United Commission Against Trafficking, said how she was 8 years old when she was rape by the famous singer from Mexico who “had been part of my family,” and how he took her out of the house after a while, under the promise that “she would become a man art.” This is how the infamous producer, from the age of thirteen, abused Karola, first by making her work for free and over time escalated to sexual abuse.

She alleges that 24 years after her release, her abusers have not been prosecuted or prosecuted. That’s why she decided to become an activist to help others and try to make sure that some of the 40 charges brought in Mexico have some kind of result. She also said that the singer who started the abuse against her won $7 million dollars to make a docuseries in 2013 with this story that brought back some of them.

Father Darsi Don Bosco, director of Taltha Cumi Unnati in India, pointed out that the majority of trafficked women profess the Catholic faith. He showed how they use the acronym AMEN to guide their work: A for support, M for counselling, E for education and N for networking.

She explained that she has a network of 10,000 women who, after being victims, have now become a support to others whom they first help to leave environments of poverty, which leading to human trafficking, and then breaking the cycle of silence causing more abuse.

Jamie Manirakiza, Executive Director of the Partnership to End Human Trafficking (PEHT), explained that many of the victims they help started being trafficked at the age of 11 or older. She said the vulnerabilities that pushed anyone to become a victim of human trafficking were poverty, racial inequality, immigration status, isolation or experience of being abused. before this.

He pointed out that they have been present in cases where some migrants who are looking for better opportunities fall into the networks of traffickers who falsely promise them a better life, which ‘ take advantage of their need.
Mary Monahan, deputy director of the Human Trafficking Unit in the Kings County prosecutor’s office, said for her part, a trafficker can come from anywhere regardless of socioeconomic status or gender. ‘ there, but that one feature that distinguishes them is that they are all. predators hunt for the weaknesses of their victims who then arrest them for work or sex.

Finally, Rosi Orozco, who implemented and promoted the human trafficking law in Mexico when he was congressman (2009-2012), recalled the times he went to the border to see for himself how many a child entering the US without the support of an adult. He said that 7 people who are older disappear every day in Mexico, with many of them victims of human trafficking. He said it was a “nightmare” to know that children are in this situation and in countries like Mexico many governors do not have the political will to enforce the laws.