HONOLULU — Hawaii is the last state in the nation without a comprehensive sex trafficking ban, and lawmakers are trying to shed that distinction. ADVERTISING HONOLULU — Hawaii is the last state in the nation without a comprehensive sex trafficking
HONOLULU — Hawaii is the last state in the nation without a comprehensive sex trafficking ban, and lawmakers are trying to shed that distinction.
A conference committee of representatives and senators is working on the final version of a bill to ban sex trafficking, but the proposal previously met with resistance from law enforcement.
A new version was presented in a hearing Tuesday, and the panel postponed making a decision until Thursday.
The bill aims to strengthen penalties for coercing victims into performing sex for money by listing sex trafficking as a Class A felony and stating that those convicted of the crime would face fines up to $50,000.
Under current Hawaii law, promoting prostitution is illegal, but those who are forced into prostitution are often initially treated as criminals.
The proposal has divided Hawaii’s law enforcement community because it could change the way officers go after pimps. Prostitutes are often coerced to testify against a pimp after an offer is made to drop charges.
Advocates want to create a victim-centered statute so people who are forced into prostitution would be treated as victims instead of criminals. But they said Tuesday that the bill as it’s currently drafted doesn’t accomplish that goal, because it makes the crime of sex trafficking hard to prove.
Under the most recent draft of the bill, anyone under 18 years old is considered a sex trafficking victim if he or she was caused to engage in performing sexual services. But to prove that an adult was a sex trafficking victim is more difficult, because to qualify there would have to be acts of extortion, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault or other incidents, according to a bill draft obtained by The Associated Press. The bill also gives law enforcement the option of prosecuting sex workers under the promoting prostitution statute instead of a victim-centered sex trafficking statute.
“The whole point of this is to create a paradigm shift, to force the police department and prosecutors to treat all victims of sex trafficking, regardless of if they’re children or adults, as victims,” said Kathryn Xian, executive director of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, who has been pushing for the legislation for 10 years. “What this bill does is that it says if you’re an adult, we still have the option to treat you like a criminal.”
Rep. Karl Rhoads, chairman on the House side of the committee negotiating the bill, said the proposal is in flux, and he’s hoping to have a new draft to pass by the Thursday legislative deadline. The version passed by Rhoads’ committee earlier this session is more in line with what advocates envisioned.
“Philosophically we’re not that far apart, but trying to work out the details is always a challenge,” Rhoads said.
