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Legislative Update Series: State Non-criminalization Laws

Shared Hope has been a leader on policy research in the field of child and youth sex trafficking for over 20 years, working to ensure federal, state, and local policies are rooted in and supported by research and promising practices. Shared Hope’s Policy Team provides technical assistance and advocacy support to Congressional and state legislators seeking research-based, survivor-centered, and field-informed policy solutions to address child and youth sex trafficking. As Congress heads into Summer Recess and 27 of the 46 states in session in 2022 have adjourned for the calendar year, Shared Hope is doing a legislative update blog series on state and federal laws that have been introduced and enacted with the potential to impact survivors of child and youth sex trafficking. [Read more…]

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Fact Sheet: Protecting Trafficking Survivors from Unjust Criminalization

Updated 2/21/2025

It is commonly known that unjust criminalization can be retraumatizing and creates an uneasy relationship between the survivor and the legal justice system. However, many state and federal laws continue to charge victims of human trafficking with the crimes they committed under coercive force by their traffickers. These crimes are frequently prostitution offenses but may also include misdemeanors and felonies ranging from theft to more serious violations.  The victim often commits these crimes to appease their trafficker or survive their situation. These “victim–offenders,” or survivors who find themselves in the intersection of victimization and criminal offender, are retraumatized by their detention and prosecution.  They are also left with a criminal record that hinders their enrollment in higher education, limits their ability to purchase a home, and restricts their access to work opportunities.  The inability to develop their lives may leave survivors feeling stuck, financially restricted, and with no way to excel except by returning to their trafficker. Although some states have taken action to address this by allowing trafficking victims to vacate unjust convictions, Congress has yet to take similar action on this issue.

To address this issue and provide enduring support for trafficking victims, Shared Hope International supports introducing the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TSRA). The TSRA seeks to amend Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code. The amendment permits vacatur, or complete removal from an individual’s record, for non-violent criminal offenses when the offense was directly related to having been a victim of trafficking. See C(I). TSRA also provides victims with confidentiality by filing any document relating to the motion to vacate under seal and withholding any identifying information from public inspection.

Finally, the TSRA further amends Title 18 by adding a human trafficking defense. This defense establishes a rebuttable presumption that the offense was induced by duress, force, or coercion, wherever any defendant establishes by clear and convincing evidence, that they were a victim of trafficking at the time of the committed offense.

The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act accomplishes these goals by:  

  • Amending Title 18 to allow a rebuttable presumption that certain offenses committed by victims of human trafficking were induced by coercion.
  • Amending Title 18 to permit a motion to vacate or expunge criminal offenses based on the mitigating factor that the alleged conduct that resulted in the arrest was directly related to the movant having been a victim of trafficking.
  • Sealing any identifying record or part of the proceeding related to such motion from the public record.

Current Sponsors:

House: Russell Fry, Ted Lieu, Ann Wagner, Robert Garcia, Hank Johnson, Debbie Dingell, Ami Bera, Andy Biggs, Greg Landsman, Michael Lawler, Emilia Strong Sykes, Byron Donalds

Learn More & Cosponsor:

Additional Sources:

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Wisconsin Senate Bill 245 Testimony

Shared Hope International has been working in Wisconsin, across the country, and internationally for over 20 years to guide and support appropriate responses to protect survivors, hold offenders to account, and ultimately prevent the crime entirely. 11 years ago we launched the Protected Innocence Challenge project (i.e. State Report Cards) to assess the status of state’s laws and to drive legislative progress. Since 2011, we have called on states to recognize any minor engaged in commercial sex as a victim of a sex trafficking, not a “prostitute” or “delinquent youth.” We know that survivors of child sex trafficking have the best outcomes when they are met with protection, trauma-informed services, and a response that is appropriate for the horrific experiences they have endured—such a response cannot be rooted in juvenile justice practices and systems.

Amending the prostitution statute to be inapplicable to minors recognizes that children never engage in commercial sex by choice; rather, a child does so out of coercion, force, fraud, fear, or survival. This is not consensual sex; money does not sanitize rape and treating the child as consensual actor not only misplaces criminality, it directly re-victimizes the child. Oftentimes, children entangled in a life that includes commercial sex carry years of trauma, generational vulnerabilities, and abuse on their backs. Other times, such children have trusted the wrong adult, been fed a false promise, or have fallen for an exploiter who later sold the child to someone all too willing to pay for the chance to rape him or her. Children with unsafe or unstable home environments may find the streets safer and, resultantly, sell their bodies in exchange for something to eat or someplace to sleep. These are not choices; children living in such circumstances deserve, at a minimum, specialized services and long-term care, not the traumatizing impact of an arrest, detention and prosecution, or juvenile records that carrying devastating collateral consequences far beyond childhood years.

In 2014, four years after releasing the first State Report Cards, we graded Wisconsin a “B” state for having a set of strong, comprehensive laws that address child sex trafficking; for the last 8 years, Wisconsin has consistently scored higher than the national average in developing robust policies and practices related to child sex trafficking. However, despite holding a position of leadership, the state has lagged seriously behind a majority of the country in designing and prioritizing protective responses for survivors. 31 states and D.C. have made clear that children engaged in commercial sex are victims of sex trafficking, no prostitution offenders. While Wisconsin state law clearly defines children who are bought and sold for sex as victims of sex trafficking, those same minors can be and are arrested and prosecuted for prostitution. SB 245 is not only critical for remedying this legal paradox; this legislation embraces a nationally-regarded promising practice for protecting children and preventing harm.

Concerns have previously been raised that, without the ability to arrest child sex trafficking victims, law enforcement are limited in their ability to keep vulnerable youth safe. We wholeheartedly share the desire to ensure survivor safety; however, arrest is not the only and certainly not the appropriate mechanism for doing so. Alternatively, many states that have enacted and successfully implemented Safe Harbor responses have abandoned the use of arrest and adopted more child-friendly and appropriate tools for taking children into custody, including the use of temporary protective custody provisions. Fortunately, Wisconsin has already developed this mechanism under Wis. Stat. § 48.19(d).

SB 245 not only aligns with promising and child-centered responses to sex trafficking but amplifies survivors’ calls for justice. Our decades of research and collaborative work with trafficking survivors has illuminated the harms of punitive responses to victims; survivors continue to reiterate the additional trauma and harm that is caused during arrest, detention, and prosecution, even if such responses are well-intended and designed break the cycle of exploitation, including

Wisconsin’s current diversion response to child sex trafficking victims. Conversely, responses outside of punitive systems are proven to be more effective, cost-efficient, and impactful in addressing survivors comprehensive needs and goals, and preventing the predictable cycle of vulnerabilities, exploitation, criminalization, and increased vulnerabilities to reexploitation.

We commend the Sponsor’s leadership on this issue and are grateful for the Committee’s interest in supporting an alternative, more survivor-centered and justice-oriented response.

 

If you live in Wisconsin, urge your legislators to support Senate Bill 245 and end the criminalization of children with prostitution.

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Advanced Legislative Framework: Issue Areas #2 & #3 – Expanding Victim Protections and Care

Advanced Legislative Framework: Issue Area #2 (Identification and Response to Victims) and Issue Area #3 (Continuum of Care)

This fall, we will release state Report Cards based on our Advanced Legislative Framework, pushing states towards a victim-centered response to child and youth sex trafficking.

The framework is based on six issue areas that review state’s policies in addressing this injustice. Last month, we reviewed issue area one—Criminal Provisions.

This month, we want to highlight two issue areas aimed at supporting victims of child sex trafficking and ending the cycle of exploitation—Identification of and Response to Victims and Continuum of Care.

Issue area #2 focuses on the importance of proper identification and response to victims of child and youth sex trafficking. All too often, child sex trafficking victims are misidentified as offenders and are directed into systems where their exploitation and trauma is overlooked. It is vital that all commercially sexually exploited children and youth are recognized as victims of trafficking and receive a protective, not punitive response from child serving systems and law enforcement so they receive appropriate care. This is true even if a third party controller wasn’t involved.

What is a third party controller? A third party controller is someone who is managing the exchange of sex with the child and the buyer, otherwise known as the trafficker. In some cases of sex trafficking, there isn’t a third party controller, but a buyer directly exploiting a child who is in need of money, a safe place to stay, or is exploiting other vulnerabilities of the victim. That buyer scenario is still considered child sex trafficking.

Not only are victims misidentified, but many are treated as perpetrators of crimes. Victims of child sex trafficking may commit offenses in response to their own status as a victim, which should be acknowledged when they interact with law enforcement and welfare agencies. This includes ending the criminalization of children and youth for prostitution. Under federal law, any child involved with commercial sex is a victim of sex trafficking, but some states still penalize minors for this crime. When their status as a victim is ignored, they are further traumatized by the punishments they receive, prolonging their healing process and denying access to vital services and legal defenses.

To further help prevent or accurately identify sex trafficking, issue area #2 calls for increased trauma-informed screening of vulnerable children and youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. With increased screening, policies must also be put in place to ensure that these systems are able to respond with appropriate services.

With proper identification and movement away from punitive responses to victimization, we lean into our third issue area.

Issue area #3, Continuum of Care, addresses the need of more services for victims of child and youth sex trafficking and vulnerable populations.

It is essential that the specialized services victims receive are through non-punitive means to avoid further traumatization or re-exploitation. This can be achieved through a coordinated effort amongst law enforcement, service providers, and other advocates by establishing state-wide multi-disciplinary teams working together to create a victim-centered response to child sex trafficking.

The continuation of care should also extend to youth between 18 and 24 years old. This age group is additionally vulnerable to sex trafficking because of the lack of services available to them as they transition out of child welfare programs and lose the support systems they previously had. Services should continue to support youth in this age range as they cross the bridge from adolescence to adulthood.

To reach these vital goals, it is imperative to appropriate state funding towards supporting agencies and services providing essential support to vulnerable children and victims. Funding continues to be one of the largest hurdles in providing support to victims, but by prioritizing child serving agencies, vulnerable children and victims will receive the care and protection they need.

With legislation in place that focuses on these issue areas, vital protections for child and youth victims of sex trafficking will be expanded, leading to a more trauma-informed response.

What do to next

  • Sign up to become a Grassroots Hero and receive monthly newsletters focused on policy initiatives, legislative wins, and urgent calls-to-action to help victims.
  • Contact your state and federal legislators about important bills or issues related to sex trafficking on our Advocacy Action Center.
  • Share this blog on social media so others can learn more about how Shared Hope is taking action against child and youth sex trafficking across the United States!
  • Sign up to receive the Report Cards for Child & Youth Sex Trafficking to be the first to know when your state’s grade is released!

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Shared Hope International Releases Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality Report, Promoting Just Responses to Victims in the Criminal Justice System

The collaboration with the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at Villanova Law follows a three-year study of the phenomenon of treating sex trafficking victims as criminals

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Shared Hope International, a non-profit leader in the fight to eradicate domestic minor sex trafficking, today announced the release of “Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders”. A collaboration of Shared Hope’s JuST Response Council and the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE Institute) at Villanova Law, the report will serve as a field guide for criminal justice stakeholders, supporting an overall shift toward a victim-centered approach that recognizes a survivor’s underlying victimization when facing sex trafficking charges.

Shared Hope unveiled the report during a presentation and panel discussion at its Institute for Justice & Advocacy, a Washington, D.C.-based education, research and training center, which opened today.

The report provides resources for anyone who interacts with a sex trafficking victim-offender within the criminal justice system, including law enforcement, judges, defense attorneys, probation officers and victim witness advocates. It seeks to mitigate the risk of injustice when the control exerted by sex traffickers and the influence of trauma on a victim’s decision-making and behavior are not considered.

“A sea change is still needed in how our world looks at, responds to and cares for sex trafficking victims,” said Linda Smith, Shared Hope’s founder and president, and a former U.S. Congresswoman. “This report is a long-overdue resource for understanding and addressing the circumstances that result in treating victims as criminals.”

The CSE Institute educates and provides technical assistance to those who respond to commercial sexual exploitation, promoting victim-centered, trauma-informed multidisciplinary collaboration.

“As a former prosecutor who now routinely educates prosecutors and engages in policy and legislative reforms, I consistently remind prosecutors that the most powerful tool they have is the one of discretion,” said Shea Rhodes, director and co-founder of the CSE Institute. “When making decisions about which cases to charge and bring to trial, it is critical that prosecutors investigate trafficking cases using victim-centered trauma-informed strategies to ensure that the outcomes are fair and just for all involved.”

For the last decade, Shared Hope has graded states on the strength of their child sex trafficking laws through its Protected Innocence Challenge. While the national average grade rose from an F to a B since the Challenge began, the grade for victim protection laws is barely a C at 71.2 percent.

“While we recognize the challenges that arise when trafficking victims are alleged to have engaged in trafficking conduct, approaches such as charging victims as co-conspirators, which effectively deny their underlying victimization and prevent access to comprehensive services, harm victims as well as the effort to bring their exploiters to justice,” said Christine Raino, Shared Hope’s senior director of public policy. “The progress made crafting new legislation that properly punishes sex traffickers is undermined when the laws are implemented in a way that is not victim-centered and trauma-informed.”

The field guidance focuses on three primary objectives:

  1. To improve identification of sex trafficking victim-offenders who have come into contact with the criminal justice system
  2. To enhance understanding of victim-offenders’ conduct through a sex trafficking- and trauma-informed lens
  3. To identify alternative responses to victim-offenders that take into account the impact of their own victimization on their potential involvement in sex trafficking conduct

Shared Hope’s JuST Response Council comprises policy advocates, government officials, medical professionals, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, academics and service providers. Several members are survivor leaders. Members share the goals of preventing juveniles from becoming sex trafficking victims and ensuring that youth who have been trafficked have access to the tools and support necessary to heal from the trauma they have endured and the skills to create and sustain a life away from trafficking.

To read the “Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders” report, visit https://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/just-response-council/

ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 1998 by then U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope International strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, restore victims of sex slavery, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children. A non-profit Christian organization, Shared Hope engages in diverse activities that confront sex trafficking in communities throughout America. Our efforts include training first responders and community members to identify warning signs of trafficking and employ intervention techniques to rescue child trafficking victims; providing restorative services to affected children and women; and offering legislative support to those focused on strengthening laws that fight child sex trafficking. Our vision is to coordinate a national U.S. network of protection to improve the response to victims of trafficking. We believe we can create a world where every survivor is surrounded by trained professionals, an alert community, just law and policy, knowledgeable service providers and appropriate shelter options.

MEDIA CONTACT: Rosemary Ostmann, RoseComm for Shared Hope International, rostmann@rosecomm.com, 201-615-7751.

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