AGAINST
Rochester Regional Coalition
HUMAN
TRAFFICKING
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RRCAHT News
Emergency Contacts
If you need help or you think you have come into contact with a victim of human trafficking...
National Human Trafficking
Resource Center
call 1.888.373.7888 / Text HELP or
INFO to BeFree (233733)
Center For Youth
905 Monroe Ave
Rochester, NY 14620
(585) 271-7670 24 hrs
RRCAHT observes National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
The Rochester Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking held the 2018 Human Trafficking Awareness Proclamation Event on January 11, National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Click here to read more about the event and to see photos from it.
Thank you to New York State Senator Joseph Robach; Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo; City of Rochester City Council President Loretta C. Scott; City of Rochester City Council member Willie J. Lightfoot; Brighton Town Supervisor William Moehle; representatives of U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter, Assemblymember Joseph Morelle and Assemblymember Harry B Bronson; Deputy County Executive Tom Van Strydonck; Commissioner of the Monroe County Department of Human Services Corinda Crossdale; Executive Director of the Rochester-Monroe County Youth Bureau Mike Barry; Director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT Roger Remington; and Vignelli Center Professor Bruce Meader for attending the event.
Legislative Update:
Federal
SOAR ACT: Stop, Observe, Ask and Respond to Health and Wellness Act:
On February 26, 2018 The United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 767, the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond (SOAR) to Health and Wellness Act of 2018.
The importance of this bill is that according to the Annals of Health Law report, 88% of sex trafficking survivors have contact with health care providers while they are being trafficked yet many of these providers have not been trained to recognize the signs of human trafficking. The SOAR Act would help health care providers identify potential human trafficking victims, refer victims to service agencies, and provide victims with care respectful of their special circumstances.
Please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to make passage of the SOAR Act a priority.
New York State in the 2018 budget (to be adopted by March 30)
Increase funding for the Maternal Home Visiting programs that prevent the abuse and trauma that make children vulnerable for traffickers. Currently only 5% of eligible families have access to the program. The biggest program in the state, Healthy Families NY, has been flat-funded for more than a decade, meaning it can serve fewer people each year. We are asking for $5 million spread across existing sites and $13 million for two pilot sites where every eligible family could have a slot.
Eliminate New York’s statute of limitations for child sexual abuse. Researchers have demonstrated that it takes survivors of child sexual abuse, on average, 21 years to disclose their abuse. New York’s current SOL on the crime keeps most victims from pressing charges on their 23rd birthday, which means it is impossible to convict most abusers, and without convictions it is impossible to properly vet adults entrusted to work with children. There is a version of the Child Victims Act in the Governor’s budget that is supported by advocates and has all essential components, and we are asking legislators to support it.
Safe Harbour grants provide agencies that work directly with trafficked youth or youth at high risk of being trafficked with a lifeline. The grants enable recipient counties to provide direct services for this very high-need population and to gather data on the scope of youth trafficking. Cash-strapped counties are having difficulty making up the balance to maintain these programs after funding sunsets. We are asking for a provision to extend Safe Harbor funding for recipient counties.
The budget is required to be adopted before March 30. Please contact your state Senator and Assemblymember to ask that they support these items in the budget.
Click here to see RRCAHT's complete NYS Legislative Agenda.
What Is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where people profit from the control and exploitation of others. As defined under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)
Sex Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or
Labor Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
For comprehensive information about Human Trafficking, including links to videos, refer to the Human Trafficking Awareness Manual of the Sisters of Charity of New York.
Noteworthy
Congratulations to the Worker Justice Center of New York!
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter announced a $600,000 grant for the Worker Justice Center of New York, Inc. The grant, tol be disbursed over three years, was secured through the Department of Justice, stemming from the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). The TVPA aims to assist victims of human trafficking through preventative investigation, protection and prosecution for traffickers. The Worker Justice Center provides legal assistance for victims of human trafficking in the agricultural industry.
For more information, read the article in the October 11, 2017 edition of the Rochester Business Journal
The December RRCAHT Newsletter with information about Fair Trade Shopping in Rochester is now available!
You can read it here and you can join the mailing list for future editions by clicking here.
Featured news story
Douglass descendant wants to create one million abolitionists
(Rochester City Newspaper - March 28, 2018
Rochester takes part in One Million Abolitionists project
(Rochester City Newspaper - April 4, 2018
Thank you to the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT for your sponsorship
and contributions to our branding and Yes, Here. marketing campaign.
Yes, here!
Irondequoit sex trafficker John Spencer sentenced to 17 to 21 years in prison
Democrat and Chronicle - April 20, 2018
Sex trafficker John Spencer convicted of trafficking, promoting prostitution, assault
Democrat and Chronicle - March 13, 2018
Human Trafficking as close as next door
Democrat and Chronicle - February 2, 2018
Dozens of Rochester kids acknowledge they've been sold for sex
Democrat and Chronicle - February 3, 2018
Violent sex trafficker Stephen Jones sentenced to 25 years in federal prison
Democrat and Chronicle - December 21, 2017
Slaughter pledges $600k to fight human trafficking
Rochester Business Journal - October 11, 2017
Husband And Wife Plead Guilty To Sex Trafficking
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of NY - August 2, 2017
Man sentenced for sex trafficking of girl
Democrat and Chronicle - November 23, 2016
Battle rages over human trafficking - Courts, nonprofits help local victims recover and thrive
Democrat and Chronicle - November 22, 2016
Police: Massage parlor a front for prostitution
Democrat and Chronicle - November 3, 2016
Sex trafficker suspected in new crime
Democrat and Chronicle - August 26, 2016
5,686 total hospitals in the
United States.
60 have a plan for treating patients who are being trafficked.
95 percent of emergency room personnel aren't trained to treat
trafficking victims.
Pope Francis:
Human trafficking is an open wound of the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity.
Latest Traffic Report
Regional
How Do You Care for Sex-Trafficking Victims if You Can’t Hold On to Them?
New York Times - December 6, 2017
House Democrats seek answers after ICE agents arrest possible victim of human trafficking
New York Daily News - July 14, 2017
Human trafficking 'a significant issue in Western New York'
Buffalo Law Journal - July 10, 2017
Sex sting bust nets 12, including local school bus driver, Glens Falls radio DJ
WTEN, Albany - June 12, 2017
Bill Seeks to Enlist New York Hotels to Help Fight Sex Trafficking
New York Times - April 16, 2017
A Guardian Is Accused of Holding 2 Teenagers Captive in Queens for Years
New York Times - January 12, 2017
7 Men Accused in Sex-Trafficking Ring in U.S. and Mexico
New York Times - November 1, 2016
New PSAs address human trafficking in Western New York
Buffalo News - October 11, 2016
Merciless Brooklyn pimp who forced teen girls into prostitution slapped with 30-year prison sentence
New York Daily News - August 22, 2016
Albany forum shows New York prosecutors ignore sex trafficking
Albany Times-Union - June 16, 2016
Queens couple accused of assaulting two Korean immigrant minors, forcing them to work
New York Daily News - May 24, 2016
Queens couple, man plead guilty to sex trafficking ring
liherald.com - May 16, 2016
Human Trafficking in Broome County: Getting victims to step forward
WBNG-TV (Binghamton) - May 5, 2016
Art-themed thrift shop opens to support victims of sex and labor trafficking
Albany Times-Union, April 24, 2016
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery
Democrat and Chronicle - January 23, 2016
PAATH 15 combats human trafficking along Route 15
ABC27, Harrisburg - January 19, 2016
National
Who buys a child for sex? Otherwise ordinary men
IndyStar - January 30, 2018
Task Force In Santa Rosa County Focuses On Human Trafficking
WUWF (NW Florida) - October 18, 2017
Woman was trapped by sex trafficking life
Albuquerque Journal - July 17, 2017
Services, funding for sex trafficking victims in short supply
Albuquerque Journal - July 17, 2017
Helping sex trafficking victims is a challenge
Albuquerque Journal - July 16, 2017
More than 1,000 police officers underwent human trafficking training in last fiscal year
Topeka Capital Journal - July 16, 2017
Wisconsin Hospital Works to Educate About Trafficked Youth
WDIO-TV (Duluth) - July 15, 2017
Chance encounter leads to prosecutions
Albuquerque Journal - July 15, 2017
How Cleveland has become a leader in trying to eradicate human trafficking
Christian Science Monitor - July 9, 2017
21 Across U.S. Are Indicted in ‘Modern-Day Sex Slave’ Ring
New York Times - May 25, 2017
Flight Attendants Fight Human Trafficking With Eyes in the Sky
New York Times - February 7, 2017
9 Investigates: Are leaders doing enough to help child trafficking victims in foster care?
WFTV Orlando - August 25, 2016
ICE Top 10 human trafficking fugitive arrested in Indiana
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Newsroom - August 19, 2016
New Law Requires Human Trafficking Notices Posted Across State
9 & 10 News (Traverse City, MI) - July 14, 2016
The '5 disguises' used by human traffickers
CNN - July 13, 2016
Truckers Take The Wheel In Effort To Halt Sex Trafficking
NPR - July 13, 2016
Human Trafficking effects the LGBT community
Examiner - June 29, 2016
A Year Later, Authorities Struggle to Help Victims of Human Trafficking
US News & World Report - June 28, 2016
Northeast Ohio hotels train to spot human trafficking
News-Herald (Ohio) - June 24, 2016
Visas for eleven victims of human trafficking
Fox-11 Los Angeles - June 11, 2016
The Costs Behind A Migrant Crisis: Unaccompanied Minors In The Hands Of Traffickers
Fronteras - June 10, 2016
House Introduces New Legislation on Health Care and Human Trafficking
Polaris blog - June 9, 2016
Immigrant workers win $1 million in labor-trafficking lawsuits
Biloxi Sun-Herald - June 7, 2016
International
TIP ‘hero’ was eight when she first saw a child sex victim
The Nation - July 16, 2017
Obama raises the stakes for multinationals to combat human trafficking
Huffington Post - July 13, 2016
Armenia among pioneers of fighting trafficking: U.S. State Department
PanArmenian.net - July 1, 2016
Japan short of ‘minimum’ standards on human trafficking: U.S. State Department
Japan Times - July 1, 2016
Myanmar decries demotion on US human trafficking blacklist
AP - July 1, 2016
Human trafficking in Ireland up 73 per cent since 2014
Irish Times - July 1, 2016
For more news articles visit our News page