We know that policymakers want to pass laws that that are meaningful and effective in combatting human trafficking. However, achieving this goal requires an approach that considers the needs of victims while also creating swift and effective penalties for criminal offenders. If we are to reverse the unsettling speed in which men, women, and, children are caught in the horrors of labor, sex, and financial trafficking, we must expose and replace the misguided policies that fail to provide victims a safe pathway back to society while proportionally punishing their traffickers.
For example, lawmakers have the opportunity to provide pathways to ensure survivors are provided mental health and substance abuse treatment in lieu of harsh prison sentences. By ensuring open resources to victims of trafficking who are often coerced into committing other criminal offenses as a part of their trafficking, lawmakers can ensure we do not exacerbate the cycle of crime for survivors. These survivors then serve as advocates to assist law enforcement in holding their traffickers accountable and supporting other victims to escape the cycle of abuse.
By removing these collateral consequences that hang over the heads of survivors, we can ensure that the real criminals are punished, which makes communities safer and more prosperous.
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