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Volu me 105 Issue 6 0
Local group rallies for human trafficking bills
RITA COURY / RITA COURY PHOTOGRAPHY /MCT
Today’s rally at the state capitol building aims to raise awareness among legislators about human trafficking. A LICIA D. PARTRIDGE Senior Staff Writer
“Hawai‘i is one of fi ve remaining states that has not passed a state law effectively addressing human trafficking as a felony offense while protecting the victims,” said the Director of local organization, Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery (PASS), Kathryn Xian. PASS and its supporters are rallying together today, on the
opening day of the Hawai‘i State Legislature at the capitol building, to raise awareness and advocate for three proposed bills related to human traffi cking in Hawai‘i. “This rally is not only about the bills, but for the survivors of sex and labor traffi cking in Hawai‘i,” Xian said. At the rally, Xian explained that supporters will gather in front of the building at 10 a.m., wearing PASS shirts and waving signs for
the cause. Selected supporters have been asked to give a written and/or verbal testimony to the members of the legislature. “The issue of human traffi cking is very personal to me because I am considered a traffi cking victim,” said PASS activist and HPU undergraduate student, Jenna Clark. “I hope that today will make a statement [to the legislators] and raise community awareness about human traffi cking.”
The proposed bills include: a sex trafficking bill proposed by the Women’s L egislative Caucus package, a sex trafficking bill by the Honolulu City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and a labor trafficking bill proposed by Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland. Numbers have yet to be assigned to the bills. “We support the Women’s Caucus bill and we support elements of the prosecutor’s bill but
are holding off on full support ‘till we see the propsal,” Xian said. “We are glad to hear that the prosecutor is supportive of this issue.” In 2003, Washington was the first state to pass a law criminalizing human trafficking and had the most stringent law in the country, according to the Washington State Attorney General. Since then, all but four states have passed state-level human trafficking laws: Massachusetts, Wyoming, West Virginia, South Dakota and Hawai‘i. Hawai‘i is the leader in combating sex tourism after a man from ‘Aina Haina was found running a sex tourism business from his home. In May 2004, the Hawai‘i State Legislature passed HB 2020, making it a felony offense, with a sentence of up to five years in prison, to sell or offer to sell travel services for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Hawai‘i is the first state to specifically criminalize the activities of sex tour operators. Although Hawai‘i was a pioneer in this aspect, PASS argues that the Hawai‘i’s current statutes are problematic because they place both victim and patron in the same criminal category, making it diffi cult for HPD to recognize prostitutes as victims. These statues carry heavy societal bias, criminalizing victims as prostitutes while the traffi cker is only charged with a misdemeanor offense. Finally, they are not preventive, so action cannot be taken until the offense happens. “We have been saying for the past fi ve years that the laws should be victim centered,” Xian said. “The laws need to go after the traffi ckers more strictly.” See Human trafficking, next page