SoCal Theologica: Musings from the West Coast

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Rhode Island is having a tough time with its rise in sex trafficking, but an effort is under way to deal with it.

Shanna Wells, director of the Rhode Island Commission on Women, contends slavery still exists in America; however, this time it takes the form of forced prostitution of women and girls.

Melanie Shapiro of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking explains the problem in The Ocean State is that prostitution has been decriminalized behind closed doors. She believes sex traffickers are attracted to Rhode Island because prostitution is legal in private between consenting adults.

“A couple years ago when our coalition was founded, we had only a handful of sex-trafficking brothels, and now we have 28 that we believe are involved in sex trafficking,” Shapiro says.

Police officers, she adds, can only make arrests if prostitution occurs in public. “Our police believe that the laws need to be changed for them to be able to go in, and our state human-trafficking law is pretty weak,” Shapiro points out.

She notes that police also want the law to distinguish the criminals from the victims so they can rescue the women and girls instead of prosecute them. Her organization will be working with state officials to change the law, and also with those on a federal level to enforce current trafficking laws. Some victims, she adds, are runaways and could also be in the U.S. illegally.

[ht: onenewsnow]