State Now Has One of Country’s Strongest Human Trafficking Laws

New York City, NY -- (SBWire) --06/07/2011 --ECPAT-USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies to protect sexually exploited children, announced that Governor Peter Shumlin has signed Vermont’s new human trafficking law, noting: "The new law now ranks among the strongest anti-trafficking laws in the nation, allowing Vermont to continue our legacy of fighting slavery within our borders and around the world."

Notable provisions in the new law include:

- Human trafficking crimes in Vermont will now carry a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $500,000 fine

- Children exploited in prostitution have immunity from prosecution for prostitution offenses, making Vermont one of only five states to legally acknowledge that children are not responsible for their own abuse

- Allowance for victims of human trafficking to pursue damages from their traffickers in civil court

“Ensuring that children are viewed as victims of sexual exploitation, not criminals, when they are used in prostitution is a paradigm shift that is taking root all over the country. We are delighted that Vermont has joined the growing list of states that are changing their legislation to conform with this ideal,” said Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA

Representatives Maxine Grad, Mark Larson, Kesha Ram, and William Lippert and Senator Richard Sears made the passage of this law a priority this session.

Smolenski noted that children exploited through prostitution experience incredible violence at the hands of traffickers and buyers of sex. Unfortunately, due to a lack of services and training, and unjust perceptions of such children, they are most frequently arrested and treated as juvenile offenders instead of crime victims. Vermont joins New York, Connecticut, Washington, and Illinois in passing legislation that works to protect commercially sexually exploited children from criminal sanction for their own abuse. ECPAT-USA continues to work with partners in Minnesota and other states to pass similar legislation to better identify, assist and protect victims.

ECPAT-USA was proud to support and work with the organizations who led the fight to pass this legislation. These include: Vermont Coalition of Runaway & Homeless Youth Programs, Coalition of Vermonters Against Slavery Today, Give Way to Freedom, Spectrum Family & Youth Services, and Polaris Project.

About ECPAT-USA
ECPAT-USA (http://www.ecpatusa.org) is the U.S. branch of an international organization working in over 70 countries to eliminate child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. ECPAT-USA is also working to engage the travel industry through The Code of Conduct (http://www.thecode.org) to help fight the exploitation of children in sex tourism.