Lawyer Monthly Magazine - February 2020 Edition

Expert Insight Marie Napoli, Partner & Michelle M. Greene, Associate, Napoli Shkolnik PLLC 43 FEB 2020 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM the advance of federal and state legislation, we have seen an exemplar shift in the way our country discusses, views, and treats those who have been victimized by human trafficking. Federal and state laws are enacted to hold traffickers responsible and, perhaps more crucially, to provide victims the support they need. At the federal level, Congress established the first-ever comprehensive national effort relating to trafficking victims and their protection in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). The TVPA provides for enhanced penalties for human trafficking crimes and special service programs to provide assistance to victims. It has since been reauthorized in 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2013 as an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The law also provides victims a civil cause of action against defendants who benefit from the trafficking. This includes not only the traffickers themselves but any person or businesses that knowingly profit from the illegal business. Additionally, the 2019 Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) restricts online advertisement from advertising for commercial sex, making the act of trafficking more difficult. A problem, however, is that victim assistance under the TVPA is limited and can be difficult to obtain. The federal government cannot adequately take on every human trafficking case and as such, relies heavily on individual states for assistance. According to the Human Trafficking Legal Center’s study, the number of federal civil suits over sex and labor trafficking has increased dramatically over the past 15 years, growing from six cases filed in 2004 to 37 in 2017. TVPA was a landmark advance in addressing what is now viewed not just as a national problem, but a state and local issue as well. One of New York’s most important developments in the area of human trafficking was the passing of the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act (TVPJA) in 2015. The TVPJA increased the penalty for sex trafficking offenses as well as added new penalties for buyers of trafficking victims. In addition, just last year the New York legislature expanded the statute of limitations for child victims of sex abuse. This “look-back window” is part of the Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations for both criminal and civil lawsuits when it was signed into New York State law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Supplementing the TVPA, we are seeing more and more states like New York adopt legislation to prevent victims from being convicted of prostitution offenses. Currently, all 50 States in the United States have passed trafficking laws with varying degrees of protection. State safe harbor laws, for instance, can render children immune to prosecution for certain types of crimes. Unfortunately, however, there is no uniformity across states in regard to anti-trafficking laws. Luckily, this problem has begun to see new allies - dedicated lawyers, law enforcement officers, government officials, nonprofits and survivors who are united in this fight. How Lawyers Can Make a Difference Attorneys can take on human trafficking from many angles and use civil, criminal law and employment regulations to bring traffickers to justice. To assist survivors and protect their rights, lawyers have required traffickers to compensate their victims and fought charges leveled against women forced into prostitution. As financial compensation, trafficking victims are eligible for criminal restitution awards and civil damages. That is why civil advocates have helped