Prostitution and Human Trafficking

For the third year in a row, the City of Providence was unsuccessful in its efforts to expand the penalties for prostitution. The city’s push continued even though a federal probe last year confirmed that many of the women that had been arrested by the city in prostitution raids were the victims of human trafficking. The ACLU, the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence, RI NOW and other groups strongly opposed the measure, arguing that it only further victimized trafficking victims. Following up on the federal information, the General Assembly this year more appropriately focused on the traffickers instead, and passed a measure supported by the Affiliate that sets criminal penalties for those who force women into, and profit from, this horrendous practice.