With the incidence of human trafficking trending upward in Greater Portland and the rest of Maine, the timing of a bill sponsored by Scarborough Rep. Amy Volk couldn’t have come at a better time.
And as if to signify the growing scourge of the shadowy sex-slave industry, mere hours after Gov. Paul LePage signed Volk’s bill into law last week, two separate sex trafficking rings were busted in central Maine. Those arrests follow the much-publicized Gorham trafficking case from last month, in which three people were arrested after a 19-year-old female victim fled her captors, telling police the three forced her to have “commercial sex dates” throughout southern Maine and were about to sell her to a Boston pimp.
Volk’s law has brought more attention to the issue and will help victims of sex trafficking by increasing penalties for human traffickers and, more importantly, allowing victims to avoid prostitution-related convictions. Those arrested for engaging in prostitution will now be allowed to use the defense that they were victims of human trafficking.
“This is a great day for the victims of sex trafficking,” Volk said last week. “It was such a happy moment to see Gov. (Paul) LePage sign this bill into law after months of work where, at times, I doubted whether this day would come. Sex-trafficking victims are more protected now and traffickers and their clients face stiffer penalties for the roles they play in taking advantage of other human beings.”
As she alluded to in her previous statement, the bill almost didn’t see the light of day. The Legislative Council, made up of six Democrats and four Republicans, is tasked each session with choosing from among the hundreds of proposed bills those that will come before the Legislature. In a party-line vote, Volk’s bill was tossed out as part of that process last fall. Volk, her fellow Republicans, as well as women’s and victims’ groups, however, protested, and the Democrats on the council relented and admitted the bill for consideration. The turnaround was made complete when both the Senate and House voted unanimously to approve the bill. Party politics, fortunately, was pushed aside to make way for this common-sense legislation that toughens penalties for traffickers and provides real-world benefits for victims.
Now that Volk’s bill is law, supporters agree it’s a good day for victims of sex trafficking, but they say more can be done, especially when it comes to transitioning out of what is described as “the life” of being a prostitute. Destie Hohman Sprague, program director at the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, is among those trying to make a difference. Earlier this month, Hohman Sprague’s coalition set up an account to address the practical needs of women (and some men) escaping the life of trafficking. The Maine Sex Trafficking Victims Support Fund, she said, “aims to be a flexible, accessible and timely source of funds to support the immediate needs of victims of trafficking as they seek to increase their safety and start a new life.”
While human trafficking sounds like something far off, recent news proves it’s hardly so, and people in our area are taking action to both bring an end to trafficking and make more people aware of it. In New Gloucester, representatives from law enforcement, support groups and interested citizens gathered at Pineland April 11-12 for the Not Here conference. Last weekend, Artists Confront Trafficking (ACT), which is associated with the Not Here event, held an artwalk in Brunswick to highlight the issue. These events go a long way in helping to inform the general public.
For those who would like to do something about the growing trend (rather than just read heart-wrenching news stories about the latest victims), donating to the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault victims’ support fund is an excellent way to act. By giving, you will help victims transition from dependency to independence, changing their lives in the process. More information can be found at www.mecasa.org.
– John Balentine, managing editor
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