The New York Women’s Foundation® congratulates its grantee partner, EQUALITY NOW, for its instrumental role in the legislative agreement on anti-human trafficking legislation that has been reached in Albany. Under the bill, individuals engaged in Sex Trafficking by “compelling, inducing, deceiving or forcing their victims” to act as prostitutes can be convicted of a class B felony, which carries a sentence of 3 to 25 years in prison. Those engaged in Labor Trafficking can be convicted of a class D felony and sentenced to 3 to 7 years in prison.

In a rare agreement of this contentious legislative session, lawmakers have decided that New York State will finally join the federal government and 29 other states with laws to combat this horrific violation of human rights. This victory is in part due to the dedication of The New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition, of which EQUALITY NOW is a steering committee member. The Coalition, which is comprised of over 80 women’s rights advocates, service providers and other social justice advocates, works for legislative change as well as offering supportive services to victims so that they can regain control over their lives. Taina Bien-Aimé, the Executive Director of EQUALITY NOW, feels that this breakthrough was made possible only through the collaborative effort of social justice advocates and members of government, including the governor.

“This is the power of collective work,” Bien-Aimé said, “and it never would have happened without Governor Spitzer. He understands what trafficking is about.”

The Coalition has worked tirelessly for the past three years to convince New York State lawmakers that this legislation is needed. New York is a common point of entry for the 18,000 to 20,000 people, many of them women and children, who are trafficked into the United States each year. But despite these frightening statistics, some lawmakers were opposed to many of the bill’s provisions, including strong penalties for traffickers, increasing penalties for patronizing prostitution and providing access to state services for trafficking victims.

Bien-Aimé feels the timing of this success, at least in part, coincides with the Coalition’s May 15th press conference and Albany screening of “Trade”, an upcoming movie about sex trafficking. “It was an arbitrary date for us,” she said, “but I think it gave legislators a time frame to get something done by then.”

EQUALITY NOW also thanked Governor Spitzer’s Director of Policy, Peter Pope, and Charlotte Hitchcock, counsel to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, for their hard work, leadership and commitment to get a strong bill passed. Bien-Aimé also said that the support of The New York Women’s Foundation® was critical to their success.

“This is a miracle,” Bien-Aimé said. “This is just the beginning in addressing human trafficking in New York, but right now we are ecstatic, and very thankful.”

For more information about the bill, or to get involved in the fight against Human Trafficking, go to www.equalitynow.org, or www.stophumantraffickingny.org