11/7/2015 – The following is from an article published to empowermagazine.com this past Wednesday, entitled, ‘More states separate prostitution from human sex trafficking,’ by Rebecca Beitsch.
Below is an excerpt from the article that deals specifically with prostitution and human trafficking in Oklahoma and the efforts of law makers and law enforcement to positively impact the problem locally;
…In the past decade, states have dramatically changed laws targeting the sex trade to distinguish between voluntary prostitution and the trafficking of women and girls who are forced or coerced into selling sex. Victims can be trafficked locally or across state lines by pimps or by organized crime syndicates…
…Before the new laws, states primarily dealt with the sex trade by charging sex workers, usually women, with prostitution. Many of those laws remain on the books, but states are supplementing them with “safe harbor” laws that protect minors—and sometimes adults—who can prove they were coerced into selling sex…
…”Existing laws were inadequate because we weren’t going after the true offenders,” said Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern, a Republican who pushed for a measure that allows police to use wiretapping (with a judge’s approval) to investigate sex trafficking…
…Kern, the Oklahoma legislator, said victims’ reluctance to testify against traffickers is one reason she pushed for the state’s new wiretapping laws…
…”These women are very wary of police, so you only have one chance to really ask questions or it could be years,” before police have another opportunity to try and work with them, said Lt. Doug Kimberlin, who heads the vice unit for the Oklahoma City Police Department.
Oklahoma has a safe harbor law for girls 15 and under; those who are between 16 and 17 are presumed to be victims of human trafficking, though they may be charged with prostitution, according to Kimberlin.
Kimberlin said it can be difficult to determine whether someone is a prostitute or a trafficking victim.
“It’s hard to convince me a 15-year-old woke up one day and said ‘I’m tired of going to school, I’m going to go work the truck stops,’ ” he said.
The challenge is keeping the girls away from the pressures that forced them into sex work in the first place. Kimberlin said most do not have supportive families to return to, and he wants the state to provide more resources for them.
He said many girls often age out of the safe harbor laws without leaving sex work behind, especially those who started very young and feel it is the only marketable skill they have. Even if they return to sex work willingly, it’s easy to encounter the same violence and coercion, so many cycle in and out of exploitation…
You can read the entire article on empowermagazine.com.