Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36) has been responsible for introducing some of the first legislation in the nation on human trafficking. This year, she has been hard at work doing more.
Update, April 17
Gov. Jay Inslee just signed both SB 5488 and SB 5563 into law today.
Original, April 4
Life for human traffickers is about to get harder.
A pair of anti-trafficking bills were unanimously passed by the State House of Representatives yesterday, which would crack down on those who use the Internet to promote human trafficking and would help school personnel better recognize and prevent exploitation of minors.
The bills were also passed unanimously by the Senate earlier in the session. Now, the bills will go to Governor Jay Inslee to sign into law.
Under SB 5563, teachers would be trained to recognize when commercial sexual abuse and exploitation of minors could be happening. School employees would also be trained to report student physical abuse or sexual misconduct victimization.
In addition, the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs would update existing educational materials available across the state to inform parents and other community members about how to prevent children from being recruited into sex trafficking/commercial sexual exploitation.
“Early identification and intervention is invaluable because children who are sexually abused early on are more likely to be victimized later on,” Kohl-Welles said. “If school personnel can identify children who are in trouble and need help, they can make a huge difference in their lives — and not just while they’re in school but for the years that follow.”
As we reported before, SB 5488 is a continuation of Kohl-Welles fight to diminish the ability to facilitate sexual abuse of a minor online.
5488 is similar to a bill she passed in the 2012 session in reaction to Backpage.com's advertisement of child sex trafficking. That bill, SB 6251, was struck down by a federal judge who ruled it a violation of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
SB 5488 would impose an additional $5,000 fine on top of existing penalties in cases where an Internet advertisement is instrumental in facilitating commercial sexual abuse of a minor, promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, or promoting travel for commercial sexual abuse of a minor. The $5,000 penalty would be dedicated to the state’s prostitution prevention and intervention account. Essentially, SB 5488 shifts the focus to the user and also repeals SB 6251.
“Anyone who would use Backpage.com and similar outlets to promote sex trafficking is on notice,” Kohl-Welles said. “We are increasing the tools with which we can hold them accountable for their despicable actions.”
Zachariah Bryan can be reached at zachb@robinsonnews.com
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