I laid there being violated, submitting from fear of losing my life, while the man on top of me made sure he got his money’s worth. My pimp would be waiting for me in the hallway to finish so another man could buy me for $20. The only thing that kept me from screaming was staring at the ceiling trying to focus my brain on better days. I tried to separate my body from the humiliation I felt as the man grunted and groaned. The smell of tobacco and beer filled my nostrils with disgust.
At 17, the promise of a job was enough to entrap me into a pitiful life of forced prostitution. In 1964 the reality of being forced to have sex with men for money was as unthinkable to me as pulling the trigger and shooting someone.
My pimp watched and monitored my every movement, as I feared for my life and my sanity. This enslavement changed my life forever, taking away my innocence and my hopes for a normal, happy life.
Being confined, brutally raped and forced into prostitution is a more common occurrence than previously imagined. Today there is a real chance the penalty for sex and human trafficking will actually match the impact of this horrible crime to its victims. Proposition 35 hopes to stop these injustices.
Justice is not served if the perpetrator gets off with a slap on the hand and a small fine. Proposition 35 is an initiative that will fight back against human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women and children. Your vote might help save an innocent life!
Proposition 35 increases the maximum criminal penalties for human trafficking which includes labor and sex trafficking of an adult or minor, either forced or without force. It will increase the sentence for sex trafficking of a forced minor, from a sentence of eight years to a proposed life term!
Amen to that!
It is about time the legislature addresses the impact this crime has on minors in our communities and all over the U.S. when they are forced to have sex by criminals who are undeterred by current punishments. The brunt of this sex crime remains with the victims the rest of their lives as well as the lingering shame
and fear associated with being forced to do something against their will.
The memory of the humiliation may diminish and fade, but the stain on the spirit never goes away.
Proposition 35, a reform that proponents are calling the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, would extend prison terms and allow fines of up to $1.5 million for human trafficking.
It would also require training for law enforcement that could help police detect prostitution rings sooner, according to San Francisco attorney Michael Rubin of the law firm Altshuler Berzon LLP, who represented some of Balireddy Lakireddy’s victims in a 2002 sex trafficking ring civil suit.
Rubin said the defendants exploited the victims because of their youth, fear, poverty status and their unfamiliarity with the American legal system. Because many did not speak English, they worried about their immigration status, being deported or put in prison themselves. The defendants used these factors to gain personal pleasure and illicit profits.
“Human trafficking is slavery, and unlike the slavery of the past, this modern form of slavery is a hidden crime.” according to the State of California Department of Justice. “It involves controlling a person through force, fraud or coercion to exploit the victim for forced labor, sexual exploitation, or both, and often involves keeping the victims in inhumane conditions. Human trafficking robs people, especially women and children, of their freedom and violates our nation’s promise that every person in the United States is guaranteed basic human rights.”
This is indeed a hidden crime.
Human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 billion dollar industry, the world’s second largest criminal enterprise after the drug trade. Victims of trafficking are lured by empty promises of employment. They leave their homes with hopes of a better life and a chance to earn more money. The results are working for little or no pay and subsisting in appalling conditions. Some are forbidden to leave where they work. The traffickers threaten victims with deportation, imprisonment, or harm to family members if they attempt to escape.
Human trafficking often crosses international borders and covers the entire United States.
The U.S. is the most popular destination for human trafficking, according to Congressman Alcee L. Hastings, with over 300,000 children being trafficked annually into urban centers such as Washington D.C., New York and Los Angeles. Centers of tourism, including Las Vegas and Florida, are also major destinations for human trafficking victims. The hidden nature of the crime makes it impossible to really know but federal reports say the number of victims trafficked into the United States annually is approximately 14,500 to 17,500. This figure does not include those kidnapped and taken abroad for sale.
The California Report Card, Protected Innocence Initiative, Shared Hope International and American Center for Law and Justice, (December 2011), declared “California law provides very limited options for prosecuting demand and victims of child sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) offenses are provided with little protection under the law as victims.”
Bringing it closer to home in California, having multiple international borders with such a diverse cultural population, we are a popular destination for immigrants. California is one of the largest sites of human trafficking in the U.S.
Proposition 35 offers the opportunity to put more teeth into the law against human traffickers.
No one who saw me during my prostitution days would have imagined I was a teenage run-away being forced to have sex with many men against my will. Memories of the daily terror and degradation still haunt me. One person could have made a difference in my life if they had suspected the crime and reported it.
If you believe you are a witness to an instance of human trafficking, or know of somebody you believe is a victim, please call:
The National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or
The U.S. Department of Justice Hotline at 1-888-428-7581 or
Report it to your local authorities.
