Advocates urge New York State Assembly to lift statue on voluntary sex trafficking crimes and repeal voluntary intoxication loophole

Women's rights advocates and rape survivors called on the New York State Assembly on Thursday to pass two gender-based violence bills aimed at protecting women and children.

At a press conference at the National Organization for Women (NOW) New York headquarters in Chelsea, women's rights leaders supported House Bill A1940, which would repeal the five-year time limit for prosecuting sex traffickers.

The group also highlighted the importance of Bill A1065, which would go after sexual predators who target people who are too drunk to consent to sex.

So far, both bills have passed the New York Senate. Next step: the National Assembly.

Sonia Ossorio, executive director of NOW NYC, urged New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) to bring the bills to the Assembly for a vote.

“What’s difficult to understand is why his office doesn’t engage more with survivor advocates and leaders who are pushing for significant legislative changes,” Ossorio said. “We are reasonable people. We are ready to come to the table. But it's a brick wall, so you're constantly guessing what they think about something.

amNewYork Metro has contacted the president's office for comment but is awaiting a response.

A1940: Lifting of the statue on the prosecution of sex traffickers

NOW, NYC, state attorneys and other groups have been working for two years to pass the bill. Last month, the five New York district attorneys, NOW and others collectively wrote a letter to Heastie urging him to bring the bill to the Assembly for a vote.

Ossorio said she has yet to receive a response from Heastie and stressed the importance of passing House Bill A1940 to protect children who are too often targeted and lured into the ever-growing sex trade in the state.

The bill would repeal the five-year deadline for prosecuting sex traffickers in the state.

“Girls as young as 14 are being exploited in the sex trade in New York,” Ossorio said. “These young victims and others deserve justice, and their traffickers cannot continue to get a free pass, allowing them to turn around and abuse more young women and girls.” New York’s rampant sex trade, run by traffickers and fueled by sex buyers, is a disgrace and a stain on the government.”

Jane Mendelsohn of Women's Justice Now said it takes years for victims to realize they have been lured into the seedy world of sex trafficking.

“It often takes two years for survivors to realize they have been trafficked,” she said. “The first two years, they think the pimp who beats them up is their boyfriend. They then need another three years to meet their mental health, housing and physical care needs. Only then will they be ready to work with law enforcement.”

Sex trafficking manifests itself in many ways, including illicit massage and spa businesses, hotels, motels and residences, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. It may also involve pornography and escort services.

Holding sexual predators accountable

Bill A1065 would hold perpetrators accountable for crimes who target intoxicated people for sexual purposes. The bill would say that a highly intoxicated person saying “yes” to an invitation to have sex does not amount to giving consent.

Will Rivera, interim executive director of the NYS Coalition Against Sexual Assault, explained that if a victim becomes intentionally intoxicated – for example by drinking a few too many beers – the rape law does not apply.

“Under New York law, a person who becomes willfully intoxicated cannot seek the same justice for rape as someone who was spiked with their drink or given another type of drug without their consent,” did he declare. “This is what we call a voluntary exclusion for intoxication. Let's be clear: drunkenness is not consent.

Instead of examining the actions and intentions of an offender, it examines the actions of a victim, Ossorio said.

“If someone was robbed while they were drunk, we wouldn’t question how they got drunk before calling it a robbery,” Ossorio said. “Why are we doing this with sexual assault?