Assembly Member Sterling Stanley, a Democrat from East Brunswick, (speaking at center) weighs in on his bill regarding human trafficking prevention at an Assembly session on Thursday. It passed unanimously. Photo credit: Shohini Mitra/NJ State House News Service.
Photo credit: Shohini Mitra/NJ State House News Service
By Shohini Mitra
NJ State House News Service
TRENTON, N.J. – The Assembly overwhelmingly passed a package of bills Thursday against human trafficking, with two moving to the governor for her signature.
One bill, S1270, to eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal human trafficking prosecutions and aggravated criminal sexual contact prosecutions passed both the Assembly and Senate unanimously, and is now headed to the desk of Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
“Most people don’t realize that New Jersey is a transit hub for the East Coast for human trafficking,” said the sponsor of the bill, Assembly Member Stanley Sterling, a Democrat from East Brunswick. “Sometimes it takes decades to find these traffickers, even once the victim has been rescued.”
Stanley explained how desperate families might be susceptible to human trafficking.
“The sad part is, a lot of family members are selling their own children into human trafficking for either drugs or for cash,” Stanley said. “Personally, a couple of years ago, I was involved in a case with a young girl, at the age of 11 her mother sold her to a human trafficker. She was rescued at the age of 16.”
The legislation would also remove the 5-year statute of limitations for civil lawsuits brought by human trafficking survivors.
It would also expand potential civil liability to third parties who benefited from or assisted in the trafficking.
A second measure, S3946, would strengthen New Jersey’s human trafficking laws by expanding criminal and civil liability, increasing penalties and requiring restitution for victims in certain cases.
The bill would make attempted human trafficking a first-degree crime and expand mandatory anti-trafficking training for law enforcement, hotel and motel staff, health care facility employees, judges, prosecutors and certain public transportation employees.
The Assembly unanimously approved the measure Thursday, and the Senate unanimously passed the measure in June, and is now awaiting the governor’s signature.
The following Assembly bills were also weighed in the session:
- A1406: Would mandate the New Jersey Attorney General to review and revise statewide policies for investigating human trafficking. The changes must consider recording undercover investigations to protect victims and preserve evidence, establishing regulations for distributing any recordings. The bill passed 78-1.
- A1407: Would upgrade penalties for prostitution-related crimes, including promoting prostitution, establish new offenses for leaders and participants in prostitution networks, impose mandatory prison terms for certain offenses and direct fines to the Human Trafficking Survivor’s Assistance Fund. The bill passed 76-0, with one abstention.
- A1408: Would require human trafficking awareness signs displayed at designated establishments to include Chinese and Korean translations alongside English and Spanish, expanding access to national 24-hour hotline information. The bill advanced unanimously.
- A2163: Would expand the locations required to display human trafficking awareness signs to include gas stations, staffing agencies, state, county and municipal law enforcement offices, nail salons and New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission offices. The legislation would also require establishments to maintain signs and replace removed or defaced signs. The bill advanced unanimously.
- A4215: Would increase penalties for people who purchase sexual services, making a first offense a fourth-degree crime and retaining a third-degree classification for a fourth or subsequent offense. The bill passed unanimously.
- A4740: Would require commercial driver’s license applicants to complete a human trafficking awareness course of no more than 30 minutes, with the requirement extending to license renewals two years after the law takes effect. The bill advanced unanimously.
- A5606: Would clarify which types of establishments must display public human trafficking awareness signs distributed by the Commission on Human Trafficking. The signs provide the national 24-hour human trafficking hotline number and must be placed where they are clearly visible to employees and the public. The bill advanced unanimously.
Assembly Member Ellen Park, a Democrat from Englewood Cliffs, sponsored several of the human trafficking bills.
“Human trafficking is a horrific crime that takes advantage of some of our most vulnerable residents, and we have a responsibility to ensure our laws protect victims while holding those responsible accountable,” said Park.
Shohini Mitra is a senior journalism and media studies student pursuing a minor in digital communication, information, and media at Rutgers University.
