Committee Passes Bill to Let Human Trafficking Victims Take Traffickers to Court

Legislation, ,
Above: Family Council staff member Charisse Dean (left) and Sen. Irvin (right) testify in support of S.B. 282 in committee.

On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that creates a civil cause of action for human trafficking victims in Arkansas.

S.B. 282 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R – Mountain View) and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R – Paragould) makes it easier for victims of human trafficking to sue their traffickers and those who profited from the trafficking.

Besides being criminally liable, S.B. 282 makes it clear that a person is civilly liable in court if they engaged in human trafficking or if they knew or should have known that a victim was being trafficked, and if they benefitted from the trafficking.

A motel in Springdale made headlines last year after a lawsuit revealed that the motel permitted a teenage girl to be trafficked at the motel over the course of three years.

It is possible that the crime might have been discovered much sooner if the motel’s management had not facilitated the human trafficking.

Human traffickers should go to prison, and those who aid or abet human trafficking should be held accountable. S.B. 282 will help do exactly that.

Family Council is pleased to support this good bill.

S.B. 282 now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for consideration.

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Undercover Video: Statutory Rapist Buys Plan B for 15 Year-Old Girl

Abortion, Human Trafficking, , , , ,

Yesterday Students for Life of America released an undercover video in which a 33 year-old man poses as a statutory rapist purchasing Plan B “emergency contraception” over the counter at multiple pharmacies and drugstores for his underage girlfriend. His “girlfriend,” portrayed by a 15 year-old girl, appears with him in some of the videos.

At some stores, the man asks if the drug will “dissolve in a drink” so he can give it to his girlfriend without her knowledge. Another video shows the girl complaining she does not want to take the drug; the man replies that he will make her take it; all of this occurs in front of store employees, who do nothing.

In a final video, the man goes so far as to explain that he is 33 and his girlfriend for whom he is buying the drug is 15; store employees, again, do nothing.

Many wrote earlier this year when the government moved Plan B from behind the pharmacist’s counter and authorized sales to underage girls that doing so would inadvertently make it that much easier for child predators and human traffickers to cover up their crimes. Moreover, Plan B’s effects have not been thoroughly studied among minors.

The man and girl in this video may be actors, but one has to wonder how many times this scenario has played out in real life all over America. You can watch the video below.

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Rep. Meeks Files Human Trafficking Act of 2013

Human Trafficking, Legislation, Legislature, , ,

Representative David Meeks has filed HB1203, the Human Trafficking Act of 2013.

The bill addresses human trafficking and illegal slavery. The bill improves and expands some of Arkansas’ existing laws, and creates a state task force to prevent human trafficking. It also provides additional protection for the victims of human trafficking, and allows them to seek damages through civil action.

If passed, this bill will do a lot of good protecting Arkansans and combating human trafficking.

You can read the full text of the bill here.

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