Sex
traffickers in Illinois should be warned: our state’s laws are improving each
year and prosecutors are doing more to hold traffickers accountable for the
harm they cause.
This
week, Polaris Project announced their 2012 rating of U.S. human trafficking
laws, state by state. Again, Illinois has become a leader on this list and is
considered a Tier 1 state, which means our “State has passed significant laws
to combat human trafficking, and should continue to take steps to improve and
implement its laws.” Read
the full report here. http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/policy-advocacy/current-laws
CAASE
is proud that our End Demand Illinois campaign has played a vital role in
passing three anti-trafficking laws in our state in the past three years.
Polaris Project is a partner on the EDI campaign and they have been important
contributors to our policy committee, helping to shape new laws to hold
traffickers accountable.
Just
this past Saturday, Governor Pat Quinn signed our latest End Demand Illinois
bill. Public Act 97-0897 reforms our state’s trafficking code to include tactics
like “plans or schemes” that traffickers use to ensnare victims. It also closes
a loophole so that fines collected from johns can be funneled into services for
survivors of the sex trade. Learn more about the new law here.
Leeanna Majors (pictured above) is a survivor of sex trafficking and advocates with EDI
campaign partner Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. She testified on behalf of
the bill. "The bill is important so that women can be empowered to make a
change in their lives, and the traffickers can be held accountable,” Majors
said. “Survivors won’t need to show bruises to prove they were trafficked,” she
added. Leeanna and CAASE’s Policy and Advocacy Director Lynne Johnson were
interviewed on FOX Chicago about the law. Watch the full story here.
To learn more about End Demand Illinois, sign up for our action alerts.
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