Kansas on brink of enacting human trafficking law inspired by Wichita programs

4-7-2013 Kansas:

Kansas is poised to crack down on human trafficking, create new programs to better train law enforcement officials and help children and others coerced into the sex trade.

The proposed law, which drew heavily on evolving practices in Wichita, creates a new category of crime called commercial sexual exploitation of a child. That could lead to 25-year minimum sentences for those convicted of luring kids younger than 14 into the sex trade or those who accommodate the trafficking. It also sets up treatment and education programs for victims.

“This is bigger than human trafficking – this is about humanitarianism, dignity and social justice,” said Karen Countryman-Roswurm, a Wichita State University assistant professor and a national authority on human trafficking. The bill’s authors said she had a hand in shaping it. “I’m proud of our state for this decision.”

The proposal, which is headed to Gov. Sam Brownback’s desk, seeks to de-stigmatize those who get coerced into the sex trade. It channels fines paid by people convicted of human trafficking and related sex crimes to a fund to help the women, children and men who have been exploited by them.

“They’re not prostitutes; they’re victims who were forced into prostitution,” said Rep. John Rubin, R-Shawnee, as he explained the proposed law to House lawmakers on Friday.

Brownback and Attorney General Derek Schmidt introduced the bill and gave it a powerful endorsement at the outset of the legislative session.

Brownback said the proposal is a step to end “modern-day slavery,” and Schmidt said it will help break the cycle of sexual exploitation, a crime that occurs around the globe in cities large and small.

The bill proved to be one of the most widely endorsed pieces of legislation in an otherwise contentious session clouded by conservative pushes for tax and budget cuts.

The Senate passed it 40-0 and the House approved it 120-0, with five members absent. Dozens of law enforcement groups, advocates for children, advocates for sex crime survivors and lawyers’ groups strongly endorsed the proposal. No one ...continued... by ROY WENZL AND BRENT D. WISTROM