OUR PHILOSOPHY ON ELIMINATION
IHIJC has a unique calling to address the issue of human trafficking by taking the buyer out of the transaction. Our focus is to end sex trafficking in South Jersey, and we have the audacity to believe that we can! We want you to join us! We believe that human trafficking can be stopped dead in its tracks by a 3-pronged approach:
- Aggressive penalties for those who choose to buy sex
- Extensive community education that exposes the physical, mental, and emotional destruction of victims
- Advocacy for resources and services for victims, rather than criminalization.
Components of a No-Demand Approach:
- Comprehensive community awareness campaigns
- Reverse sting operations
- Legislation to make buying sex a fourth-degree indictable crime
- Aggressive sentencing including jail time, fines, and community service
- Vehicle seizure
- Megan’s Law listings
- Letters sent to family of convicted persons advising of legal and health risks
- Publication and distribution of convicted person’s name and photo
- John education
In one study, when asked what would deter them from buying sex, 87% of buyers said having their name and photo in the paper.
Why focus on demand?
The primary cause of prostitution/sex trafficking is consumer level demand for commercial sex.
- Buyers are easier to apprehend than traffickers. Traffickers often have highly developed networking systems that are difficult to penetrate and/or are involved with organized crime.
- A lower standard of evidence is needed to arrest buyers. A higher standard of evidence is needed to arrest traffickers.
- Victims may be much more willing to testify against a buyer, than they would against a trafficker, and may not need to testify if decoys are used.
- Successfully prosecuting pimps/traffickers is difficult and costly, and convictions are rare.
- Our history of arresting and charging victims has been ineffective.
As long as there’s a demand, there’s going to be supply. Chief W.L. Harman, Princeton, West Virginia Police Department, 2010.
Community Education:
Extensive community training is essential to our communities so that they can understand how human trafficking really happens, and to dispel the myth that buying sex is a victimless crime. The life-long, irreparable harm done to victims should create outrage. The inherent exploitative nature of the commercial sex industry must be understood. Our communities must be informed so that they can work together to protect the vulnerable. Ultimately, we seek to create a community unwilling to tolerate the sale of human beings.
Demand “No Demand”:
Sex trafficking is fueled by the buyers. Traffickers create billions of dollars in revenue and are able to destroy vulnerable lives because SO many are willing to buy sex! The demand for sex is so high that those who would willingly sell themselves cannot meet even a fraction of the demand. Thus, unwilling participants are lured and exploited for the gratification of others. This insatiable demand for sex is fueled by cultural attitudes that “wink” at buying sex, and consider it to be a victimless crime. These cultural attitudes come from an ignorance of how human trafficking really happens and the violence and degradation experienced by its victims.