LifeWay Director of Education and Advocacy Josephine Crisostomo attended a press conference January 18 in support of legislation to eliminate the five-year statute of limitations for sex trafficking and child sex trafficking crimes in New York State.
Led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr., a coalition of elected officials, advocates and survivors called on the New York State legislature to support survivors by passing legislation S349B/A1940A. The coalition included the sponsors of the bill, New York State Senator Cordell Cleare and New York State Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, as well as NOW-NYC Executive Director Sonia Ossorio, Survivor and Advocate Melanie Thompson of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, First Deputy Commissioner Saloni Sethi of the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, and a broad network of survivor-centered advocacy groups and organizations.
“It is long past time for New York State to eliminate the statute of limitations for sex trafficking and child sex trafficking. Five years to report is simply not enough — which the State recognized when it eliminated the statute of limitations for serious sex crimes two decades ago,” DA Bragg said. ”I call on the legislature to help us support survivors and prosecute traffickers: Pass this critical bill this session.”
“Placing a statute of limitations on the crime of sex trafficking is telling survivors like me that we only have five years to get over trauma that can be crippling for life,” Thompson said. “It is inexcusable — and the longer our voices are ignored, the clearer it will be that the assembly doesn’t take this crime seriously and continues to contribute to the problem.”
As a news release from DA Bragg’s office noted, “Trauma, fear and cultural stigmas frequently lead survivors to delay reporting to law enforcement. New York has recognized this issue by eliminating the statutes of limitation for B-felony sexual offenses, including first-degree rape and incest, as well as aggravated sexual abuse, and course of sexual conduct against a child. Similarly, in 2019 New York extended the period in which survivors of child sexual violence can commence a civil suit. This bill — which passed the Senate unanimously in 2023 — would provide sex trafficking survivors the same protections as survivors of other B-felony sex offenses by removing the criminal statute of limitations for Sex Trafficking and Sex Trafficking of a Child.”
LifeWay Network stands with survivors and supports the passage of this legislation. We’re proud to advocate for better opportunities to prosecute traffickers and bring about justice for survivors.
You can read more from the coalition at https://manhattanda.org/coalition-calls-on-legislature-to-support-trafficking-survivors-by-eliminating-statute-of-limitations/.
Watch an excerpt of the press conference at https://youtu.be/uXgV6kvXJPs?si=3PeAj5utRmyEbRtQ.
By Julianne Will
January 23, 2024