Jefferson City, Mo. – The second annual Sex Trafficking Awareness Day was held at the Missouri State Capitol earlier this week.
The event included an advocacy day in the rotunda where several groups offered information and resources about sex trafficking, followed by a press conference featuring Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D- St. Louis City, and others.
Human trafficking, also called sex trafficking, is a multi-billion dollar enterprise worldwide. Last year it was reported Missouri ranked 16th in the nation for reports of human trafficking. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) listed St. Louis as one of the top ten destinations in the country for human trafficking.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline reports since 2007 there have been 1,848 calls about human trafficking in Missouri, 323 of those calls were in 2016 alone.
Lawmakers filed several pieces of legislation aiming to fight human trafficking in the state.
Senate Bill 68, would require the Department of Public Safety to create a poster by Jan. 1, 2018, providing information regarding the national human trafficking resource center hotline. Then, beginning March 1, 2018, the poster must be displayed in a conspicuous place in or near the bathrooms or near the entrance of certain establishments.
Senate Bill 289, would, in certain circumstances, allow tenants to terminate their lease or change the locks on their place of residence in certain situations of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault.
Senate Bill 341, would prohibit the prosecution of minor children for prostitution and requires patrons of child prostitutes to register as sex offenders. The legislation would also increase the offense of patronizing a prostitute from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony when the individual who the offender patronizes is less than 18 but more than 14 years old. The offense of patronizing a prostitute would also be raised from a Class E felony to a Class D felony when the individual who the offender patronizes is 14 years of age or younger.
Senate Bill 344, would create a process to expunge the criminal records of persons who have pled guilty to, or been convicted of, prostitution while being forced by another person or persons.
For more information about human trafficking in Missouri please visit www. humantraffickinghotline.org/state/missouri. To report a suspected case of human trafficking call 1-888-373-7888.
For more information about the Missouri Senate, go to www.senate.mo.gov.