Albany, NY – Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) announced that her bill to require hotels and other lodging facilities to provide information concerning services for human trafficking victims in public spaces within their establishments (A.10425-A / S. 8874) has passed the New York State Senate. Since it had previously passed the Assembly, it will now proceed to Governor Andrew Cuomo for his signature or veto.

This bill requires lodging facilities to provide information about services for human trafficking victims on informational cards in public areas, including in the public restrooms, the individual guest rooms, and near the public entrance or other conspicuous places in plain sight of the guests and employees. According to research by ECPAT-USA, law enforcement personnel and agencies that provide services to victims of human trafficking have confirmed that nearly every victim of trafficking they come into contact with had been exploited or housed in the short-term in a hotel.

“Since trafficking networks rely on legitimate businesses like hotels to sustain their illegal operations, that’s where we need to focus our efforts to help these victims,” said Assemblymember Paulin. “For some victims, this information may be the only opportunity to learn about services available to them. Additionally, because of the discreet size of the informational cards, it may be possible for a victim to take a card unnoticed and use the card to call the hotline for help at a later time.”

This bill is the latest in a series of measures designed to strengthen the state’s landmark laws against human trafficking. The final days of the session also saw the legislature pass another bill by Assemblymember Paulin (A. 9870 / S. 7836) that would permit the reassignment of prostitution cases pending in the local criminal courts to another court within the same county that specializes in human trafficking cases. These Human Trafficking Intervention Courts were established in 2013 and link victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation to crucial services that are appropriate for their individual situations, including counseling, job training, education, housing, medical assistance, immigration services and substance abuse and mental health treatment. However, under current law, most of these specialized courts lack jurisdiction to hear cases that originated outside of the local criminal courts where they are physically situated. This bill, which now proceeds to the Governor’s consideration, would allow the transfer of local cases to these specialized courts based on the status of the defendant as a victim of human trafficking.

Just last week, the legislature also passed the long-awaited End Child Sex Trafficking Act (A.6823-C / S. 5988-B) that would eliminate the requirement for proof of force, fraud or coercion in order to find a person guilty of the class B violent felony of sex trafficking of a minor.

“In terms of the number and far-reaching consequences of the bills passed by both the Assembly and Senate this legislative session, this has been the most productive and consequential year for strengthening the state’s laws on human trafficking since we passed the Trafficking Victims Justice and Protection Act in 2015,” Assemblymember Paulin said. “We have taken major steps forward in holding those that enslave and exploit children through the commercial sex trade accountable while extending protection, services, and assistance to the victims. I am grateful to my colleagues in the Assembly and our partners in the Senate for helping these victims escape their lives of abuse and exploitation at the hands of their predatory traffickers.”