The New York City Council targeted the way sex trafficking victims enter and travel in the city today in legislation just passed this afternoon.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced that they partnered with Delta, JetBlue and American Airlines, all companies that agreed to train their flight crews on how to recognize victims on a plane, and what to do if someone approaches them.
“Airports aren’t the only way that victims are brought in, but it’s clearly one way,” Quinn said today.
The proposed law, which now goes to the mayor, would also take away taxi licenses for cab drivers convicted of sex trafficking felonies.
For example, at a Council meeting in December, members said that some drivers knowingly ferry women around in “brothels on wheels,” making schedules and taking a cut out of their prostitution fees, all organized with pimps.
“We simply cannot have drivers knowingly profiting from the sex trade,
willingly taking prostitutes from john to john, job to job,” Councilman
James Vacca said. “These are drivers who willingly engage in an illegal
activity and earn their living from it.”
Cabbies would also face up to a $10,000 fine if convicted.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said that two months ago, the D.A.’s office indicted six drivers in a sex-trafficking ring bust.
