Historical Demographic Changes in the Arrestees of Trafficking and Trafficking-Related Charges in New York City

• In Event: Intersectionality of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Victimization

Abstract

Survivors/victims of human trafficking in New York City who are arrested for prostitution, or prostitution-related offenses, have their cases diverted to a problem-solving court known as the Human Trafficking Intervention Court (HTIC). HTICs are a recent criminal justice response, and have been in place, in their current iteration, since 2013. In New York City, the demographics of people who are arrested and prosecuted for prostitution are often centered around specific demographic groups, for example, in Queens, majority are women of East Asian descent. This presentation will review the historical changes in the demographics of prostitution, and prostitution-related offenses, arrests and review the historical development of the criminal justice response to victims of human trafficking. This presentation will use archival data from the New York City courts and current New York State data available for comparison. The goal of this presentation is to place in context the current response and recognize its place within the larger context of the conversation of prostitution, demographics, and criminal justice response to the victimization of the “ideal victim.”

Author

• Molly Kalmus, CUNY John Jay College / Graduate Center