Walking the Freedom Trail: An Analysis of the Massachusetts Human Trafficking Statute and Its Potential to Combat Child Sex Trafficking

Abstract: On November 21, 2011, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law House Bill 3808, An Act Relative to the Commercial Exploitation of People. Before the bill's passage, Massachusetts was one of only three states that did not have a human trafficking law. The law is the Commonwealth's first anti-human trafficking statute; it creates a safe harbor provision for minors involved in prostitution, a civil cause of action for victims, increased penalties for traffickers, and discretionary training for law enforcement officials on working with minor trafficking victims. This Note explores the Massachusetts Trafficking Law, focusing primarily on its treatment of sex trafficking victims under the age of eighteen, sug- gesting that sexually exploited minors should be treated as victims rather than criminals under the law. In order to effect this proposal, training for law enforcement officials on child sex trafficking should be mandated, and the Massachusetts Trafficking Law should be amended so that sexually exploited minors cannot be prosecuted for commercial sex acts under any circumstances.IntroductionAlthough Jessica escaped from a child sex-trafficking ring more than six years ago, she remains haunted by the abuse and fear that she endured, and by a juvenile arrest record for prostitution.1 Jessica was in her third year of high school when she met Darryl Tavares on a frigid night in Boston, Massachusetts in 2005.2 It was one of the first times she ever worked as a prostitute, a job she felt compelled to take after she was forced to move out of her father's home due to his demand for an unreasonable sum of rent.3 Tavares persuaded Jessica, who was shiver- ing in the cold, to work for him by telling her that he would not let her work in such conditions.4 So began Jessica's eight-month ordeal as a pawn in an East Coast child sex-trafficking ring.5 During those months she was beaten and abused, her teeth were shattered, and her face was scarred-all so that she would never forget that she was someone's property.6After facing months of abuse at the hands of her traffickers and customers, Jessica finally had the courage to walk away.7 She soon dis- covered, however, that her freedom had a price; several weeks after leaving, she was assaulted by women whom she believed worked for Ta- vares.8 It was in the hospital after the attack that Jessica first met FBI Agent Harty, who would help her seek justice against Tavares and the other men who had exploited her.9 Eventually Jessica testified in fed- eral district court, helping to secure convictions against six Boston- based pimps, including Tavares, who is currently serving a twenty-five year prison sentence.10Jessica is now a college student and aspiring social worker, but she has not been able to fully escape from the traumatic past she left be- hind in Boston.11 Jessica will always carry a juvenile arrest record for prostitution-a record that caused her to be discharged from the Army National Guard because it was considered a "security risk."12 At the time of her arrests in 2005, Massachusetts law treated child prostitutes as criminals rather than victims.13 Due to her arrest record, Jessica will spend the rest of her life affected by Tavares's actions.14Jessica's story is not unique.15 Human trafficking is a "modern form of slavery," that poses a significant risk to human rights, labor standards, public health, and commerce.16 With an estimated 12.3 mil- lion adults and children exploited for prostitution, forced labor, and bonded labor globally, human trafficking is a profitable criminal indus- try, generating approximately thirty-two billion dollars annually.17 Up to two million of these victims are children who are prostituted in the commercial sex industry.18 In the United States alone, approximately one hundred thousand American children are exploited in the sex trade each year.19 These victims face abhorrent conditions in brothels, massage parlors, and on the street, as well as in the pornography and sex tourism industries. …