Finding a Safer Harbor: Mandating Health Care Clinics to Intervene in Child Sex Trafficking by Amending the Safe Harbor Act

• Date: 01 January 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12401
• Published date: 01 January 2019
• Author: Alexandra B. Russell

FINDING A SAFER HARBOR: MANDATING HEALTH CARE CLINICS

TO INTERVENE IN CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING BY AMENDING THE

SAFE HARBOR ACT

Alexandra B. Russell

When it comes to child sex trafficking, health care clinics have become spaces of duality. While these facilities provide medi-

cal care to child victims, many argue that this facilitates traffickers in concealing evidence of child sex trafficking. This Note

proposes an amendment to New York’s Safe Harbor Act and various sections of the Social Services Law to cure legislative

ambiguity with respect to health care clinics. The amendment will mandate that all state-run health care clinics implement a

uniform process, utilizing mental health professionals and a standardized interview process, to identify and report instances

of potential child sex trafficking.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

•Currently, safe harbor laws focuson mandated care and rehabilitation after a victim is identified.

•Health care professionals are in a unique position to identify victims of child sex trafficking because large numbers of

victims see a medical professional during their time of captivity.

•New York statutes that require health care professionals to report suspicions of child abuse or maltreatment are not

narrowly tailored to address the complexities of child sex trafficking.

•An amendment to New York’s Safe Harbor Act and to various sections of the Social Services Law to require health

care professionals employed in state-funded clinics to report all suspicions of child sex trafficking would help to better

identify and aid these victims.

•An associated amendment increasing penalties against health care professionals for both negligent and intentional fail-

ures to report suspicions of child sex trafficking would help ensure compliance with mandated reporting procedures.

Keywords: Child Sex Trafficking; Commercial Exploitation of Children; Health Care Providers; Mandated Reporting; Safe

Harbor Act; Social Services Law; and Victim Identification.

I. INTRODUCTION

While human trafficking is undoubtedly a global health problem, the United States represents

one of the largest markets for child sex traffickingintheworld.

1

Young girls are particularly

vulnerable to this criminal industry.

2

An overwhelming eighty percent of individuals traf ficked

annually across international borders are women.

3

Of those women, approximately fifty percent

are younger than eighteen years old.

4

Although sex trafficking is not limited to this demo-

graphic, the overwhelming majority of victims of sex trafficking are young girls.

5

Specifically,

these girls are driven into commercial sex abuse by either “force, fraud or coercion”thereby

making the exploitation of a different nature than that of voluntary prostitution.

6

While this

may include types of commercial sex work, it should not be confused with voluntary prostitu-

tion. Sex trafficking may also include other types of exploitation such as pornography, strip-

ping, exotic dancing, live or online sex shows, mail-order marriages, military prostitution, and

sexual tourism.

7

Despite the varying methods of abuse, all child sex trafficking victims are sub-

ject to nonconsensual sexual exploitation, from which they may suffer extreme psychological

trauma, like depression, stress disorders, or various other medical problems.

8

This type of men-

tal, physical, and sexual torture makes child victims of sex trafficking particularly susceptible

9

Corresponding: arussell1@pride.hofstra.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 57 No. 1, January 2019 136–150

© 2019 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts