New Yorkers for the Equality Model Call for Passage of Sex Trade Survivors Justice & Equality Act at NYS Capitol

ALBANY, NY (TIP): Celebrity activist and survivor Ashley Judd stood with lawmakers and dozens of advocates and survivors of sex trafficking from New Yorkers for the Equality Model (NYFEM), a survivor-led alliance seeking to shrink the exploitative sex trade industry, at the New York State Capitol today calling for the passage of the Sex Trade Survivors Justice and Equality Act (STSJEA) S2005/A1465. Aimed at dismantling the mechanisms of the sex trade, the STSJEA bolsters protections and essential support services for survivors while holding the people who exploit them accountable.

“This legislation will advance the humane, ethical, and just imperative of better protecting women, girls and LGBTQ individuals in the sex trade by increasing services and holding the sex buyers and pimps who are exploiting their economic, social, and other vulnerabilities accountable,” said Ashley Judd, actor and global humanitarian. “The harms will continue to impact the most marginalized in our society until we finally hold sex buyers accountable. The demand for our bodies will continue to be met by coercion, violence, force, and exploitation until the Equality Model becomes both law and norm. As a survivor of commercial and private sexual assault, I know well that recovery is a long road, and I’m grateful that this bill accounts for these traumas and the survivors’ lived realities.”

Sponsored by New York State Senator Liz Krueger (SD-28) and Assemblymember Pamela Hunter (AD-128), the internationally recognized “Equality Model” has seen successful adoption in countries such as Sweden, Norway, France, Canada, Ireland, and Israel. The STSJEA would end the arrests and incarceration of individuals in prostitution, while maintaining strict penalties for buyers and third parties like traffickers and brothel owners.

“I believe the role of government is to champion those with less power against the systems of exploitation that seek to take advantage of their marginalization, and that is why I am proud to sponsor the Sex Trade Survivors Justice & Equality Act,” said Senator Krueger. “This is smart, data-driven, progressive legislation crafted with the invaluable input of advocates and sex trade survivors. This bill will empower and support people currently or formerly in the sex trade, while holding pimps, brothel owners, and sex buyers accountable for the harms that they cause.”

“While some might believe that sex trafficking is predominantly a New York City issue or a national border issue, the intersection of interstate highways 90 and 81 in my district are also thruways for trafficking victims,” said Assemblymember Hunter. “This issue is pervasive throughout the state and for far too long, efforts have been focused on punishing the people who are bought and sold in this multi-billion-dollar industry when they should be on targeting the traffickers, pimps, and sex buyers that perpetuate and uphold this destructive market. My bill, the Sex Trade Survivors Justice & Equality Act, protects the most vulnerable and marginalized individuals who are frequent targets in the sex trade such as members of Black & Brown communities, the LGBTQ+ population, run away and foster youth, individuals experiencing homelessness, and undocumented immigrants.”

The bill seeks to significantly reduce the demand for prostitution which fuels the commercial sex industry, thereby interrupting the cycle of gender-based violence. Furthermore, the STSJEA is designed to enhance New York State’s legal measures around sex trafficking, including eliminating loopholes that have previously allowed traffickers, such as Jeffrey Epstein, who trafficked people for themselves, to evade prosecution.

Co-sponsors for the STSJEA include Cordell Cleare (SD-30), Nathalia Fernandez (SD-34), John Liu (SD-16) and Zellnor Myrie (SD-20) in the Senate with Amy Paulin (AD-88), Andrew Hevesi (AD-28), Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn (AD-42), Chris Burdick (AD-93), Maritza Davila (AD-53), Alicia Hyndman (AD-29) and Crystal Peoples-Stokes (AD-141) in the Assembly.

“Upon my first election to the Senate, I pledged to end the scourge of Human Trafficking. I have passed several bills in the interim that are now law,” said Senator Cleare. “The Sex Trade Survivors Justice and Equality Act is a necessary step to protect survivors and hold traffickers accountable. I stand with survivors and advocates in demanding justice now!”

“The commercial sex trade is a form of modern-day slavery, and we must break this abusive cycle that continually blames the victims,” said Senator Liu. “The Sex Trade Survivors Justice and Equality Act is the right way forward that shifts the focus from punishing survivors to holding traffickers, pimps, and buyers accountable. It’s a crucial step toward delivering justice to those who have been trapped in a cycle of manipulation and exploitation.”

“As a longtime advocate for survivors, I know that true justice means shifting the burden away from those who are exploited and toward those who exploit,” said Assemblymember Paulin. The STSJEA will provide essential protections and services to those who need them most.”

“The time to act is now, said Assemblymember Burdick. “By passing the STSJEA, we can send a clear message that New York values the dignity of survivors and will not tolerate the continued exploitation of vulnerable individuals.”

The STSJEA also commits to providing comprehensive support services for those wishing to leave the life of prostitution, including undocumented immigrants. These trauma-informed services include housing, legal and immigration assistance, health and mental health services, employment placement, education and training.

“I was coerced into prostitution as a preteen, a time when I should have been protected, not exploited,” said Melanie Thompson, Outreach and Advocacy Coordinator for the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. “Studies have shown that up to 90% of people in prostitution are pimp controlled. The Sex Trade Survivor Justice and Equality Act recognizes the plight of survivors like me and gives us a voice and a path to justice and recovery.”

“Survivors like me live with the trauma of exploitation every day, while pimps and sex buyers, the true perpetrators, often escape accountability,” said Cristian Eduardo, Co-founder of United Immigrants of New York. “Prostitution is not merely an occupation; it is a form of violence, a pseudo-solution to poverty, and certainly not a path to liberation for the LGBTQIA+ community. The Sex Trade Survivors Justice and Equality Act recognizes this reality by criminalizing those who exploit our vulnerabilities.”

“This pivotal legislation cuts the demand that fuels human trafficking, providing comprehensive social services that go beyond immediate legal needs,” said Sonia Ossorio, President at National Organization for Women New York City. “It offers medical and legal aid, and immigration assistance, crucial for the recovery and integration of survivors. Crafted from the voices and experiences of survivors, the STSJEA is not just legislation, but a commitment to healing, and a declaration that exploitation has no place in a just society.”

“In criminalizing the buyers and pimps who profit from the suffering caused by the sex trafficking industry, this legislation directly targets those responsible for perpetuating its cycle of exploitation,” said Alexi Meyers, Director of Anti-Trafficking Policy at Sanctuary for Families. “This is more than just changing laws. It’s about restoring dignity and prosperity for those who have been unjustly stripped of it by this abusive and manipulative industry.”

About NYFEM

New Yorkers for the Equality Model is a survivor-led alliance made up of a diverse group of advocates, prostitution and sex trafficking survivors, and organizational partners seeking to implement the Equality Model, decriminalizing only individuals in prostitution, in New York State.

Find out more at equalitymodelny.org, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.