The virtual panel featured various organizations working to stop human trafficking.
Screenshot via Zoom
At a virtual think tank discussion on human trafficking organized by Bayside’s Center for Women of New York, experts pointed out that migrant women and children are at risk.
More than 118,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since April 2022. And as the city struggles to provide them with adequate resources without exacerbating the existing economic strain, a growing market for sex work adds another layer to their vulnerability.
On Wednesday, Sept. 27, CWNY organized a virtual think tank panel to discuss the ongoing issue of human trafficking. The panel featured representatives from the Coalition Against Trafficking Women, NOW NYC, PACT, Zonta International District 3 and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Several of the panelists advocated for increased attention to protect the city’s newest arrivals to over two dozen attendees.
“We have tens of thousands of vulnerable women here in New York now who are seeking asylum. Those women are being targeted. This is a situation that we’ve got to get in front,” said Sonia Ossorio, Executive Director of NOW NYC. “If you go back 15 years ago, there were these open air prostitution zones across New York and it was really horrible. That is all back now. And it is a reflection of the pressure that families are under economically.”
Despite New York being the first U.S. state to enact strong anti-tracking legislation with the New York Human Trafficking Act of 2007 – which penalizes traffickers for using manipulation tactics and targets sex buyers – it ranked fourth in human trafficking cases in 2023.
“We understand that because we live in a part of the country where diversity is very strong, that it’s very easy for migrant women and children to be in plain sight and be subjected to horrific forms of violence that we just don’t see or recognize,” said Lisa Burton,…
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