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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As a reminder, I will be hosting a town hall meeting tomorrow night – Wednesday, October 9 – at 7:00 p.m. at the Service Station in Spokane. I will be partnering with Darrin Duty, from Generation Alive, and Jeremy Affeldt, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, to discuss human trafficking awareness in Washington state and what I am doing in Olympia to combat this pressing human-rights issue. You can find more information on this event below.
It is difficult to conceive that people are still being sold into slavery in our day and age – and in our country. However, human trafficking is very real and, unfortunately, prolific in our country. It is up to all of us to be attentive to what is going on around us and to prevent future victims. I hope to see many from our community attend this meeting so we can discuss what can be done by each one of us to prevent and stop human trafficking.
As many of you know, the issue of human trafficking is an urgent problem in our city and our state. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into our country each year. I have sponsored and passed several pieces of legislation to fight human trafficking in our state, including:
- Increased the amount of additional fees assessed for patronizing a prostitute, from $150 to $3,000, and for promoting prostitution, from $300 to $5,000.
- Fees stemming from the impound of vehicles used to facilitate certain prostitution-related offenses will be remitted to the city or county where the offense occurred to be used for local efforts to reduce the commercial sale of sex – including increased enforcement and rehabilitative services for victims.
- Clarifies that at least 50 percent of the funds raised through the additional fees imposed in connection with prosecutions for prostitution-related offenses must be spent on prevention and rehabilitative services for victims.
- Allows courts to create a payment plan for the additional fees imposed in connection to prosecution for sex trafficking and prostitution-related offenses.
- Assesses an additional fine in relation to a prosecution for patronizing a prostitute.
- Directs revenue from this fine to the jurisdiction in which the offense occurred to pay for increased enforcement and prevention programs.
- Mandates John school for first-time offenders.
- Allows publication of offender photos.
Details for the town hall meeting:
What: A town hall meeting regarding anti-human trafficking efforts in Washington state.
Who: Rep. Kevin Parker, Darrin Duty of Generation Alive and Jeremy Affeldt of the San Francisco Giants.
When: Wednesday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Service Station, 9315 North Nevada Street, Spokane, WA 99218
Sincerely,
Kevin Parker
