From the desk of Linh Tran, OCHTTF
More than halfway through the CA legislative process, AB 379 Survivor Support and Demand Reduction Act passed the Senate Public Safety Committee today.
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loitering for purposes of soliciting prostitution a misdemeanor (addresses issues when loitering was decriminalized in 2021)
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$1,000 civil penalty fine for sex buyers to go towards survivor support fund for survivor-informed/survivor-led NGOs
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bring 16-and-17-year-olds back in (removed from SB1414 passed in 2024 to make buying sex with a minor a felony)
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offer diversion programs for adults charged with prostitution before criminal penalties on first and second offense
After the battle in the Assembly Public Safety Committee last month that removed again the 16-and17-year-old provision, the public backlash was heard, and a reversal was made to keep the 16-and-17-year-old with the amendment to be a felony for the sex buyer if the age difference is more than 3 years.
Today, Ashley Faison shared her testimony and rallying around her were other survivor leaders coming out to support in Sacramento.
“First, I have a question. Can you imagine at 16 being raped by a sex buyer hundreds of miles from your home, powerless with them on top of you, to then be violently beaten, stabbed or murdered? These are real childhood experiences of mine and other victims – yet some leaders in California believe sex work is empowering and should be an option for children. That mindset will keep our marginalized populations oppressed.
At 16 years old, I was a little mixed girl lured into this dark underworld and sex trafficked across California where sex buyers couldn’t care less about my age or that I was a missing child. They preyed on my vulnerabilities. Like many child sex trafficking victims, I reached the age of adulthood while being trafficked – not realizing I was coerced. It was another survivor running an anti-trafficking organization that helped me understand the legal definition of sex trafficking and break free from the invisible chains of coercion that kept me in shame years after my trafficking ended. This is why the Survivor Support Fund pouring back into survivor led organizations is so vital.
On behalf of the Survivor Coalition, we hope to see amendments in the future. However, this is a step forward and we want to thank the original author – Assemblymember Maggy Krell, Senator Shannon Grove, and our allies in the anti-trafficking movement.
With your “aye” vote you honor every victim or survivor present and across the state. You honor the child we once were that endured the abuse and perverted requests of sex buyers and the victims still being harmed today. To have loitering with the intent to purchase someone for prostitution become a crime – is a WIN. Thank you for hearing our cry and upholding the fact that 16-and17-year olds are still children AND ensuring my child, yours, and every other child in California will have this enforcement in place.
Vote “aye”. Hold buyers accountable.”
Linh Tran
Task Force Administrator II & Supervisor
Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF)
www.ochumantrafficking.com
Guiding Positive and Lasting Change
Human Trafficking Program – Victim Assistance Programs
[c] 714-566-4135 [e] ltran@waymakersoc.org [w] www.waymakersoc.org
