Many women and girls are forced into prostitution. The International Labor Organization, “estimates that 4.5 million people are victims of sex trafficking around the world in an industry that generates tens of billions of dollars in criminal profits each year” (The Town Where Boys). Many of the women that are forced to sell their bodies are girls younger than the age of 18 years old. There are a lot of stories of girls that are tricked by young men. Myles implies here all of what the men to do fetch young women:
“Rosa was only 17 years old when she was approached in her small hometown in Mexico by a man claiming to sell clothing. Instead, he began courting her and she quickly fell in love with him. Showered with affection, Rosa went with the man to another town in Mexico called Tenancingo, where he introduced her to his family. Showing her the stunning homes around the town, he promised she could one day have her own if she traveled to the United States with him to work. She agreed, and when Rosa turned 18, they left for New York City. When Rosa (whose name has been changed to protect her identity), arrived in the United States, however, her situation rapidly changed. She learned that the job she was promised never existed. Instead, her “boyfriend” forced her into prostitution” (The Town Where …show more content…
3 Vacatur4 of trafficking-related convictions would provide these victims the “second chance they deserve.”5 Fifteen other states— Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming—have since followed suit and enacted similar legislation.6 Despite early praise for these laws, however, very few victims have exercised the new legal rights these laws created. 7 To shed light on why these laws fail to achieve their goal—helping sex trafficking victims start a new life free from the burden of a criminal record—this Note examines the structure of the first such statute, New York’s section 440.10(1)(i). Specifically, this Note will argue that due-diligence requirements, unclear evidentiary requirements, and the lack of an affirmative trafficking defense make it difficult for trafficked individuals to escape