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Statutory Rape Laws in New Jersey

Statutory Rape Laws in New Jersey

Statutory rape occurs when a person of a certain age engages in sexual intercourse with an individual whom is under the age of consent. The age of consent varies by state, but generally ranges for the ages of 14 to 18. Statutory rape in New Jersey has two stipulations. Under the first stipulation, if an individual who is over the age of 18 acts in statutory rape in New Jersey and it is considered as aggravated sexual assault with an individual who is under the age or 13, the will spend 10 to 20 years in prison. 
Under the second stipulation, if an individual who is four years older than the victim performs in sexual activities with an individual between the ages of 13 and 16 they can receive five to 10 years in prison. The only condition in which an individual can engage in sexual activities with a minor is if they are legally wed. 

What are the Societal Effects of Prostitution

What are the Societal Effects of Prostitution

Prostitution strongly affect communities. Some argue that prostitution affects the community by contributing to the objectification of women. Men who participate in buying a prostitute view women as mere sex objects and not human beings. This terrible attitude towards women accounts for the high incidence of violence and murder perpetrated against prostitutes. This antisocial macho persona is typically defined by the all-too common illegal urban occupation of the pimp. 
The pimp does not respect the agency of his female employees. He is only interested in the money they can produce for him. Since he provides “protection” for his prostitutes, the pimp feels that the power dynamic in the employee and employer relationship is skewed in his favor. He then mercilessly wields his power with physically, sexually, and emotionally abusive methods to “discipline” what he believes to be bad behavior on part of the prostitute.
The relationship between a pimp and his prostitution is an unsavory form of power abuse whose disproportionate authority is strengthened by the illegal nature of their respective roles in society. The life of a prostitute is a not a comfortable one. 
The street poses many dangers to a prostitute as prostitutes are also subject to violence from their clients who feel empowered by the fact that prostitutes are considered part of the lower echelons of society. Unfortunately, due to the illegality of prostitution and the vicious perpetual cycle of poverty and abuse, the public tends to be indifferent and apathetic towards the welfare of prostitutes.
The entire life of the average prostitute can be summed up in two words: alienation and exploitation. Many prostitutes have felt dis-empowered and alienated from society and their parents all their lives. Many prostitutes are the project of abusive homes which they  runaway from and are not legally qualified to work in any legitimate industry.They ultimately resort to prostitution as a means of getting by.
This history of abuse increases the likelihood of substance abuse and this fortifies a person’s role in society as a prostitute. Pimps take advantage of the prostitute’s situation and exploit them for most of their money. There is no such thing as union organizing for prostitutes as their would be serious violence in retribution for their “insubordinate” behavior. The prostitution industry is ultimate expression of the free market without the rule of law when the power is determined by the use of force against the weakest and most vulnerable members of society.
Society has basically given up on eliminating prostitution. Therefore, in most major cities around the world, there are neighborhoods where prostitution is concentrated. Society drives prostitution into one part of town where prostitution can go “unseen” during the hours of the night. 
These neighborhoods were typically laden with existing street crime and poverty before the introduction of prostitution. It is a bad part of town. The most famous of these urban districts is Amsterdam’s Red Light District. In fact, the term “red light district” has become the generic term for any urban neighborhood notorious for its high concentration of prostitution. London, New York, and Paris are famous for their own “red light districts.”
Some of the most infamous serial killers exclusively preyed on prostitutes because of society’s relative indifference to them. Most infamous among these serial killers was Jack-the-Ripper who terrorized the streets of Victorian London in the 19th century. 
The London police never solved the Jack-the-Ripper murder cases, some scholars argue that this did not happen because of society’s indifference to the welfare of prostitutes. Persons who are generally regarded as a member of the lower echelons of society are generally considered to possess less rights than those of the societal mainstream. The brunt of social stigma of prostitution is generally placed on the prostitute because she is the most visible actor in the industry.
The law recognizes the human rights of every individual because justice is blind to the differences of people. The law protects prostitutes from violent crimes committed against them. However, the law fails to prevent prostitutes from engaging in the risky behavior in the first place. The law can only punish someone after the fact. The law is fair on prostitution, it is illegal because it has so many social consequences ranging from higher incidences of poverty, drug abuse, violence, and sexually transmitted disease. 
Attitudes in law enforcement and the general public have reoriented themselves towards punishing the pimp and client due to their potential to harm prostitutes. The law still punishes prostitutes for their illegal activity but is not as harsh due to the unfortunate nature of their role in society.

A Legal Guide to Prostitution

A Legal Guide to Prostitution

Prostitution is commonly known as the one of the oldest “professions” known to man. It seems that once civilization emerged after the neolithic agricultural revolution of the eighth millennium before the common era, there were archaeological and written records of prostitution. The background and history of prostitution is long with shifting attitudes towards the profession throughout all recorded history. Political and social attitudes towards sexuality, women, and infectious disease shaped societies responses to prostitution. Laws on prostitution are almost as old as the profession itself.  
Even in young civilizations, like the United States, social and political attitudes towards prostitution have gone through dramatic changes. In the United States, prostitution has always been illegal but it has gone through periods of tolerance and intolerance over the last 230 some odd years of American independence. Wars, technology, and science have been factors that shifted the public attitude towards prostitution. Prostitution’s background in the United States is a bipolar story of how law does not always fit the public perception of a human activity.
Prostitution laws exist at the local, state, and federal levels of jurisdiction and governance. Prostitution laws, at each level, apply according to the general rules of jurisdiction as enumerated in the Constitution of the United States and the state law of each state of the Union. 
Prostitution is illegal in every state in the country with the exception of a few counties in the State of Nevada. These states have legalized and regulated the commercial sex industry to gain revenues and conduct an experiment in social libertarianism. These 9 counties in the state of Nevada have strict regulations on the commercial sex trade and prostitution can only be legally done within the confines of brothels. Brothels are an institution in which prostitution services are offered.
The federal level of prostitution law controls cases that cross international and state boundaries. Federal law prohibits the importation of persons for the purpose of prostitution. Federal law sees this practice as a form of human trafficking. Human trafficking is the forceful enslavement of people from one territory to another for the purposes of involuntary labor. 
The connection between illegal prostitution and human trafficking is clear as most human trafficking cases involve the forced importation of people for the purpose of prostitution. Federal anti-human trafficking laws apply to involuntary servitude in other industries as well. Other common industries in which people are forced to work are factories, restaurants, and agriculture.
The prostitution of children is a widespread problem in the United States and abroad. Child prostitution is the unlawful practice of selling children, under 18, for the sexual gratification of customers. National statistical trends indicate an increased occurrence of this heinous crime because of its connection to human trafficking and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Human trafficking victims are not only adults, they are children as well. Child prostitution mostly occurs indoors, off the streets, where prostitution is less visible. 
Organized crime syndicates and human trafficking networks operate child prostitution rings out of businesses that appear to be legitimate. Typically, these front-businesses are massage parlors and sex entertainment businesses. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the leading law enforcement agency in the fight against child prostitution and human trafficking due to the international scope of these crimes. Local and State police departments are also capable of conducting investigation into this crime against children.
Child prostitution does not have to occur forcefully. Approximately, the average age at which a prostitute begins walking the streets is 15 years old in the United States. That means that many prostitutes who are now adults, began their work when they were underage. The increased incidence of child prostitution can also be explained as an unfortunate by-product of the AIDS epidemic. Some men falsely believe that they would be safer from HIV/AIDS infection if they solicited the sexual services of younger prostitutes.
Persons who are charged with prostitution face a variety of sentences. Prostitution related charges vary based on who is involved in the illegal commercial sex industry is being prosecuted as well as what services were agreed upon. The initiation of charges for prostitution only occurs after a transaction of money is made or agreed upon. 
Generally, being a prostitute or soliciting an adult prostitute is considered a misdemeanor offense. Prostitutes are often given lesser charges and judges try to provide services for the prostitute to reform his or her ways. Solicitors of prostitutes are also given a lighter sentence and fines provided that they do not solicit prostitution from a minor. Child prostitutes, who are caught, are placed into the custody of the state’s department of child protective services.
The law reserves the harshest sentencing and punishments for pimps and human traffickers. These people are notorious for their ruthless capacity to use violence and immoral methods of controlling their employees. Pimps use physical, sexual violence, and drug dependence as a means of controlling their prostitutes. 
They are individuals who are only interested in taking most of the money that prostitutes earn. Pimps are a product of the effects of prostitution on society. They are the quintessence of society’s indifference and hostility towards prostitutes who are the victims of countless cycles of abuse. Pimps and prostitutes are a symbol of the urban decay that plagues the landscape of the largest cities in the United States.
Statistics on prostitution show how widespread of a social problem that illegal prostitution is. Statistics; however, cannot account for the true extent of the problem due to the secretive nature of what goes on the red light districts of large American cities across the United States. 
Nevertheless, they can point out; in an empirical sense, the repercussions of failed public and law enforcement policies. Statistics can serve to improve the government’s policies on prostitution to eradicate the social effects of prostitution on  prostitutes and communities across the country.

What are the Prostitution Laws in the US

What are the Prostitution Laws in the US

Prostitution is illegal in all jurisdictions in the United States with the exception of a few counties in Nevada where the commercial sex trade is legal. There are federal, state, and local laws that regulate prostitution activities based on the confined rules of jurisdiction.
Federal prostitution laws apply when prostitution involves a non-citizen alien or crosses international or state boundaries. Under Federal law, the importation of people for the purposes of prostitution is illegal and considered a form of human trafficking prohibited by federal code and the 13th Amendment of US Constitution. 
Any instances of prostitution on federal property, such as a military base, also fall within the jurisdiction of the federal government, including overseas military bases. Anyone who takes a prostitute across state lines to in illegal prostitution will be subject to federal prostitution charges. Anyone with a history of prostitution on their criminal record will be denied employment in the federal government.
At the state level, rural states tend to have the strictest prostitution laws, whereas urban states tend to have more lenient prostitution laws. This generalization regarding state prostitution laws apply only to laws pertaining to the punishment of prostitutes and solicitors of prostitution, colloquially known as Johns. 
Many states have higher penalties and sentences for repeat offenders of prostitution and soliciting prostitution. The most serious prostitution laws are reserved for pimps. Human traffickers who import people for the purpose of prostitution labor will be brought on federal charges.
Nevada

Local jurisdictions such as counties and municipalities can add ordinances onto to existing statutes (state laws), depending on the nature of the states’ own constitutions). Prostitution laws in the State of Nevada gave each county the liberty to decide on the legality of prostitution within the sovereign boundaries of their county. Currently in the state of Nevada, there are 9 out of 17 counties that have legalized prostitution with strict regulations. 
The governments of these counties charge large fees to brothel owners. They also stipulate that prostitutes in the legal brothels must be tested for sexually transmitted infection frequently. Unprotected sex is illegal in these brothels as well. Some Nevada county government left the question of prostitution up to the municipalities. In Clark County, whose largest city is Las Vegas, prostitution laws kept prostitution illegal within its borders. Prostitution outside of brothels is still illegal statewide but is considered a misdemeanor.

Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is the unlawful taking of individuals for the purposes of forced servitude. Human trafficking is done for purposes of forced labor in factories, restaurants, sweatshops, and even on the streets as prostitutes. Human trafficking is a heinous crime that is not only against the law but violates a person’s innate human rights. It is a crime that is nearly limitless in the scope of its evil nature. Human trafficking for the purposes of forced prostitution is considered one of the worst forms of prostitution. Human trafficking is essentially a form of enslavement and is thus prohibited by the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution. 
Any case of alleged human trafficking must be handled by the Federal Bureau of investigation because it is a violation of federal law, a law for which many Americans died for its establishment in the American Civil War. Human trafficking is a crime that the federal government takes very seriously. Reducing prostitution is a means of reducing human trafficking because a significant proportion of the people forcibly taken as slaves are trafficked for the purpose of selling sex.
Human traffickers “recruit” women and men with fraudulent promises of a better life in the United States. They prey on people who want to emigrate illegally to the United States from all over the world because getting documentation from their home countries is difficult or not possible. Human trafficking victims pay a large sum of money to obtain safe passage to the United States. Many of these people are poor and do not have much money so they are forced into servitude to work off their debts. 
The traffickers never fulfill their side of the promise and use force to keep their human trafficking victims in involuntary servitude. The main types of labor that human trafficking victims take on are prostitution, domestic labor, restaurant work, and factory work. The greatest proportion of human trafficking victims are forced to work as prostitutes. This gives law enforcement more incentive to crack down on illegal prostitution because not all prostitutes willfully join their profession.
Many human traffickers also force children into sex slavery. Many of the children that law enforcement recovered were domestically kidnapped from many American states. Human trafficking has become both a national and international problem.
Cases of human trafficking have been reported in both rural and urban parts of the country. Urban areas of the country have a greater concentration of human trafficking, most notably the larger metropolitan areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Las Vegas has a greater degree of cases of human trafficking for prostitution due to its reputation for being a center of the illegal sex trade.
A police officer may disrupt a commercial sex transaction in what he or she may think would be a routine prostitution arrest and later find out some disturbing background information on a prostitute. Reducing prostitution on the streets of America’s largest cities will reduce the market for forced sex slavery. The connection between illegal prostitution and human trafficking is indisputable and is a priority of law enforcement.     

Child Prostitution Facts Overview

Child Prostitution Facts Overview

Child prostitution is a global problem whose story is a humanly tragic. Child prostitution is the illegal selling of sexual services from children under 18. Most child prostitutes are runaways that live on the streets. Being frequent victims of child abuse in their homes, these runaways escape the hostile environment in which they were raised. Also, many child prostitution victims are gay, lesbian, and transgender children who have fled their homes because their parents kicked them out for being different. The problem is that the streets are no more forgiving than their original homes. Many runaways are homeless and have no way to make enough money to get the most basic necessities to survive.
Their background makes them particularly susceptible to repeating cycles of child abuse. Most victims of child prostitution do not work independently. Their employers are human traffickers and merciless pimps only interested in keeping all or most of the money they receive as child prostitutes. The perpetual cycles of child abuse are fortified by their perverse clientele that seek sexual gratification from innocent children. Their lifestyles revolve around retributive physical and sexual violence for failing to comply with their condition of servitude. Any resistance is quashed by the abusive adults in their life, in turn, causing serious psychological damages. Many victims of child prostitution commit suicide or are murdered as a result of their perpetual psychological torment and child abuse.
Child prostitution is sometimes linked to criminal networks of human trafficking and organized crime. Human traffickers can make deceptive agreements with the children’s parents, thus forcing the kids into prostitution. Many of these children are children who have illegally emigrated to the United States with their parents. Human traffickers make false promises and charge extremely high fees for safe illegal entry into the United States; many parents and children are subsequently forced into servitude to pay off their debts to their new employers upon entry.
Child prostitution’s connection to organized crime is clear. Many legitimate business owned by national crime organizations use their facade of legitimacy as a front for illegal child prostitution. A large number of these businesses are massage parlors, escort services, and strip clubs. Child prostitutes are also commonly found in tourist destinations, at major sporting and cultural events, or simply on the streets of major cities across the United States. Child prostitution victims can be as young as 10 years old to as old as 17 years old. The average age of a child prostitute is 15 years old.
Child prostitution is not legally tolerated in most countries. Many countries have differing opinions on adult prostitution but child prostitution is unacceptable to most inhabitants of the world and the United States. The social toll that child prostitution takes on the entire community is tragic. Look no further than the streets of the any major city in the world; it is not as clandestine as one would think. 
According to Russian newspaper, Pravda, there are 40,000 underage prostitutes in Venezuela, 25,000 in the Dominican Republic, 100,000 in Taiwan, 200,000 in Canada, and 300,000 to 600,000 in the United States of America. Those numbers are not acceptable in the least bit and child prostitution should be a priority of law enforcement world-wide. Most large metropolitan areas have specialized task forces dedicated to reducing both adult and child prostitution. In the United States, approximately 40% of adult prostitutes began their illegal careers when they were underage.    

How Can Prostitution Be Charged In Court?

How Can Prostitution Be Charged In Court?

Prostitution, in the United States, is illegal with the exception of a few counties in Nevada. Prostitution charges target all participants in a typical prostitution transaction. Prostitution charges can be brought against the provider of services (the prostitute), the buyers (colloquially known as the “John”) and the middleman (the pimp).
Police are allowed to perform sting operations to combat illegal prostitution on the streets. Sting operations are used to bring prostitution charges against the person attempting to buy sexual services from an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute. Prostitution charges result in arrest, temporary placement in jail for the duration of processing. 
After processing, prostitution charges for attempted buyers of commercial sexual services will typically lead to fines of $100 to $250. Persons who frequently get caught soliciting a prostitute will have higher fines. Major metropolitan areas tend to take solicitors of prostitutes more lightly due to the large extent of the problem. In addition to fines, judges often sentence persons charged with the crime of soliciting a prostitute to six months of unsupervised probation as long there are not any arrests after the initial arrest.
Prostitution charges are categorized by what sexual practice or sexual practices were negotiated or took place. They are placed into two general groups: sexual intercourse and deviant sexual intercourse or touching– basically any other sexual contact that does not involve vaginal intercourse. These different types of prostitution charges can determine the severity of fines and sentencing. Charges are not brought against anyone involved in prostitution until the exchange of money, property, or favors in return for sex are agreed are agreed upon by both parties.
Charges may also be brought against the prostitutes and the pimps. Prostitutes are typically given the least harsh of punishments because of their generally unfortunate situation. Prostitutes are usually back on the streets in a period of 48 hours after prostitution charges are brought. In large cities, prostitutes are often booked on charges of public nuisance due to the high cost of incarceration for legitimate prostitution.
Prostitution charges for pimps are more serious. Many jurisdictions consider pimping a felony offense with minimum prison sentences at stake if found guilty. Persons charged with pimping anyone under the age of 17 will be taken more serious as they are purveyors of child prostitution. The law does not take kindly to pimps because they are reputed to be physical and sexual abusers. They often take an unfair proportion of his prostitutes’ earnings. Prostitution charges related to pimping are worse when the arrests were made near places where children typically convene like schools, churches, and public parks. 
Those charged with human trafficking with the intent of selling commercial sex are regarded as the most heinous of prostitution related criminals. Human trafficking is the illegal taking of people for the purpose of forced labor. The most common type labor in human trafficking is prostitution work. The law reserves the very serious charges for human traffickers because it is a violation of federal law. Persons charged with trafficking are subject to significant time in prison and very hefty fines.

Molestation Statistics You Must Know

Molestation Statistics You Must Know

At first glance, child molestation statistics can be eye-opening and surprising. Child molestation statistics prove that more underage girls are subject to sexual abuse than boys. The number almost doubles for girls in comparison with boys. The majority of all molestation cases are committed against those under the age of eighteen, and many molestation cases are never finished. This is because children are often terrified of the situation and do not wish to pursue a molestation charge.
Child molestation statistics show that half of all sexual abuse cases occur between familiar parties. Abusers usually know the children they are molesting, and have a relationship with them that often appears credible. This fact is why it is hard to detect molestations. 
Child molestation also occurs within religious realms. Many cases in recent history have occurred within the Catholic church, where molestation has been ignored or under reported in the past. These credible relationships can be those within a family, or educational setting. Additionally, the abuser can be a family friend. When a person is trusted, they become the last person anyone suspects to commit such a horrible crime.
Child molestation statistics state that the average age in which child molestation occurs is nine years. Most children of this age will not admit when they have been victims of sexual abuse. However, children are not known to cry wolf either. The majority of sexual abuse cases that are reported are truthful in nature. Adults have been known to be fraudulent in reporting sexual molestation and abuse. 
Child molestation statistics support the notion that eating disorders, depression, headaches, and other physical problems stem from sexual abuse. Most children need therapy or counseling of some sort after going through such situations. Therapy can be the key to avoiding drug problems, and behavioral issues among minors. 
Child molesters usually molest more than one child in a lifetime. Serial molesters do exist and can have hundreds of victims. Statistics are used to help enforcement and families design new ways to prevent sexual abuse. Additionally, they make people aware of the risk that exists for their children to be harmed. Families aware of the staggering statistics may choose to better prepare their children for potential abuse situations.

Defendants Added to Savannah Sex Trafficking Indictment

Defendants Added to Savannah Sex Trafficking Indictment

A sex trafficking ring that preyed on Mexican women hoping for a better life in the United States was shut down by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation.  Thirteen defendants were added to the indictment last week, bringing the total number of defendants in the case to 25.

The investigation, dubbed “Operation Dark Night,” was designed to rescue women who had been targeted in a sex trafficking scheme that spanned from Mexico to the Carolinas.  A dozen women have already been freed as a result of Operation Dark Night, and others may still be freed as the investigation and arrests continue.

According to investigators, the sex trafficking ring was used to move the women around frequently—as often as once a week—to prevent them from knowing where they were or escaping.  Women were raped as often as 30 times per day during their sexual slavery, and were prostituted in mobile home parks and hotel rooms throughout the Southern United States.  This ring, specifically, focused on small towns.

Typically, the women being prostituted by the traffickers would have all their possessions in a small room, no more than 10 by 12 feet.  Usually, these possessions amounted to little more than a worn mattress, clothing, and a mirror.

The defendants in the case have also been accused of using threats and coercion to make sure that the women stayed under their control.  Some of the women reported that their children were held hostage in Mexico by the sex traffickers, and that they were told if they refused to cooperate, their children would be killed or sold into sexual slavery.

Operation Dark Night was considered particularly difficult, because the women were located in so many different locations.  The raids had to be coordinated precisely to avoid tipping off traffickers still holding women at other locations.  If one house had been raided even slightly early, alarms might have gone off, alerting people to the police and scattering them to safehouses before they could be apprehended.

In order to ensure that women's immigration status is not an issue during sex trafficking cases, women who have been the victims of sex crimes are given special temporary visas that enable them to stay in the United States without fear of deportation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is engaged in investigations of sex trafficking rings throughout the United States, especially those that involve women being trafficked across national borders.

Source: fbi.gov

Kentucky House Passes Anti-Trafficking Bill Unanimously

Kentucky House Passes Anti-Trafficking Bill Unanimously

Victims of sex trafficking would no longer be punished and charged with prostitution, but would instead receive social services and treatment, according to the provisions of a law passed by the Kentucky House of Representatives this week.  The bill, which passed 95-0, is intended to make it easier to combat human trafficking in the state of Kentucky.

Over 150 calls reporting sex trafficking incidents in Kentucky were made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.  Over 100 victims of sex trafficking received services from a single private Catholic charity in Louisville.  Yet in spite of these numbers, fewer than 20 total cases have been filed in the state of Kentucky since 2008.  The vast majority of these cases involved women trafficked by relatives.  Women who were trafficked, instead of receiving help, were more often arrested and jailed for prostitution offenses.

Much of the problem, according to several state lawmakers, comes from a lack of education and training in police departments about how to successfully identify what sex trafficking looks like.  With so much emphasis on arresting prostitutes and their clientele, many police departments lose sight of the fact that the prostitutes being arrested may not have been selling their bodies willingly.

The new law includes provisions that would allocate funding for police training on trafficking issues.  After receiving training, police should be better able to identify trafficking victims and prosecute their traffickers.

If the bill becomes law, sex traffickers will face a $10,000 fine in addition to having to pay back any financial gains from their sex trafficking activities.  They would also be required to forfeit any houses or other property that had been used for illegal trafficking activities, from prostitution to moving trafficked women.  Any money from traffickers would be put into a fund that would benefit victims, including providing social services and assistance with re-entering normal life outside of prostitution.

While the unanimous passage of the bill in the Kentucky House gives anti-trafficking advocates a reason to be hopeful about its chances, it hasn't yet passed the last hurdle.  Last time a similar bill was passed in the House, the Kentucky Senate allowed the bill to die in committee.  Now that the House has voted in favor of the bill, the Senate will take a look over the coming weeks.  It is expected that the bill will be signed by the governor if it makes it past the state Senate.

Source: ky.gov, courier-journal.com

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