Virginia:  Legislation addressing the demand for commercial sex moves to the House Courts of Justice Committee – Criminal Subcommittee on Monday, February 1st.  Your support is needed! 


February 1, 2010

Profit motivates sex traffickers, and that profit is derived from one source: the purchasers of sex, colloquially known as “johns”.  Without johns’ demand, there would be no prostitution, which is an enabling environment for sex trafficking.  Unscrupulous sex traffickers are willing to force and coerce women and even to manipulate children into generating these profits, as long as the demand is there.  Therefore, by decreasing the demand for prostitution through offender education programs, also called john schools, sex trafficking correspondingly will decrease. 

House Bill 701 is legislation that requires the court to condition any sentence, fine, or suspended sentence for a first offense of solicitation (i.e., purchasing commercial sex) on participation in an offender education program, also called a john school, if such program has been established locally.  The cost of the program will be paid by the defendant and will be in addition to any fines the court orders the defendant to pay, so it will cost the state nothing to implement this legislation.

This critical legislation was introduced by Delegate David Bulova in the House of Delegates on January 13, 2010, and is now under consideration in the House Courts of Justice Committee – Criminal Subcommittee.  Please take action to ensure that House Bill 701 advances!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Virginia State Delegates need to hear that the demand for commercial sex must be reduced, and Virginia can make a step in the right direction by passing House Bill 701.

1. The most effective action you can take, next to meeting with your State Delegates face-to-face, is to make a quick phone call and urge him or her to vote YES on House Bill 701.  (While members of the House Committee for Courts of Justice – Criminal Subcommittee will be voting on the bill first, it helps for all Delegates to hear from you.)

2. You can look-up your State Delegate here and then make a 30-second phone call urging him or her to vote yes on House Bill 701 – legislation proposing an offender education program for a first time offense of solicitation. When you call, you can simply say:



“Hi, my name is [Name], and I am a constituent of the Delegate's.  I am calling to urge him/her to vote YES on House Bill 701.  This bill will improve Virginia’s response to prostitution and the demand for commercial sex by punishing and rehabilitating those who pay for sex and who thereby create an enabling environment for human trafficking.  Can I count on his/her support?” 

3. If you have another moment, please send your State Delegate a short email as a follow-up.

Thank you for taking action to help stop human trafficking!