Queens County (NY) Judge Fernando Camacho discusses why he created a prostitution diversion court that helps victims leave a life of prostitution by linking them to counseling and social services instead of sentencing them to jail time.
A look at the Midtown Community Court's responses in the 1990s to prostitution in Times Square and surrounding neighborhoods. This article appeared in the Volume 22/23 (2001) of the Justice System Journal. For information on more recently implemented strategies to address prostitution, see Prostitution Diversion Programs.
In this New Thinking podcast, Ann Johnson, an assistant district attorney and the human trafficking section chief with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, discusses her office's strategies for combating human trafficking, including increased enforcement against traffickers and buyers, and diversion from prosecution for victims. One of the office's diversion program, SAFE Court, gives those ages 17 to 25 who are charged with prostitution the opportunity to clear the charge from their criminal records by completing a yearlong program of monitoring and social services.
Judge Paul M. Herbert of the Changing Actions To Change Habits Court in Ohio's Franklin County Municipal Court explains how a problem-solving approach to prostitution treats offenders as victims, giving them the support and links to social services they need to escape a cycle of exploitation and abuse.
Research on the effectiveness and ethical mandate of prostitution diversion programs, human trafficking courts, and other specialized responses to the intersecting issues of prostitution and sex trafficking has produced mixed results. To better understand these initiatives, the Center for Court Innovation and RTI International conducted evaluability assessments of five such programs.
Rosalind Jeffers joined the Dallas City Attorney’s Office in 2005, serving as the community prosecutor assigned to the South Dallas/Fair Park neighborhood and as assistant director of the South Dallas Community Court. After two years in the Community Prosecution Section, Ms. Jeffers moved to the Employment Section. In 2008, she returned to the Community Prosecution Section as its chief. She spoke with Robert V.
The video, From Defendant to Survivor: How Courts Are Responding to Human Trafficking, profiles three courts that have forged new responses to sex trafficking. This guide is designed to help viewers understand the key principles of court models that effectively divert human trafficking and prostitution cases from prosecution.
Survivors of sex trafficking are usually treated as criminals rather than victims. But some courts have begun to recognize that those arrested on prostitution charges are often victims of coercion, violence, and trauma. Our video, From Defendant to Survivor, profiles the innovative approaches being taken by courts in Los Angeles, New York City, and Columbus, Ohio.