In the land of the free, California laws fail to crack down on modern slave owners.
Insufficient legislation against an increasing sex trade is in need of major revision.
Prop 35, featured on the November 6 ballot, will broaden the definition of human trafficking and increase penalties for convicted offenders.
Current regulation of sex and labor trafficking is inadequate. Five year jail sentences and a low fine of $100,000 do little to deter pimps and pedophiles from exploiting a billion dollar enterprise.
Under Prop 35, prison terms of 12 to life and fines exceeding one million dollars will suffocate an underground sex trade by constricting gains in profit.
Will Prop 35 cut into California’s budget? Yes.
Are people against it for that reason? Yes.
However, it is important for voters to understand that a revamped law is necessary in dealing with a growing epidemic.
A child, as young as twelve, coerced by a pimp and meeting quotas of 10 to 15 sexual acts per day is a reality that exists in our cities. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are listed as having some of the highest rates of child sex trafficking in the nation, according to Californians against Sexual Exploitation.
The Polaris Project, a non-profit group, discovered that between 100,000 and 300,000 children are forced into prostitution in the United States. From 2005 to 2007 only 559 potential victims have been identified in California.
If you have a properly calibrated moral compass then vote to prevent low-lifes from preying on vulnerable children and adults. Anyone with a sound conscious should vote yes on Proposition 35.