By Kimber Collins
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HONOLULU, Hawaii (KITV) — Service providers say from the outside looking in, Hawaii is a place of no worries.
”They see it as a place of sandy beaches and lush green mountains and they see what happens in Waikiki and they don’t see the darker side of paradise so to speak,” said Kris Coffield with Imua Alliance.
Two bills moving through the legislature this year will bring more protection and rights to victims of sex trafficking.
House Bill 111 is waiting for Governor Green’s signature—this would allow sex trafficking victims to seek civil remedies against those that exploit them.
”We think about hotels, we think about massage parlors, often we think about even like condo complexes—where people, business know what is happening. In many cases they have been told by law enforcement and service providers over and over again what is happening and a plethora of information about what is happening and yet they don’t do anything to stop it,” Coffield said.
Senate Bill 292 will get a final vote next week, and is known as the safe harbor bill.
”This is something that guarantees that survivors when they report that they have been in the sex trade, that they have been victimized by the sex trade, that they have been abused by the sex trade, are not going to be prosecuted,” Coffield said.
A 2020 study by Arizona State University showed one out of every five sex trafficking victim had been approached as a child. 64% of the sex trafficking victims in the state identified as Native Hawaiian.
”We’ve come a long way, but we have a lot of progress that needs to be made,” Coffield said.
Another service group, Ho’ola Na Pua, is spreading awareness with a new PSA music video focused on child sex trafficking and abuse.
”They’re going to listen to this amazing song and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this song is amazing’. And then they go, ‘Oh, wow. This is a really cool video. I did not know that about sex trafficking. I did not know that about child abuse’. And then hopefully they’ll be a little nicer to their children or they’ll be a little bit more aware of what’s going on in this busy hustle and bustle of life,” said Fairai Richmond, Filmmaker.
To contact the National Human Trafficking hotline and speak with advocates- dial 888-373-7888.
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