The Impact of New York’s Human Trafficking Intervention Courts on Sex Workers

In 2013, the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts (HTICs) were launched in New York. These courts were the USA's first statewide human trafficking intervention within a justice system. This research explores the impact of these courts through studying 364 cases in 2013 and 2014. It concludes that the HTICS do not respect the human rights of the people they process and distort the line between consent and coercion. This makes it more difficult for people who are victimised – by clients, ‘pimps’, police, and courts – to seek justice. Furthermore, the court system completely ignores that sex work, for most people who do it, is work that is undertaken to meet their economic needs and the needs of workers’ families.

This article was written by Audacia Ray and Emma Caterine, members of RedUP in New York. It was published as part of Research for Sex Work 14: Sex Work is Work.

You can download this 4-page PDF above. This article is available in English and in Spanish.