New York Governor Kathy Hochul enacts on November 16, the START Act that will allow survivors of human trafficking to seek relief for convictions of offenses they committed while being trafficked. This critical legislation will offer survivors a fresh start to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.
One, the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act, would fully decriminalize prostitution, including pimps, traffickers and sex buyers. The other, the Sex Trade Survivors Justice & Equality Act, would focus on punishing sex buyers and pimps, while decriminalizing people in prostitution. Taina Bien-Aimé, CATW executive director, comments.
Our executive director was named one of Forbes' 50 Over 50 "dreamers and doers lifting the world one community at a time" alongside other incredible women (including some familiar faces).
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr.’s groundbreaking decision, announced on April 21, implements a policy to “decline-to-prosecute” people in prostitution, including those in illicit “massage parlors,” but maintains accountability for sex buyers. It de facto implements the Equality Model in the borough.
CATW ED Taina Bien-Aimé issues a statement responding to policy proposals in the “Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Draft Plan,” approved by the New York City Council, that would greenlight sex buying, sex tourism, commercial sex establishments and third-party profiteers.
CATW oral intervention during CSW64 mentioned in UN Press meeting coverage of final meeting of the commission.
CATW Executive Director Taina Bien-Aimé speaks with Lynn Shaw on Lynn's Warriors on WVOX.
Barbara Crossette’s March 15 article in PassBlue on New York State legalizing commercial surrogacy got the attention of the UN’s special rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Shushan Khachyan.
CATW is deeply saddened by the recent events in Atlanta. The organization is calling on the City of Atlanta to investigate this case as a hate crime against women as well as its possible connections to sex trafficking.
PassBlue covers our At The Edge of the Margins virtual roundtable on New York State's move to legalize reproductive commercial surrogacy and speaks with Kylee Kwiatkowski, a survivor of egg donation.
"The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women reports that 72 percent of these victims are women and children."
In a segment on WBAI's Joys of Resistance, Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) and a founding member of Equality Now discusses what is wrong with commercial surrogacy--which has just been legalized in New York State.