Scarsdale – Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-88) will be taking part in a panel discussion on “The Global and Local Atrocity of Sex Trafficking” at the Scarsdale Public Library on April 2.

The program, which begins at 7:30 p.m., will also feature Sarah Porter, End Child Prostitution and Trafficking, Pound Ridge police chief David Ryan, Philip Goldstein, Program Director of Westchester County Social Services, and Stuart Perrin, author of Little Sisters.

This discussion will shine a light on this growing multi-billion dollar industry in which children are being commercially sexually exploited every day. The public will learn that sex trafficking occurs in our own backyards and throughout the rest of the State, and is not limited to a particular ethnicity, race or socio-economic class. It is not a crime that only involves immigrants or transporting individuals across state lines or countries. Traffickers prey upon our most vulnerable – our children.

Among the topics to be discussed will be the efforts in the County by social services and law enforcement to identify sex trafficking victims and provide them with critical services. Paulin will discuss the legislative efforts to ensure children who are commercially sexually exploited are treated as victims, not criminals, and are provided the services they need and to hold traffickers and buyers accountable.

Paulin is the author of the law that was signed into law earlier this year that allows criminal courts to treat as Persons in Need of Supervision youth who are 16 & 17 years old arrested for prostitution so that they can get access to specialized services. She is also the author of the comprehensive bill, the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act (TVPJA), that will, among other things, increase penalties for traffickers and buyers of sex from children and give prosecutors the investigative tools they need to build cases against those in the prostitution business.

“I have fought long and hard to get the TVPJA passed,” Paulin said. “It’s a bill that builds on our collective efforts to end human trafficking by increasing accountability of the real criminals, the buyers and traffickers who continue to fuel the growth of this massive, disgusting industry. We must do everything we can to prevent the re-victimization of trafficking victims by the justice system and give these victims the help they need to rebuild their lives.”