Interview: Stephanie Davis, Georgia Women for a Change, Fights for Anti-Trafficking Bill

House Bill 200, a comprehensive anti-trafficking bill in Georgia, passed through the House today, 168-1. It is now headed to the Senate. This bill has the potential to make a dramatic difference in how sex trafficking and labor exploitation is combated in the state. Stephanie Davis, the executive director of Georgia Women for a Change, agreed to speak with Change.org about the legislation, which her organization introduced. Previously, Davis worked as a Policy Advisor on women’s issues to Mayor Shirley Franklin, and as CEO of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, where she helped pass a law that made the pimping and pandering of children a felony.

Liebelson: How is HB 200 an improvement on previous anti-trafficking legislation in Georgia?

Davis: I think this bill expands on earlier efforts by extending punishment to traffickers of adults, as well as foreign nationals who are often brought here under false pretenses, and then forced to work in the sex trade. We also learned from our efforts in the two previous years that legislators are afraid of bills that “de-criminalize” victims who are arrested for prostitution, even when that victim is underage and cannot legally consent to sex in Georgia. Also, something that is not being mentioned often about this bill is that it includes labor servitude along with sex trafficking, which covers people who are brought in and forced into domestic servitude.

Liebelson: Do you support the provision in House Bill 200 that would raise the minimum sentence of child trafficking in Georgia from the current 10-20 years, to life in prison?

Davis: Yes, it will send a strong message that this is a crime that is punishable up to life in prison.

Liebelson: How else do you think the bill will help combat child trafficking in Georgia?

Davis: It provides an affirmative defense for the victim, who can still be detained for prostitution, but can then argue that she was trafficked. This alone may discourage prosecutors from bringing cases where the woman or girl is the defendant, and she has clearly been pimped or trafficked.

Liebelson: How do you expect the bill to fund the training and victim assistance programs that are included?

Davis: The training can be absorbed into the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) curriculum now with little or no expense. The Crime Victims Compensation fund is also funded to compensate [trafficking] victims for direct medical or psychological services.

Liebelson: Do you think any improvements can be made to the bill? Are you happy with it in its current form?

Davis: We wish it had provided for restitution for victims from the forfeiture provision, which is in the bill, but we understand this can also be at the judge’s discretion. We also wish it had provided for services for adult and juvenile victims but the costs of mandating services might have kept the bill from getting the attention it is getting.

Liebelson: What can readers of Change.org do (besides sending the online petition here to legislators) to help the bill pass?

Readers can contact their legislators and urge them to vote in favor of this bill as it winds its way through the legislative process. It is now going to the Senate, where we will need to do some work to affirm support for it.