Bill Text: NY K00792 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim January 11, 2024, as Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the State of New York

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-01-24 - adopted [K00792 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K00792-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 792

BY: M. of A. Cunningham

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        January 11, 2024, as Human Trafficking Awareness Day
        in the State of New York

  WHEREAS, It is the custom of  this  Legislative  Body  to  recognize
official days that are set aside to increase awareness of serious issues
that affect the lives of citizens of New York State; and

  WHEREAS,  This  Legislative  Body hereby memorializes Governor Kathy
Hochul to proclaim January 11, 2024, as Human Trafficking Awareness  Day
in the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of National
Human Trafficking Awareness Day; and

  WHEREAS,  National  Human Trafficking Awareness Day raises awareness
of the persistent issue of human trafficking; though the entire month of
January has already  been  recognized  as  National  Slavery  and  Human
Trafficking  Prevention  Month,  this  day  is specifically dedicated to
awareness and prevention of this heinous and illegal practice; and

  WHEREAS, Since the Senate established  this  day  of  observance  in
2007,  it  has drawn massive public support from individual donations to
government-organized events; the horrific injustice of human trafficking
can affect people of any race and background, and on this  day,  we  are
all called to fight human trafficking wherever it exists; and

  WHEREAS, Human trafficking is the exploitation of another person for
labor,  domestic  servitude,  or  commercial  sexual  activity by force,
fraud, or coercion; it is  also  the  act  of  enslaving  or  exploiting
unwilling other people; and

  WHEREAS,  Unfortunately,  slavery  in  some  form  has  existed  for
hundreds of years - and  persistently  exists  today,  though  many  are
unaware  of  this  fact;  most  are familiar with the slave trade of the
1400s and beyond; and

  WHEREAS, Instituted by Europeans, the slave trade captured and  held
in  bondage  millions  of Africans from across the continent, eventually
selling them for labor or sexual exploitation; this practice  flourished
in  countries  like  Spain,  the growing United States, Holland, France,
Sweden, and Denmark for centuries; and

  WHEREAS, It was not until the late 1700s and 1800s that  governments
began  to  declare  the  Transatlantic  slave  trade illegal; with Great
Britain setting the example in 1807, and the United States following  in
1820,  the slave trade became a crime punishable by death but many years
passed before more widespread freedom was achieved; and

  WHEREAS, The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 largely put an end to
slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment of 1866 abolished it; and

  WHEREAS, It was after the recognition  of  the  Transatlantic  Slave
Trade  as immoral that governments began to discuss "white slavery," the
term used at the time for sexual human  trafficking;  the  International

Agreement  for  the  Suppression  of the White Slave Traffic was written
into law by European monarchs in 1904; and

  WHEREAS,   Furthermore,   12   countries  signed  the  International
Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic and the League
of Nations soon changed the name from "white  slavery"  to  "traffic  in
women and children"; and

  WHEREAS,  The  late  twentieth  and early twenty-first centuries saw
gains  for  the  movement  against  human  trafficking;  in  2000,   the
Trafficking   Victims   Protection  Act  addressed  modern-day  slavery,
becoming the first federal law to do so; and

  WHEREAS, The  American  charity  group  Free  the  Slaves,  part  of
Anti-Slavery International, was also formed; and

  WHEREAS,  In  2007, the United States Senate ratified the resolution
establishing January 11th as National Human Trafficking  Awareness  Day,
and  in  2010,  President Obama dedicated the entire month of January to
awareness and prevention of human trafficking; and

  WHEREAS, New York State has reported 404 cases of human trafficking,
with 639 victims identified; and

  WHEREAS, New York also  has  one  of  the  highest  sex  trafficking
statistics  in the United State with 310 instances reported, while labor
trafficking accounts for 37 cases; and

  WHEREAS, As a major international  transportation  hub  and  densely
populated  state,  New  York  provides an environment conducive to human
trafficking; and

  WHEREAS, Various organizations, government agencies,  and  community
initiatives  in  the  State of New York work to raise awareness, provide
support to survivors, and dismantle trafficking networks; and

  WHEREAS, Today, there are more  than  50  established  organizations
which globally combat this illegal practice, and more awareness has been
raised than ever before; and

  WHEREAS,  It is imperative that there be greater public awareness of
this serious issue, and more must be done to eradicate slavery and human
trafficking at the local, State and national levels; now, therefore,  be
it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim January 11, 2024, as Human
Trafficking Awareness Day in the State of New York; and be it further

  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul.