LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – New Michigan laws aim to protect survivors of human trafficking and ensure their traffickers see a day in court. The law passed and was signed by the governor before the end of last year’s lame-duck session.
Cases of human trafficking have been on the rise nationwide, The Bureau of Justice Statistics says the number of people prosecuted more than doubled from 2012 to 2022.
In December, Michigan’s legislature passed three bills now signed by the governor. The legislation will allow victims of human trafficking to testify against their traffickers without fear of prosecuting themselves. Senator Sue Shink (D – Northfield Township) is an author on one of the bills.
“These bills make it easier for prosecutors to get the evidence that they need to put those traffickers behind bars,” Shink said. “A lot of times the victims suffer for many years afterward and the traffickers have gone free because the victims have been scared and it’s not ok.”
The former president of the Upper Peninsula Human Trafficking Task Force, Stephanie Graef said it’s the first new legislation in the state surrounding human trafficking in a decade.
Graef explained that in many cases, traffickers walk free because their victims are too scared to face them or are worried they’ll end up in trouble for crimes they may have committed under duress.
The number of people convicted of a human trafficking offense increased from 578 to 1,118 from 2012 to 2022. Graef said there are even more cases that go unreported, and making the victims feel safe is a key part of making sure traffickers see their day in court.
“These victims are not the ones on the stand and are not the criminals, The traffickers are, and we shouldn’t make it so difficult for these victims to be able to state their testimony,” Graef said. “Everybody coming to the table for their part is key to this eventual decrease in human trafficking and justice for the victims that have been so wrongly treated and oftentimes not believed.”
The governor signed the legislation back in December with a 90-day grace period, the new laws will take effect in March.
