Wisconsin sex trafficking bills target repeat patrons of prostitutes – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin Capitol.(Photo: Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

A pair of bills proposed by state lawmakers would target the demand for sex traffickingby cracking down on those who repeatedly patronize prostitutes.

One of the bills, a bipartisan effort to toughencriminal penalties for frequent offenders, would make the third conviction a felony. Its lead sponsors are state Reps. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) and Amanda Stuck (D-Appleton) and Sen. Dan Feyen (R-Fond du Lac).

"Gone are the days where prostitution is viewed as a victimless crime," Kleefisch said. "When it comes to human trafficking, we need to attack on all fronts."

He said part of the drive for pimps to push prostitutionis the demand, so reducing that demand will help combat trafficking. Adding that many trafficking victims are "forced, coerced or violently pushed into prostitution," Kleefisch said those who hire prostitutes especially repeatedly are "enablers at the very least."

The legislation was requested by law enforcement officials in the Fox Cities, and has the support of the state Department of Justice, Kleefischsaid.

A secondbillproposed by state Rep. Andre Jacque (D-DePere)would require people convicted of soliciting or patronizing prostitutes or keeping a place of prostitution to pay $5,000. The money would be used to providetreatment and services for victims of sex trafficking, and for investigations and law enforcement related to Internet crimes against children.

"The federal government acknowledges the link between prostitution and trafficking in women and children as a form of modern-day slavery," Jacque wrote to fellow lawmakers seekingco-sponsors for his bill.

The sponsors of both bills noted that Milwaukee is known as a hotbed of sex trafficking.

"Milwaukee has become a huge hub for human trafficking, and these victims are then sent across the rest of the state and other parts of the country," Kleefisch and Stuck wrote.

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It's notoriously difficult to collect data about sex trafficking, but experts estimate there have been hundreds of victims in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee's reputation as a hub for sex trafficking stems, in part, fromhigh-profile prosecutions and other law enforcement actions

Court cases here have revealed generations of pimps and a group of traffickers some of whom prostituted dozens of women who regularly participated in "pimp roundtables," during which they discussed their practices

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In 2013, a nationwide FBI sting on human trafficking recovered 10 children in Milwaukee the second-highest number in the country

A study that sameyear by the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission found that 77 children had been sexually exploited in Milwaukee in a two-year period a number experts said was likely a gross underestimate, as it only tracked the number who had made contact with police

But there is no reliable ranking of cities in terms of child sex trafficking or the number of children recovered from sex trafficking, according to the Polaris Project, which runs the National Human Resource Center Trafficking Hotline.

Attorney General Brad Schimel has said the effort to combat human trafficking is one of the toughestchallenges facing Wisconsin.

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Wisconsin sex trafficking bills target repeat patrons of prostitutes - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel