Although many of us celebrated the emancipation of African-American slaves this summer with Juneteenth, slavery in our country is alive and well. The U.S. Department of State's report, Trafficking in Persons, revealed that over 12 million adults and children are enslaved in our country, many of them working as prostitutes. Criminalizing these women and girls is wrong and will not stem the flow of slavery.

New York state has enacted legislation that will allow sex trafficking victims to clear their records. Encourage your local Congress person to enact similar legislation on the federal level.