More and tougher penalties for prostitution and human trafficking proposed in SC

Criminal penalties for prostitution and human trafficking may soon be heightened for some while lessened for others, and victims of dating violence could see expanded protections, as new proposals make their way through the S.C. Senate.

A set of measures intended to protect minors involved in prostitution and human trafficking was approved by a panel of lawmakers last week, along with another proposal that aims to change the definition of “dating” in matters relating to domestic abuse, qualifying more people for protection orders.

Domestic violence

In a state historically known for high rates of domestic violence, Senate bill S.143 would allow victims of dating violence who have never lived with their abuser to petition for an order of protection in family court as opposed to just a restraining order in magistrate court, which does not provide the immediate and stronger safeguards offered by a domestic violence protection order.

Victims of dating violence presently don’t qualify for protective orders. Those currently eligible for protection orders only include current or former spouses, those with children together, or those who live or formerly lived with a member of the opposite sex.

“We support this bill because we believe it extends life-saving protections to both teen and adult victims of dating violence and provides a simple clarification to the definition cohabiting partners,” said Sara Barber, executive director of the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Barber says the current limited qualification pool fails to take into account the different contexts in which dating occurs today.

“I personally have been dating someone for 10 years; we’ve never lived together, we do not have children in common,” she said. “So, I would not at this point be eligible for an order of protection, even though the dynamics of violence that occurred in that relationship would be the same as occurred within what is currently covered under household member.”

The Senate proposal also seeks to replace language limiting relief under the law to male and female relationships, which Barber said has regularly led to confusion among courts, lawyers and victims. With the proposed changes, people in same-sex relationships would now be offered the same protections currently available to those in heterosexual relationships.

“This confusion has often resulted in qualifying victims believing or being told that they are not entitled to the protections of the statute,” Barber said.

In 2019, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division began tracking data on ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend relationships in crimes involving murder, intimidation, aggravated assault and simple assault of intimate partners.

Fifty-eight percent of murder victims among intimate partners were killed at the hands of someone classified as a boyfriend or girlfriend, according to a 2021 South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Report.

“I will say the statistics that (Barber) gave us, it is a problem in South Carolina,” said state Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee. “I mean, the violence between people in a relationship is a problem, and we need to address it.”

Prostitution & human trafficking

Hutto’s panel also endorsed two other measures that would enhance penalties for prostitution while shielding minors and victims of human trafficking from criminal prosecution.

Senate bill S.145 would result in higher fines and more jail time for prostitution offenders even on a first offense, and includes gender neutral language, replacing “female” with “person,” creating criminal liability for those soliciting prostitutes of any gender.

Any adult charged with prostitution is currently subject to a $200 fine and up to 30 days in jail on their first offense. But under the new proposal, offenders could get a fine of up to $1,000, a month in jail, or both the first time they are caught.

The bill has been introduced several times in the Senate, including in 2021 where it passed the upper chamber but later stalled in the House.

The new law, if it passes both chambers this time, would allow those caught participating in prostitution as victims of human trafficking to raise a defense against prosecution. Minors, on the other hand, wouldn’t be prosecuted at all.

Another bill aimed at protecting minors, S.142, prevents minors coerced into human trafficking from being prosecuted for nonviolent crimes committed in connection to their participation in trafficking, such as alcohol or marijuana possession.

“This ain’t going to get you off murder, or a bank robbery or something like that. It has to be a nonviolent offense,” Hutto said.

S.142, S.143 and S.145 are now headed to the full judiciary committee for approval before they will be heard on the Senate floor.