This segment of The State of Things discusses issues that may be disturbing to some of our younger or more sensitive listeners.
North Carolina ranks as one of the top 10 states for human commerce in the sex industry. Beginning October 1st, those convicted of trafficking in North Carolina will face harsher punishments under two new laws.
The Safe Harbor law increases penalties for pimps and allows prostitutes who are first-time offenders to wipe their records clean. Another law requires sex traffickers to register as sex offenders. Host Frank Stasio speaks to Lindsey Roberson, assistant district attorney in New Hanover County who helped draft both new laws; and Sheila Simpkins, a sex trafficking survivor who now works at Magdalene, a recovery program for sex trafficking victims. She is also an intervention specialist at End Slavery Tennessee.
