Res. No. 605 Title Resolution calling upon the New York Police Department to explore the possible expansion of the Juvenile Crime Special Projects Squad to address underage prostitution in New York. Body By Council Members Boyland, Barron, Baez, Clarke, Fidler, Foster, Gennaro, Gerson, Jackson, Jennings, Nelson, Reed, Sanders, Seabrook and Brewer; also Council Member Quinn Whereas, According to the advocacy group, End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT-USA), there are as many as 400,000 prostituted children in the United States.; and, Whereas, According to the District Attorneys Offices for Queens and Kings County, underage prostitution is a significant problem in New York City; and Whereas, By some estimates, the average age for entering prostitution in New York City is now between the ages of 13 and 15; and Whereas, According to ECPAT-USA, 80 to 90 percent of sexually exploited or prostituted youth have been sexually abused, and 70 percent of female prostitutes have been victims of repeated rape; and Whereas, The Justice Department has apparently reported that the mortality rate for female prostitutes is forty times the national average; and Whereas, According to the advocacy group, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services up to three-quarters of all child prostitutes experience mental illness such as post traumatic stress disorder; and Whereas, Prostituted youth should not be treated as criminals, but rather as children that have been sexually exploited; and Whereas, Sergeant Susan T. McConnell of the Juvenile Crime Special Projects Squad of the New York Police Department appears to have created a model program for rehabilitating prostituted youth and building the foundation for successful law enforcement efforts against those that benefit from the sexual exploitation of such youth; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York Police Department to explore the possible expansion of the Juvenile Crime Special Projects Squad to address underage prostitution in New York. BK LS# 1555 |10
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