Should sex traffickers be subject to sexually violent predator laws?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-03-2016-0008 |
| Published date | 01 August 2016 |
| Date | 01 August 2016 |
| Pages | 121-133 |
| Author | Benjamin Thomas Greer,Grace Cotulla,Halleh Seddighzadeh |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminal psychology,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
Should sex traffickers be subject to
sexually violent predator laws?
Benjamin Thomas Greer, Grace Cotulla and Halleh Seddighzadeh
Benjamin Thomas Greer is an
Attorney based in Sacramento,
California, USA.
Grace Cotulla is an Analyst
based in Folsom, California,
USA.
Halleh Seddighzadeh is a
Clinical Psychologist and
Traumatologist at the
Department of Emergency
Medicine, University of Nevada
School of Medicine, Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA.
Abstract
Purpose –Protecting society from sex offenders has presented a challenge for state legislatures. Recent
decades have seen a significant increase in sexually motivated crimes, especially sex trafficking. Effectively
combatting sexual exploitation demands a range of legal strategies. As of 2012, 20 states have passed
sexually violent predators (SVP) legislation. Human traffickers may exhibit the same deplorable characteristics
as SVPs and should be subject to civil commitments. Traffickers are extremely skilled at exploiting their
victim’s psychological pressure-points; knowing which cultural or personal experiences they can prey upon
to extract compliance. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the overlapping predatory nature of sex
traffickers and SVPs; the creation and purpose of sexual predator civil commitment statutes; and to dissect
two cases which could give grounds for civil commitment.
Design/methodology/approach –Legal research and analysis.
Findings –Repeated human sex traffickers may suffer from an underlying mental illness which would render
them a continued danger to society when released from jail. They should be evaluated and civility committed if
medically appropriate.
Practical implications –A potential increase in civil commits.
Social implications –Keep society safe from repeat sexual predators.
Originality/value –The authors have vast experience in the field of human trafficking and this topic will be
a pioneering initial discussion.
Keywords Human trafficking, Sexual exploitation, Criminal law, Criminalpsychology, Human sex trafficking,
Sexually violentpredator
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Protecting society from dangerous sexual predators has been a complex and daunting
legal challenge fo r lawmakers and me dical profession als. They are often a sked to balance
protecting society from predators and forecasting offenders’recidivism. In the past few
decades, the USA has had a significant increase in sexually motivated crimes (Rice and
Harris, 2003), one o f which is human sex tr afficking. Califo rnia has been at the for efront
of combating human trafficking, including commercial sexual exploitation, designing
a creative and innovative legal framework to protect victims and holds traffickers fully
accountable for their crimes. This framework is built on a broad range of strategies, including
flexible victim re stitution calcula tions, aggressive asset forfeiture laws, and increased penal
sentences. All are in tended to combat th e growth of human tra fficking and help sur vivors
reconstruct their lives. In California, the potential application of the sexually violent predator
(SVP)[1] civil commitment laws could provide a new landscape in which to expand societal
protections again st traffickers. Un der current Califor nia law certain offen ders may be kept
in state custody if at the end of their prison term they are deemed a danger to society due
to a mental illness or de fect. This strateg y of prolonged justif ied confinement has r eceived
Received 8 March 2016
Revised 1 April 2016
Accepted 26 April 2016
DOI 10.1108/JCP-03-2016-0008 VOL. 6 NO. 3 2016, pp. 121-133, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2009-3829
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
j
PAG E 12 1
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