On Thursday morning, the House Judiciary committee passed an important bill, HB 2699, which would help strengthen the law against those who engage in child prostitution. Larrie Fraley, President of StreetLight Phoenix, testified about his organization's three-pronged mission. The first two missions - raising awareness about the victimization of young women and creating a safe-house for victims - have already been established. The third mission - to decrease the demand and strengthen the law - is one that Fraley encouraged the legislature to accomplish.

Another StreetLight staff member spoke of the brutal and inhumane abuse that sex slave victims go through here in Phoenix. These girls are being abducted off our streets, lured from our shopping malls, and kidnapped in our neighborhoods. They are then drugged, brainwashed, and then raped daily. Because the current law allows those who engage in child prostitution to receive such a light punishment, the problem of child prostitution continues.

HB 2699 would increase the penalties for those who engage in child prostitution so that these predators are punished adequately. This bill, which received bipartisan and unanimous support in the committee, now awaits a full vote in the House.