Legislative Priorities

Changing minds and hearts on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation is critical to our efforts at World Without Exploitation (WorldWE). But lasting cultural transformation will only occur when we also change the laws that have allowed the sex trade to flourish in the United States and beyond our borders. With over 170 member groups working in virtually every state in the nation, WorldWE is uniquely situated to support local and statewide advocacy efforts while spearheading and coordinating national policy campaigns addressing human trafficking and exploitation.
‍

Our current advocacy priorities include:

State Legislative Priorities

At World Without Exploitation, we are dedicated to creating a future where sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation are eradicated and survivors are supported with dignity and justice. In partnership with The Jensen Project, Rights4Girls, and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, our legislative priorities focus on advancing policies that protect individuals from exploitation, target demand, and ensure comprehensive, survivor-centered care. These initiatives are key to building a world free from trafficking, and include:

The Survivor Model

1. We advocate for the Survivor Model (Equality Model), which seeks to decriminalize individuals who are exploited in the sex trade, while holding buyers, traffickers, and other bad actors accountable. This model centers the voices and needs of survivors, promoting safety, dignity, and opportunities for recovery.
This model has been adopted by a host of countries that have prioritized human rights and gender justice, including Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Iceland, France, Israel, and Norway. Countries that have adopted the Survivor Model see success in holding sex buyers accountable, supporting more women in exiting the sex trade, and helping them rebuild their lives. For example, France enacted the Survivor Model in 2016, and within the first three years of the law taking effect, criminal investigations into pimping and trafficking increased by 54%. Additionally, reported in 2023, 1247 prostituted women have benefited from France's exit program for survivors, with a reintegration success rate of 95%. In 2023, WorldWE, in partnership with our national partners, policy champions, and survivor leaders on the ground successfully passed legislation in Maine that decriminalizes prostituted people and provides them avenues to seek criminal record relief, while maintaining penalties for pimps, sex buyers, and brothel owners. We continue to support efforts nationwide to pass comprehensive Survivor Model legislation.
Survivor Model legislation has been introduced in Illinois, New York and Massachusetts

Child Sex Crimes Victims Protection Act (Sara’s Law)

The names Cyntoia Brown and Chrystul Kizer spent many months in the news. These are just two of the girls who were charged as adults for killing the men who raped and trafficked them.

When child victims engage in violence against their abusers, courts should have as much flexibility as possible in creating a trauma-informed and age-appropriate response, including suspending any sentence or transferring a child victim into the juvenile or child welfare system for treatment and services.

World Without Exploitation and our partner organizations have introduced bills in states across the country that would allow judges sentencing discretion in these cases. Often known as “Sara’s Law,”, the legislation is named in honor of a child sex trafficking victim who killed her trafficker and rapist and was then sentenced to life without parole. Thankfully, Sara is no longer incarcerated and has become a champion and advocate for passing these laws around the country.

These laws have recently been passed into law in Georgia, and Virginia. Illinois, California and Oklahoma have also passed child sex crimes victims protection laws. There is currently pending Sara’s Law legislation in New York, Washington, and Massachusetts.

‍

State-Based Vacatur Laws

1. These laws allow survivors of trafficking to vacate criminal records related to offenses committed as a result of being trafficked. By clearing these records, we help remove barriers to employment, housing, and education, providing survivors with a genuine path to healing and independence. In recent years, several states have expanded criminal record relief laws to allow survivors to vacate felony and violent felony convictions resulting from their trafficking, recognizing that abusers often force victims to commit a wide array of crimes beyond prostitution.
Georgia, New York, and New Hampshire have passed strong vacatur laws in recent years and do not limit offenses eligible for relief.

Demand Accountabilty Laws

Demand accountability laws in the context of sex trafficking refer to legislative measures aimed at reducing or eliminating the demand for commercial sex, which is the driving force behind sex trafficking. These laws target the individuals who purchase sex (the "demand" side) rather than just focusing on prosecuting traffickers or victims, and they seek to address the root cause of the trafficking by reducing the market for it.

Legislative initiatives to address demand across the U.S. include:

Stiffer Penalties for Buyers:
- In some jurisdictions, sex buying is now a felony, allowing for more severe penalties and greater deterrence.
- Codifying into the law mandatory fines for those arrested for buying sex - these fines are distributed into victim compensation funds that go towards services for those who have been exploited in the sex trade.

Texas, Montana, Oklahoma, and North Carolina have recently passed laws making sex-buying a felony. Other states that introduced legislation that would raise the penalties for sex buying include Kansas, South Carolina, Florida and New Jersey.

Rhode Island and New Hampshire have bills pending that would increase the fines for convicted sex buyers and require buyer accountability education.

Federal Legislative Priorities

Together, these legislative priorities aim to create a legislative framework that prioritizes prevention, survivor support, and accountability for those who perpetrate exploitation. We believe that by aligning laws with the lived experiences of survivors, we can create lasting change and move toward a world without exploitation.

H.R. 1379: The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TSRA)

Survivors of human trafficking are often criminalized for situations stemming from their trafficking experiences. Across the U.S., the majority of states have passed criminal record relief for convictions in the state criminal system. However, survivors with federal records have no pathway to clear these records. The TSRA would allow trafficking survivors to clear their federal criminal records for the first time. The TSRA is also designed to provide comprehensive relief for trafficking survivors, including legal remedies, financial compensation, and access to vital services. This act ensures that survivors are empowered to rebuild their lives and pursue justice without being further victimized by legal or systemic barriers.

S. 1748: Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)

Big tech continues to prioritize profit over our children’s well-being. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is the most comprehensive legislation to protect children online pending before Congress, aiming to shift Big Tech’s profit-driven models to children’s protection. KOSA creates a ‘duty of care’ that requires social media companies to place children’s needs at the center of their design. This ensures minors are not exposed to harmful or exploitative material online by requiring that their accounts default to the safest privacy settings, disable private messaging from strangers, and shield them from addictive algorithms. It is time to give our children the protection they deserve; it is time to pass KOSA!

S. 1837/H.R. 3562: DEFIANCE Act of 2025

The DEFIANCE Act of 2025 (Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consenual Edits Act) addresses the issue of non-consenual sexually-explicit deepfakes. This bill holds individuals accountable for creating, distributing, or soliciting such content. Victims of non-consenual deepfakes are granted a civil legal right of action against those who are responsible for the proliferation of these harmful and exploitative images. It is time to ensure victims of non-consenual deepfakes are granted the federal protections they deserve.

S.146: TAKE IT DOWN Act

The TAKE IT Down Act was signed into law with bipartisan support on May 19, 2025, officially criminalizing the publication and distribution of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) at the federal level! IBSA consists of the weaponization of sexually explicit or sexualized images or videos. Platforms are now required to remove non-consensual content within 48 hours of receiving notice from a survivor. This historic victory finally grants survivors the rights they deserve, ensures their protection online, and marks a significant step toward holding big tech accountable.

WorldWE Legislative Priorities