New York, NY, Tuesday, May 9, 2023 – The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (“WBASNY”) supports S.4375 which would provide for the establishment of a standardized human trafficking recognition training program for private transportation services.

This bill would add a new section to the Social Services Law to require transportation services, such as rail passenger service, motorbus service, and ferry passenger service, to train all customer-facing employees to undergo human trafficking recognition training from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, in conjunction with the Office of Temporary and Disability Services, and the Department of Labor. Specifically, the training will include addressing the nature of human trafficking, the legal definition of human trafficking, how to identify victims of human trafficking, and available resources for victims of human trafficking.

New York State is an epicenter for all modes of domestic and international travel, and the vast majority of trafficked victims are women and children. WBASNY supports this bill as it will provide much needed training of those who interact frequently with trafficked victims, which will empower transportation employees to recognize and report instances of trafficking.

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The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is the professional membership organization of choice for nearly 4,000 attorneys throughout New York State and the largest statewide women’s bar association in the country. For more than four decades, WBASNY has been a singularly important resource for women lawyers, providing professional networking, continuing legal education programming, leadership training, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and families. Through involvement with WBASNY’s 20 regional chapters and its 40-plus substantive law committees, WBASNY’s members collaborate with one another on a variety of issues and perform public and community service, in furtherance of its mission to promote the advancement of the status of women in society and women in the legal profession; to promote the fair and equal administration of justice; and to act as a unified voice for its members with respect to issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and women attorneys in particular. WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status with the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, and Special Consultative status in association with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). WBASNY is also a founding member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.