THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	64
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of human services to establish a one-year pilot program to provide a basic income to qualified adults who are verified victims of sex trafficking or who are female or sexual and gender minority individuals seeking to exit the sex trade.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, mainstream American feminism has focused on the right to engage in prostitution, thus overshadowing indigenous and transnational feminists' call for women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer ohana to have the right to refuse to engage in prostitution or endure recurring sexual assault to survive; and

 

     WHEREAS, Native Hawaiian women, women of color, and sexual and gender identity minorities deserve the same right as affluent, college‑educated, or white women to exit the sex trade; and

 

     WHEREAS, the right to exit prostitution does not meaningfully exist for most individuals in the sex trade; and

 

     WHEREAS, the right to leave patriarchal institutions is one of the rights that is most often denied to women; and

 

WHEREAS, an appropriate alternative would be to establish a pilot program to support the economic survival of those wanting to exit this patriarchal system, thereby addressing the tendency of many social institutions to criminalize those who are forced to engage in prostitution and instead encourage compassion for individuals ensnared in the sex trade; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Department of Human Services is requested to establish a one-year pilot program to provide a basic income to qualified adults who are verified victims of sex trafficking or who are female or sexual and gender minority individuals seeking to exit the sex trade; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to the extent possible, the Department of Human Services is requested to administer the pilot program in the following manner:

 

     (1)  The target number of program applicants should be two hundred fifty;

 

     (2)  A program applicant should:

 

          (A)  Be a Hawaii resident who is eighteen years of age or older;

 

          (B)  Demonstrate the applicant's status as a victim of sex trafficking or as a female or sexual and gender minority individual seeking to exit the sex trade; and

 

          (C)  Provide documentation, from a nonprofit organization, community-based program, or other organization that provides housing, shelter, education, substance abuse counseling, or gender‑based violence support for victims of sex trafficking or prostitution, that attests to the applicant's status in subparagraph (B);

 

     (3)  The personal information of program applicants and participants, including name, age, date of birth, and contact information, should be kept confidential within the Department of Human Services and should not be disclosed to any member of the public;

 

     (4)  Applicants should not be required to seek employment or further education to be eligible to participate in the pilot program; and

 

     (5)  Each qualified applicant should receive a basic monthly income of $2,000 for a period of up to one year; provided that the basic monthly income provided by the pilot program should be exempt from state income taxes and, to the extent permissible under federal law, should be exempt from being considered income for the purposes of determining eligibility and benefit amounts under relevant public assistance, social services, and financial aid programs; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to terminate the pilot program after one year of operation; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations regarding the pilot program, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Director of Human Services.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Human Services; Pilot Program; Basic Income; Exit Sex Trade