REPORT TITLE:
Prostitution; Coercion


DESCRIPTION:
Provides a civil cause of action for damages to persons injured
as a result of being coerced into prostitution.  (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           616
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO PROSTITUTION.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that those who promote
 
 2 prostitution leave life-long physical, emotional, and financial
 
 3 scars on their victims, often in the form of personal injury,
 
 4 disease, mental or emotional harm, and medical and rehabilitation
 
 5 expenses, as well as the loss of past or future income or earning
 
 6 capacity.  In some cases, even death may result.
 
 7      Although the criminal justice system is an important weapon
 
 8 against prostitution and the promotion of prostitution, the civil
 
 9 justice system can and must also be used.  The civil justice
 
10 system can provide an avenue of compensation for those victims
 
11 who have suffered harm as a result of the promotion of
 
12 prostitution.  Those who promote prostitution should bear the
 
13 cost of the harm, including noneconomic damages, caused by that
 
14 activity in the community.
 
15      The legislature finds that this is especially true for those
 
16 who coerce an individual into prostitution.  Under current law,
 
17 if a person knowingly compels a person by criminal coercion to
 
18 engage in prostitution, or profits from another's coercive
 
19 conduct, that person commits the felony offense of promoting
 
20 prostitution in the first degree.
 

 
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 1      The legislature further finds that the added threat of civil
 
 2 liability to those who coerce individuals into prostitution, or
 
 3 profit by that coercion serve as an additional deterrent to the
 
 4 promotion of prostitution.  A person who has substantial assets
 
 5 is likely to decide that the added cost of engaging in that
 
 6 activity is not worth the benefit.  This Act therefore provides a
 
 7 mechanism whereby the cost of the injuries caused by coercing a
 
 8 person into prostitution will be borne by those who promote
 
 9 prostitution.  The legislature finds that this Act is necessary
 
10 to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people of this
 
11 State.
 
12      SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
13 a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
 
14 follows:
 
15                             "CHAPTER
 
16             LIABILITY FOR COERCION INTO PROSTITUTION
 
17      §   -1 Title.  This Act may be cited as the Prostitution
 
18 Coercion Liability Act.
 
19      §   -2 Definitions.  As used in this chapter:
 
20      "Coerce" means to use or threaten to use any form of
 
21 domination, restraint, or control for the purpose of causing an
 
22 individual to engage in or remain in prostitution or to
 
23 relinquish earnings derived from prostitution.  Coercion exists
 

 
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 1 if the totality of the circumstances establish the existence of
 
 2 domination, restraint, or control that would have the reasonably
 
 3 foreseeable effect of causing an individual to engage in or
 
 4 remain in prostitution or to relinquish earnings from
 
 5 prostitution.
 
 6      "Prostitution" has the same meaning as provided in section
 
 7 712-1200.
 
 8      "Promoting prostitution" means promoting prostitution in the
 
 9 first or second degree, as provided in sections 712-1202 and 712-
 
10 1203, respectively.
 
11      §   -3 Cause of action for coercion into prostitution.  An
 
12 individual has a cause of action against a person who:
 
13      (a)  Coerced the individual into prostitution;
 
14      (b)  Coerced the individual to remain in prostitution;
 
15      (c)  Used coercion to collect or receive any of the
 
16           individual's earnings derived from prostitution; or
 
17      (d)  Hired, offered to hire, or agreed to hire the
 
18           individual to engage in prostitution, knowing or having
 
19           reason to believe that the individual was coerced into
 
20           or coerced to remain in prostitution by another person.
 
21 Paragraph (c) shall not apply to minor children who are dependent
 
22 on the individual and who may have benefited from or been
 
23 supported by the individual's earnings derived from prostitution.
 

 
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 1      §   -4 Cause of action for inducing a minor into
 
 2 prostitution.  An individual has a cause of action against a
 
 3 person who did any of the following while the individual was a
 
 4 minor:
 
 5      (a)  Solicited or induced the individual to practice
 
 6           prostitution;
 
 7      (b)  Promoted the prostitution of the individual;
 
 8      (c)  Collected or received the individual's earnings derived
 
 9           from prostitution; or
 
10      (d)  Hired, offered to hire, or agreed to hire the
 
11           individual to engage in prostitution.  
 
12 Mistake as to age is not a defense to an action under this
 
13 section.  Paragraph (c) shall not apply to minor children who are
 
14 dependent on the individual and who may have benefited from or
 
15 been supported by the individual's earnings derived from
 
16 prostitution.
 
17      §   -5 Evidence.(a)  Acts that may serve as evidence in
 
18 support of a claim under section    -3 or section    -4 include:
 
19      (1)  Physical force or actual or implied threats of physical
 
20           force;
 
21      (2)  Physical or mental torture;
 
22      (3)  Implicitly or explicitly leading an individual to
 
23           believe that the individual will be protected from
 

 
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 1           violence or arrest;
 
 2      (4)  Kidnapping;
 
 3      (5)  Blackmail;
 
 4      (6)  Extortion or claims of indebtedness;
 
 5      (7)  Threat of legal complaint or report of delinquency;
 
 6      (8)  Threat to interfere with parental rights or
 
 7           responsibilities, whether by judicial or administrative
 
 8           action or otherwise;
 
 9      (9)  Restraining speech or communication with others, such
 
10           as exploiting a language difference or interfering with
 
11           the use of mail, telephone, or money;
 
12     (10)  Isolating an individual from others;
 
13     (11)  Exploiting pornographic performance;
 
14     (12)  Interfering with opportunities for education or skills
 
15           training;
 
16     (13)  Destroying property; or
 
17     (14)  Restraining movement.
 
18      (b)  Acts that may serve as evidence in support of a claim
 
19 under section    -4 include:
 
20      (1)  Exploiting needs for food, shelter, safety, affection,
 
21           or intimate or marital relationships;
 
22      (2)  Exploiting a condition of developmental disability,
 
23           cognitive limitation, affective disorder, or substance
 

 
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 1           dependency;
 
 2      (4)  Taking advantage of lack of intervention by child
 
 3           protection agencies;
 
 4      (5)  Exploiting victimization by previous sexual abuse or
 
 5           battering;
 
 6      (6)  Promise of legal benefit, such as posting bail,
 
 7           procuring an attorney, protecting from arrest, or
 
 8           promising unionization;
 
 9      (7)  Promise of financial rewards;
 
10      (8)  Promise of marriage; or
 
11      (9)  Defining the terms of an individual's employment or
 
12           working conditions in a manner that can foreseeably
 
13           lead to the individual's use in prostitution.
 
14 For purposes of this subsection, paragraphs (1), (7), and (9)
 
15 shall not apply to money payment by a prostitute's customer.
 
16      §   -6 Damages.  A person entitled to bring an action under
 
17 section     -3 may recover all of the following damages:
 
18      (1)  Economic damages, including the cost of treatment and
 
19           rehabilitation, medical expenses, loss of economic or
 
20           educational potential, loss of productivity,
 
21           absenteeism, support expenses, loss due to accident or
 
22           injury, and any other pecuniary loss proximately caused
 
23           by coercion into prostitution;
 

 
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 1      (2)  Noneconomic damages, including physical and emotional
 
 2           pain and suffering, physical impairment, emotional
 
 3           distress, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of
 
 4           enjoyment, loss of companionship, services, and
 
 5           consortium, and other nonpecuniary losses proximately
 
 6           caused by coercion into prostitution;
 
 7      (3)  Exemplary damages;
 
 8      (4)  Reasonable attorney's fees; and
 
 9      (5)  Costs of suit, including reasonable expenses for expert
 
10           testimony.
 
11      §   -7 Joinder of parties.(a)  In the discretion of the
 
12 court, two or more persons may join in one action under this
 
13 chapter as plaintiffs if their respective actions relate to an
 
14 individual who engages in promoting prostitution by coercion.
 
15      (b)  In the discretion of the court, two or more persons may
 
16 be joined in one action under this chapter as defendants if those
 
17 persons are liable to at least one plaintiff.
 
18      (c)  A plaintiff need not be interested in obtaining and a
 
19 defendant need not be interested in defending against all of the
 
20 relief demanded.  Judgment may be given for one or more
 
21 plaintiffs according to their respective rights to relief and
 
22 against one or more defendants according to their respective
 
23 liabilities.
 

 
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 1      §   -8 Effect of criminal conviction.(a)  A person
 
 2 against whom recovery is sought who has a final criminal
 
 3 conviction pursuant to section 712-1202(1)(a) shall be estopped
 
 4 from denying the promotion of prostitution by coercion.  Such a
 
 5 conviction creates a rebuttable presumption that the person used
 
 6 coercion against an individual in the manner described in section
 
 7 -3(a)(1) through (3) during the two years preceding the date of
 
 8 an act giving rise to a conviction.
 
 9      (b)  The absence of a criminal conviction of a person
 
10 against whom recovery is sought does not bar an action against
 
11 that person under this chapter.
 
12      §   -9 Statute of limitations.(a)  A claim under this
 
13 chapter may not be brought against a person more than four years
 
14 after an act of promoting prostitution by coercion by that
 
15 person.
 
16      (b)  The limitation period provided for in this chapter is
 
17 tolled:
 
18      (1)  During the minority of the individual who engages in
 
19           prostitution; or
 
20      (2)  Any time there is a criminal offense investigation
 
21           being actively conducted against the defendant by a
 
22           governmental agency or there is a criminal offense
 
23           charge, information, or indictment pending against the
 

 
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 1           defendant.
 
 2      §   -10  Stay of action.  On motion by a governmental agency
 
 3 involved in an investigation or prosecution for promoting
 
 4 prostitution, an action brought under this chapter shall be
 
 5 stayed until the completion of the criminal investigation or
 
 6 prosecution that gave rise to the motion for a stay of the
 
 7 action.
 
 8      §   -11  Other remedies preserved.  The remedies provided
 
 9 under this chapter do not affect the right of any person to bring
 
10 an action or use any remedy available under other law, including
 
11 common law, to recover damages arising out of the use of the
 
12 individual in prostitution or the coercion incident to the
 
13 individual being used in prostitution; nor does this chapter
 
14 limit or restrict the liability of any person under other law."
 
15      SECTION 3.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that
 
16 matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were
 
17 begun, before its effective date.
 
18      SECTION 4.  If any provision of this Act or the application
 
19 of any provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid,
 
20 the remainder of this Act and the application of such provision
 
21 to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected by that
 
22 invalidation.
 
23      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.