I WRITE IN RESPONSE to a July 21 Commentary piece (“Criminalizing prostitution will make things worse”) by Representatives Edith H. Ajello (D.-Providence) and David E. Segal (D.-Providence).

Since 2005, when brothels began proliferating in Rhode Island after word spread that our prostitution law was flawed, I have been fighting to close the loophole in that law and enact laws to stop human trafficking.

In 2007, the General Assembly passed the human-trafficking law. That seemed like a partial victory because it would have given police an opportunity to rescue the many women who are being brought to this country under false pretenses and forced into the sex industry. However, we soon found out that as long as our laws neglect to ban prostitution indoors, police couldn’t make arrests under the human-trafficking laws, either. The victims are terrified and generally are afraid to cooperate with the police who are trying to arrest their captors.

My bills are about helping these women, not hurting them. It’s important to note that my bill closing the prostitution loophole has an affirmative-defense clause establishing that being forced, coerced or threatened into prostitution is an allowable defense against charges. With that clause, women will cooperate with police because it will be clearer that identifying those who forced them into prostitution will not only free them from that life but will also clear their charges.

The human-trafficking bill that I introduced this year also makes it easier for police to arrest the perpetrators of the trafficking industry because it removes a requirement that police prove that an underage victim was forced or coerced into service. Currently, if the victim is scared and uncooperative, which is usually the case, it is very difficult to prove that coercion took place.

At a press conference in June, Governor Carcieri, State Police Col. Brendan Doherty, and Stacey Veroni, chief of the criminal division in the Attorney General’s Office, endorsed the House versions of both the prostitution bill (H-5044Aaa) and the human-trafficking bill (H-5661A). Law enforcement has said that these bills are necessary to combat the problems. Both bills have overwhelmingly passed the House but not the Senate.

Opponents of the prostitution bill don’t seem to understand that these bills protect trafficking victims by shielding them from penalties, while providing the tools for authorities to finally arrest the people victimizing them and, in the case of human traffickers, put them in jail for the long sentences they deserve.

One thing’s certain: Preserving the status quo definitely won’t help victims escape the human-trafficking industry. As long as we remain the only state without a real prostitution law, police will be unable to shut down the human-trafficking industry, and women will continue to be forced into lives of slavery, fear and abuse.

We have only a short time left in the legislative session to address this problem this year. If we don’t, that means another year in which scores of women are victimized.

It will also mean that Rhode Island’s dubious distinction as being the only state that allows this industry will continue to draw attention. As word has spread, we’ve started to attract prostitutes and johns from other states who know they can get away with it here. And with them come other dangers, as we saw when the alleged Craigslist killer visited our state and victimized a woman here.

As an aside, I find it interesting that opponents have come to Rhode Island from New York to tell us why we should leave our present laws alone. I speak of the representative from the “Sex Workers Project” who held a press conference in the Senate lounge at the State House. Why is she telling us to remain the only state that allows this? If legalizing prostitution were the answer to victims’ problems, perhaps her own state would do it.

The time to fix the problems with these laws is right now. I have tried for more than four years to pass legislation to combat these problems. I have tried to satisfy opponents with amendments, over and over. Every effort I’ve made is met with opposition and accusations that I want to hurt women. My intent has always been to help female and male victims and stop their victimization by the sex slavery industry.

Please keep in mind that I was the first one to bring the problem of human-trafficking to light and the first one to file legislation in 2006 after reading reports in The Journal and watching news clips on television about the alleged brothels and the abuse of young women kept in them in deplorable living conditions. Where were all these do-gooders and their efforts to protect these women then?

It’s now up to the people of Rhode Island to speak out to their state representatives and senators to say whether they want Rhode Island to remain the only state without a clear prostitution and human-trafficking law.

State Rep. Joanne M. Giannini (D.-Providence) is the chairwoman of the Constituent Services Committee and a member of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee. She was the prime sponsor of the human-trafficking bill that was signed into law in 2007. Since 2006, she has been the prime sponsor of legislation to close the indoor-prostitution loophole in the state.