By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — As evidenced by the number of explicit ads in local publications trumpeting “adult entertainment,” prostitution and other issues surrounding sex trafficking are of growing concern.

Today at noon, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking will host a press conference and rally at Grace Church, 175 Mathewson St., Providence, to address the matter and to call for legislative action. A march called “Stop Traffic” will follow.
RICAHT’s Melanie Shapiro said the press conference will address the human trafficking issue in Rhode Island, focusing on sex trafficking and its exponential growth.
She said the number of establishments believed to be involved in sex trafficking has gone from a handful in 2006 to almost 30, and the trade is on the rise.
“Inadequate, outdated state laws have led to failed prosecutions that have, in turn, made Rhode Island a safe haven for sex traffickers and their heinous criminal activities,” Shapiro stated.
Speakers will include Dr. Donna Hughes, an international sex trafficking expert; state Rep. Joanne Giannini; Felicia Delgado of Project RENEW; and various state officials.
Shapiro said that RICAHT has infused the spirit of “Take Back the Night” into its first march against human trafficking.
“Sex trafficking is an atrocious act of violence, sexual assault and exploitation against women,” she said. She further stated that the crime of sex trafficking is not simply a “john” paying for pleasure, but it entails a woman being sexually assaulted, sometimes as much as 10 times a day, according to RICAHT statistics.
Shapiro, who has done extensive research on the issue, said suspected sex trafficking enterprises, frequently masquerading as massage parlors and health spas, can be found throughout the state, ranging from Providence, Cranston, North Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls to Middletown and other outlying communities.
Shapiro cited data from a range of sources suggesting that there are conservatively five women per brothel who are required to endure at least five to 10 sexual assaults per day —  which adds up to several hundred acts of sexual assault against women daily in Rhode Island that are are never reported, much less prosecuted.
In particular, Shapiro said RICAHT is concerned about what is referred to as the state’s “prostitution loophole,” which essentially decriminalizes sex trade conducted indoors.
Given the absence of such a statute, and the difficulty in prosecuting these kinds of cases, trafficker activity has increased, she said.
Laws that govern the sex trade — in regards to trafficking, prostitution, pandering and loitering — are not aggressively enforced, Shapiro maintains. Likewise, police may not be following through on evidence of trafficking that becomes apparent during raids on suspected brothels, she said.
The charges that are typically enforced lack the teeth to attack trafficking, Shapiro said: Standard citations might be for giving massages without a license, or employing illegal immigrants who lack work permits.
“This is the first march in our state, and hopefully, something good will come out of it,” she said. “And the police will start working with us.”
Pawtucket Police Chief George L. Kelley III said that like many police chiefs in the state’s urban communities, his department has experienced frustration in trying to combat indoor prostitution.
He points out that those involved in such activity are well aware of the loophole and are smart enough to move their dirty business off the streets.
Kelley noted that the larger criminal concerns regarding prostitution and sex trafficking extend beyond the street walker herself.
The police want to try to get the victim off the streets and give her some help, as well as get to the root of the criminal operation. “However, we have to start with the girl,” Kelley said. “We want to get the girl, and often our hands are tied.”
Central Falls police chief Col. Joseph Moran is also supportive of legislation to close the prostitution loophole.
Like Kelley, and police chiefs in most of the state’s urban areas, he thinks it is important to change the law that makes such activity legal as long as it takes place indoors.
Moran, a former state representative, said that when he was part of the General Assembly, he helped author a bill aimed at stopping businesses from posing as massage parlors to front prostitution activity.
The legislation requires that massage therapists be licensed through the state Board of Health and come under state regulation.
While acknowledging that there are some businesses that slip through the compliance cracks due to a lack of staffing at the Board of Health, Moran said the legislation’s intent was “to close some issues.”
Founded in 2006 at the request of Providence Mayor David Cicilline, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking is a group of individuals representative of various organizations and demographics committed to combating the issue of human trafficking in the state of Rhode Island.