Bill > S0796

Introduced Session

An act relating to anti-human trafficking; amending s. 16.618, F.S.; extending the future repeal date of the direct-support organization for the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking; amending ss. 394.875, 456.0341, and 480.043, F.S.; revising the hotline telephone number to be included in human trafficking awareness signs; amending s. 509.096, F.S.; deleting obsolete provisions; revising the hotline telephone number to be included in human trafficking awareness signs; amending s. 562.13, F.S.; revising applicability of provisions governing the employment of minors by vendors licensed under the Beverage Law; amending s. 787.06, F.S.; requiring that contractors with governmental entities attest that they do not use coercion for labor or services; defining the term “governmental entity”; amending s. 787.29, F.S.; revising the hotline telephone number to be included in human trafficking awareness signs; creating s. 787.30, F.S.; defining terms; prohibiting the employment of persons younger than 21 years of age in adult entertainment establishments; providing criminal penalties; requiring adult entertainment establishments to check identification of entertainers; specifying forms of identification that may be used; prohibiting the raising of specified arguments as a defense in a prosecution for certain violations; providing an effective date. WHEREAS, Florida is ranked third nationally for reported cases of human trafficking abuses, many of which involved sex trafficking, and WHEREAS, adult entertainment establishments are widely recognized as being a significant part of the sex trafficking network used by traffickers to coerce and facilitate men, women, and children into performing sexual acts, which places the employees of these establishments in direct and frequent contact with the victims of human trafficking, and WHEREAS, victims of sex trafficking are frequently recruited to work as performers or employees in adult entertainment establishments, and WHEREAS, researchers have found that sex trafficking victims are more likely to be trafficked by someone from within her or his own community, and WHEREAS, persons younger than 21 years of age are more likely to still remain within and dependent on the community in which they were raised, and WHEREAS, research studies have identified the average age at which a person in the United States enters the sex trade for the first time as 17 years of age, and WHEREAS, sex trade at adult entertainment establishments is a common occurrence in Florida, thereby subjecting performers at these establishments to frequent propositions and enticements to engage in sex trade actions and sex trafficking from customers, as well as strip club employees, managers, and owners, and WHEREAS, an understanding of history and human nature reveals that there are sex criminals of various kinds who will prey on the young and vulnerable, and WHEREAS, restricting the employment of persons younger than 21 years of age at adult entertainment establishments furthers an important state interest of protecting those vulnerable individuals from sex trafficking, drug abuse, and other harm, and WHEREAS, many court opinions recognize that, while expressive activities are entitled to some First Amendment protections at adult entertainment establishments, content neutral restrictions or regulations intended to minimize the secondary harmful effects of those businesses tend to be upheld, and WHEREAS, on November 16, 2018, the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the case of Jane Doe I v. Landry, 909 F.3d 99 (5th Cir. 2018), upheld a Louisiana law that prohibited establishments licensed to serve alcohol from employing nearly nude entertainers younger than 21 years of age on the grounds that the law furthered the state’s interests in curbing human trafficking and prostitution, and WHEREAS, the federal district court in Valadez v. Paxton, 553 F.Supp.3d 387 (W.D. Tex. 2021), denied a motion for a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Texas Senate Bill 315 prohibiting “all working relationships between 18-20 year-olds and sexually-oriented businesses” because the plaintiffs failed to show that the age restrictions were not rationally related to the state’s interest in curbing human trafficking, and WHEREAS, the federal district court in DC Operating, LLC v. Paxton, 586 F.Supp.3d 554 (W.D. Tex. 2022), denied a motion for a preliminary injunction against Texas Senate Bill 315, at least in part, because of the state’s evidence of the correlation between raising the minimum employment age and reducing human trafficking, and WHEREAS, the federal district court in Wacko’s Too, Inc., v. City of Jacksonville, 658 F.Supp.3d 1086 (M.D. Fla. 2023), upheld age restrictions in a City of Jacksonville ordinance requiring performers at adult entertainment establishments to be at least 21 years of age based, at least in part, on evidence that there was a reasonable basis to believe that the age restrictions would further the city’s interest in preventing human and sex trafficking, NOW, THEREFORE,

Committee Categories

Bryan Ávila (R)*,  Clay Yarborough (R), 

Other Sponsors (3)

Laid on Table, refer to HB 7063 (on 03/05/2024)

Official Document