An amendment that strengthened a recently watered-down human trafficking awareness bill prevailed on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon. Authored by Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, the amendment makes it so that House Bill 1416 requires gas stations with interior public spaces to display human trafficking awareness posters in restrooms or another visible location on its property.
During a Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee meeting in late March, Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, removed that requirement for those businesses out of the bill. He said his amendment was the result of pushback from the gas station and convenience store industry.
As amended, the bill now requires gas stations, rest stops and welcome centers to display human trafficking posters with awareness information and contact details for the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Rest stops and welcome centers are asked to include more specifics about trafficking as well as a law enforcement phone number. Gas stations may choose to display the additional information.
Pol, who is on the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee with Freeman, told TheStatehouseFile.com that after HB 1416 was watered down, he became determined to improve it. He wanted to find a way to compromise with the gas station industry so that human trafficking awareness signs would be required on their premises.
Pol said industry members told lawmakers that some of their establishments were already posting information on their property that aims to prevent human trafficking, so they thought the bill was unnecessary.
To Pol, this was not enough because not every gas station in Indiana was participating.
When he spoke with the industry about other concerns, he learned that certain gas stations, like ones outside of grocery stores that do not have restrooms or indoor shopping areas, were not sure how they would be able to implement the awareness signs.
Concerns from businesses like those, in Pol’s opinion, are what derailed the purpose of the bill and caused some Republican lawmakers to think requiring these types of businesses to have the awareness signs was impossible.
“You can’t be so rigid in your idea that you miss the intent and whether or not that (the bill) can be accomplished,” Pol said.
Pol’s amendment requires gas stations “with interior space open to the public” to display the awareness signs, which addresses the industry’s concern about businesses that do not have indoor convenience stores or public restrooms.
Working with the industry to address their worries is what won Republican senators over on the requirement for gas stations.
“Once the industry was able to, you know, confirm that they were good with it and they were able to explain that, you know, to the Republicans, we were good,” he said.
Beth White, CEO of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault, said her organization was not in favor of Freeman’s amendment to remove gas stations from the bill but is thankful Pol was able to re-amend the bill Thursday.
“This is a very welcome change to make sure that we are doing absolutely everything possible to help victims of this terrible crime access help,” White said. “I truly believe this will save lives.”
She said that in most cases of trafficking, the victim often does not label themself as a victim. They may think that since their trafficker provides them with food and shelter, they should do what they ask in return.
To White, signs in gas stations and other types of rest stops are a positive way for human trafficking victims to be confronted with quality information that may help them leave a dangerous situation.
“I feel like it’s a very small thing that can be done to make a really big impact on people who are victims of human trafficking and are often controlled completely by their trafficker. … The only time they are able to be alone is in the bathroom,” White said. “It is not a burdensome requirement, and if it could save the life of a human trafficking survivor, why wouldn’t we want to do this?”
Anna Cecil is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
