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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Shea Rhodes showed expansive understanding of laws regarding sex trafficking and prostitution, filling an hour discussing details of state and federal codes. But it was likely the few moments of silence that said the most.</p><p>The screens displayed a series of mug shot collections, eight photos at a time. Each octet showed images of the same woman, in chronological sequence taken over the span of two years or less, from the first time she was arrested for prostitution to the last. The features shifted dramatically from fresh faced to sunken eyes to hollow stares.</p><p>&#8220;A victim-less crime?&#8221; the former Philadelphia public prosecutor asked, pausing at one series that showed a woman with bruise marks. &#8220;Did she punch herself in the face?&#8221;</p><p>Now the director of the Villanova Law School&#8217;s Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Rhodes gave the keynote speech at the seventh annual educational conference set up by Family Service Association of Northeast Pennsylvania Friday at Genetti Hotel and Conference Center.</p><p>This year&#8217;s theme was &#8220;Human Trafficking: From Denial to Engagement,&#8221; and Rhodes&#8217; official topic was &#8220;the legal perspective.&#8221;</p><p>While she parsed minutiae in federal and state statutes, she made it clear from both the images shown and anecdotes told that, when it comes to sex trafficking, the legal perspective needs to keep a human perspective.</p><p>&#8220;I was a lawyer and a prosecutor; I was thinking the criminal justice system was supposed to rehabilitate people,&#8221; Rhodes said of a realization during her days prosecuting criminals.</p><p>&#8220;So how is it that women were getting 15, 24, 56 &#8212; and one woman had 68 &#8212; convictions for the crime of prostitution?&#8221; Rhodes asked. &#8220;Obviously, the system is broken.&#8221;</p><p>That was when Rhodes quit her job and began advocating &#8220;for what is now Pennsylvania&#8217;s anti-trafficking comprehensive legislation,&#8221; which defines key terms that make it easier for prosecutors to make a case against sex trafficking.</p><p>Worldwide, Rhodes said, human trafficking &#8212; selling humans to perform labor or sex &#8212; is a $32 billion industry, and the reason is simple. &#8220;Economics 101: The demand.&#8221;</p><p>Rhodes played a word association, asking for instant responses to &#8220;Prostitution.&#8221; Replies from the crowd of about 275 people included &#8220;money,&#8221; &#8220;sex&#8221; &#8220;addict&#8221; &#8220;victim&#8221; and &#8220;someone&#8217;s daughter.&#8221;</p><p>She recounted discovering her 14-year old daughter using the word &#8220;ho,&#8221; short for whore, casually in addressing friends. &#8220;And you know how they spelled it? H-E-A-U-S,&#8221; Rhodes said. &#8220;Like it&#8217;s supposed to be fancy.</p><p>&#8220;We really need to be careful about this rhetoric that we spill out of our mouth,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Because &#8216;ho&#8217; to me is just something that brings up violence. It&#8217;s sad that someone is out of opportunity and has no other choices.&#8221;</p><p>Rhodes also disagreed with the habit of calling prostitution &#8220;The world&#8217;s oldest profession.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I would suggest sex is not work because the majority of women and girls that I talk to need to cope to &#8216;go to work,&#8217; if that&#8217;s what it is,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Do you need to be high on heroine or drunk out of your mind to go to your job?&#8221;</p><p>While new laws make it easier to legally charge a person with forcing, coercing or extorting women into prostitution, Rhodes argued there is still far too much emphasis on arresting the prostitute and not the man soliciting.</p><p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t look at human trafficking as this violent, awful, gender-driven crime,&#8221; she said, &#8220;without asking ourselves wait, how can we stop the traffickers if we don&#8217;t stop the demand?</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t need to judge those people; we just need to say hey guys, do you need help?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Because it&#8217;s a crime, and you could be prosecuted for that crime. And the person you&#8217;re buying for sex is an actual person, is a human being, who is traumatized and victimized so very much.&#8221;</p><p>Statistics show arrests focus on the prostitute. In 2014 and 2015 combined, there were 6,042 arrests for selling sex statewide and 1,519 for buying. In Luzerne County, Rhodes noted, it was 39 and 2.</p><p>The new laws make it easier to prosecute for trafficking children under 18 in sex, offer greater protections and help for those being sold, and give prosecutors tools to potentially charge those who help while turning a blind eye, like hotel owners or cab drivers.</p><p>Rhodes concluded with a wish list she and other advocates are trying to make law, including easing harsh sentences on prostitution, which can ultimately lead to five years in state prison.</p><p>&#8220;Quite frankly, I&#8217;m asking all police to just stop locking up people for this crime. Give them the opportunity for social services,&#8221; she said</p><p>She also is pushing to eliminate provisions that allow a juvenile to be charged with prostitution. She wants more emphasis on those who promote prostitution and those who seek prostitutes.</p><p>&#8220;I want to call this the crime it really is: sexual exploitation of others, or just buying sex.</p><p>&#8220;We need to target all the perpetrators, the traffickers, the buyers and the third party facilitators like the hotels.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Atty. Shea M. Rhodes, director of Villanova Law School&#8217;s Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, speaks at the Family Services Association of NEPA Education Conference Friday at Genetti Hotel &amp; Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL111916edconference1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Atty. Shea M. Rhodes, director of Villanova Law School&#8217;s Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, speaks at the Family Services Association of NEPA Education Conference Friday at Genetti Hotel &amp; Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL111916edconference2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Villanova Law School&#8217;s Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation Director Shea Rhodes talks about prostitution laws in Pennsylvania during an education conference set up by Family Services Association of NEPA at Genetti Hotel &amp; Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL111916edconference2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Villanova Law School&#8217;s Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation Director Shea Rhodes talks about prostitution laws in Pennsylvania during an education conference set up by Family Services Association of NEPA at Genetti Hotel &amp; Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre Friday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Attorney: Shift prostitution fight to buyers and exploiters