REMARKS
Council Member Farah N. Louis introduces legislation on reporting missing persons cases
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Council Member Farah N. Louis, chair of the committee on women and gender equity, provides opening remarks for a hearing on supporting young victims of human trafficking. She introduces her bill, Intro 831, which would require the NYPD to annually report on missing persons cases, including data on trafficking victims.
- Louis emphasizes the importance of protecting vulnerable youth from exploitation
- The proposed legislation aims to increase transparency and address systemic inequities
- Louis thanks various staff members and colleagues for their work on the hearing
Farah N. Louis
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Thank you, chair.
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Good afternoon.
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My name is Farrah Lewis, chair to chair of the committee on women and gender equity.
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I like to begin by thanking my colleague, council member Stevens, chair of the committee on children and youth, and council member Salaam, chair of the committee on public safety for holding this very important hearing.
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I'd also like to welcome all joining us this afternoon.
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We appreciate your time and attention.
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As chair Stevens stated, we are here today to oversee and assess our city's support for young victims of human trafficking.
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Our duty as legislators is to ensure our agencies are utilizing discretion to investigate any level of bureaucracy that may further harm victims and are collectively working thank you.
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To protect our young people, especially those who are the most vulnerable to exploitation.
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This is paramount for us here in the council.
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In addition to our our discussion supporting young victims of human trafficking, we will also be discussing my bill intro 831, which would require the NYPD to annually report on missing persons cases.
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This bill would require the NYPD to submit a report to the mayor and the speaker of the council as well as post on its website a report that includes ongoing detailed information on the number of missing person persons reports received during the past decade.
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The report would also include the percentage of cases where the department has determined that the missing person has become a victim of sex, human, and labor trafficking.
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Publicizing this data will also hopefully give us more of an insight into this crisis and how we can best work to combat it.
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This legislation represents a significant step towards transparency and addressing the systemic inequities impacting vulnerable youth here in New York City.
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The committees look forward to hearing from the administration, advocates, and members of the public and other interested stakeholders who take the time to join us for this hearing.
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We thank you all for being here today.
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I would also like to thank my own staff, Daniel Horidia, as well as those of other committees who have worked hard to prepare for this hear hearing.
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Finally, I'd like to thank the Women and Gender Equity Committee staff, assistant deputy director, Sahar Mazami, senior legislative policy analyst, Kristi Dreyer, legislative counsel, Rachel Conte, finance analyst, Ali Stoffer, and assistant deputy director of data operations, Rose Martinez.
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Now I'll pass now pass it back to my colleague, chair, Stevens.