Sara Kruzan was just 11 when she was Victim of being trafficked. George Howard, took Sara for the s** trade and coerced her into prostitution. For more than four years, 11 to 16, Howard subjected Sara to the extreme psychological and physical violence and manipulation that is typical of the s** trade.
The Social welfare and governmental early warning systems created to help children like Sara but failed her, by leaving her hopeless and helpless. When she was unable to escape Howard’s grasp, Sara felt compelled to use force against her trafficker. She shot and killed Howard and, while she was still a minor, she did murder.
Sara served almost 20 years in prison before her sentence was commuted by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sara’s release was the result of tireless advocacy, countless hours of volunteer legal assistance, and seven years of litigation. Without all this hard work, Sara would still be incarcerated today.
The media recently paid more attention to survivors like Sara. Whereas the case of 16-year-old s** trafficking victim Cyntoia Brown, who received life imprisonment for the killing of a man who bought her for s**, raised public awareness and brought attention to the quiet criminalization of s** trafficking survivors. But unless this sympathy is accompanied by legal changes, the criminal justice system will continue
Meanwhile self-defense laws vary from state to state, one common criteria is that the threat must be immediate. Because victims like Sara, and so many like her, retaliate after years of abuse and trauma, they are not able to claim self-defense. Sara’s case reveals the deficiency of self-defense laws, especially with regard to underage victims who are sometimes tried as adults for killing their abuser. The case for 17-year-old Chrystul Kizer, who is being tried for murder for shooting her alleged trafficker after many years of abuse and exploitation. Systematic, on-going s***** abuse and s***** trafficking are crimes perpetrated at all times, not just during specific moments.
Sara’s Law aims to correct the insufficiency of federal self-defense statutes by allowing judges to take age and a history of abuse into consideration when evaluating a minor’s culpability for a crime. It would also allow judges to deviate from mandatory sentences, suspend the entirety of a sentence, and allow cases involving these minors to be adjudicated in juvenile or family court, instead of being sentenced as adults.
According to CEO of Human Rights for Kids James Dold, “Sara’s Law is really the first national effort to center trauma and child status when courts are deciding how to handle cases of child sex crime victims who have come into conflict with the law. This idea will revolutionize how we treat children in the legal system who have experienced unimaginable trauma.”
Congressman Westerman said, “I wrote Sara’s Law and the Unfair Sentencing Act after meeting with Sara Kruzan and hearing her story. It is unimaginable that children can be sentenced to life without the chance of parole for crimes against their abusers, and I am determined to correct this injustice. Harsh punishments on these children do not make the public safer, but only further their trauma and prevent rehabilitation efforts.”
As Sara says: “It is time that we treat kids like kids and offer compassionate healing opportunities for the children who have endured such abuses.”
