Maryland
Turning around sex trafficking: One year after Safe Harbor in Maryland
TurnAround Inc. working to rescue youth, trans girls from exploitation

In 2023, the law in Maryland dictated the following: If a child was discovered to be sex trafficked during a sting operation, they were to be arrested, handcuffed, and then incarcerated as a āchild prostitute.ā One survivor testified to Maryland lawmakers that after being trafficked throughout College Park from ages 12 to 15, it was their ārescueā by law enforcement that was the most traumatizing part of their experience.
In 40 states and in federal law, the sex trafficking of minors was already understood to be a crime committed against children, and not a crime committed by children. When Gov. Wes Moore signed the Safe Harbor law on May 16th of last year, prohibiting the criminal prosecution of sex-trafficked minors, he brought Maryland out of a legal dark age.
How do things look in Maryland a year later? The Washington Blade got in touch with TurnAround Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, to find out. TurnAround is Marylandās first provider of comprehensive services to survivors of sexual trafficking, Baltimoreās rape crisis center, and a support center for victims of intimate partner violence and sexual violence.
Perhaps the most striking thing about TurnAround is how large of an operation it is ā how large of an operation it needs to be. The organization fielded more than 10,000 calls on their hotline in 2022, conducted almost 4,000 counseling sessions, and placed 337 clients in safe shelter: nearly one for every day of the year. But the staff at TurnAround is relieved to see these numbers so high. During the pandemic, there was a steep decrease in reports of sex trafficking.
ā[COVID] had a very chilling effect on the number of trafficking survivors that were getting access to services,ā said Amanda Rodriguez, executive director of TurnAround. Many of the avenues through which cases were referred to TurnAround simply shut down. The hospitals were inundated with COVID cases, and so werenāt referring anyone; the schools were closed down, and so werenāt referring anyone; and State Attorney Marilyn Mosby stopped prosecuting low-level crimes, which had the unintended consequence of limiting the opportunities law enforcement had to identify youth at risk of trafficking.
In 2020, TurnAround moved into a new office in downtown Baltimore, and it is cavernous ā half the floor of a skyscraper. When you walk in, you could mistake the headquarters for a dentistās office for how calmly the front desk attendant answers the phone. A few lines here and there give away the seriousness of their work: āIs it OK for us to leave a voicemail?ā Not every callerās phone is a safe place.
The office is flanked by a hallway of therapists on one side of the building, who focus on the inner lives of their clients, and a hallway of advocates on the other side, who focus on their outer lives: support in court, government benefits, direct outreach on the streets of Baltimore. At the center are a host of services one would think spread across the whole of the city: a computer center, a clothing donation center, storage for the goods and products needed to survive while in shelter, a kitchen for group meals, and a place to wash and dry your clothes. But the most sobering part of the office is the play center full of toys, for the children that TurnAround serves. āWe have clients as young as three years old,ā said Jean Henningsen, senior director of strategic initiatives. Some of these children come in as the dependents of adult survivors, but they are sometimes the victims of sexual violence themselves.
āWhen we were creating Safe Harbor, we looked to see how many kids had been arrested and charged by law enforcement in every county in the state,ā Amanda said. āBaltimore City had the highest number at the time. This has changed since then, and is actually getting much better.ā The majority of these trafficked kids were trans girls living in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore ā a situation that would surprise many Baltimore residents. Charles Village has a reputation for being one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. It is the neighborhood of Johns Hopkins University, which has, in an effort to assuage the concerned parents of its undergraduates, stationed security officers on many of the surrounding street corners. Despite criticism, the university recently partnered with the Baltimore Police Department to create its own police force, and has started recruiting and training officers as of this spring.
āIt’s historically been a safer neighborhood for the LGBTQ community in general,ā Amanda said. āI don’t know what spurred more nefarious individuals coming in and exploiting people, other than opportunity. Traffickers are just such master manipulators. They will figure out for anybody what their vulnerability is.ā But these nefarious individuals are not part of some transnational crime organization. They are sometimes trans women themselves, trafficking these girls to serve their own needs in the home. Often rejected by their families and in search of community, trans girls find this community among other trans women, and then get manipulated into sexual service.
The procedure for dealing with suspected child sex trafficking in Maryland begins with what are called āRegional Navigators,ā a role established by the Child Sex Trafficking Screening and Services Act of 2019. Law enforcement agents and local departments of Social Services will notify the countyās Regional Navigator of a suspected trafficking case, and then this Regional Navigator will put together a Multi-Disciplinary Team, or MDT. The MDT consists of all agents and departments that are involved in or have some stake in the case, including Child Protective Services, Juvenile Services, law enforcement, therapists, and schools. These stakeholders will compare notes on what the youth has told them, since they will often have provided different agents and departments with competing descriptions of whatās going on.
While the MDT procedure is highly effective for inter-departmental coordination on a given case, Stephanie Gonzalez, the Acting Regional Navigator for Howard County, explained that the system has some way to go when it comes to LGBTQ youth. āWhen we get referrals in general, a lot of times, itās not mentioned how they identify,ā she said. As a consequence, their data on how many LGBTQ youth are being trafficked isnāt always accurate, and these youth sometimes arenāt being handled in ways consonant with their sexual or gender identity. And even when these youth are appropriately identified, they arenāt always able to access the appropriate resources.
āWe had a transgender female come to us from another state, and she had been trafficked,ā Stephanie said. āWe had her in a hotel while we looked for other housing options. We could not find trans-friendly housing options.ā The womenās shelters they approached didnāt have the requisite training or resources. They would ask insensitive and irrelevant questions about any surgeries the girl had undergone as part of her transition, or require that she be isolated from other women for their safety. āWhy are they trying to make it seem like Iām going to hurt someone,ā she would ask.
But that situation is changing. TurnAround has partnered with the YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County to open up a safe house with the resources needed to support any child survivor of sex trafficking. āItās built!ā Jean said. āTurnAround will be staffing it and running it 24/7. Right now there are no children in the facility. Weāre still waiting on the final licensing paperwork from the state.ā
The project is expensive, with an estimated running cost of $1.5 million each year. TurnAround has partnered with Femi Ayanbadejo, a former Super Bowl winner with the Baltimore Ravens, to help coordinate fundraising. Ayanbadejo advocates for TurnAround with a deep enthusiasmāhearing him talk on the work they do, it could easily be a field-side interview in the final quarter of a game. āIf we can reach five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty thousand people that we wouldnāt have with [the Bladeās] reach, maybe thereās one or two foundations that would give five, ten, a hundred, a thousand, maybe a million dollars. Who knows?ā
To learn more about TurnAroundās work, visit their website at turnaroundinc.org. If you or someone you know is experiencing sexual violence, TurnAround has offices in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Howard County. All three offices can be reached via 410-377-8111.
CJ Higgins is a postdoctoral fellow with the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
Maryland
Originally charged with hate crimes, Salisbury University students now face misdemeanor charges
Suspects allegedly attacked man they met on Grindr

The first three Salisbury University students charged in an attack on a man they allegedly lured to an off-campus apartment using a dating app are set to stand trial this week.
Dylan Pietuszka, 20, Logan Clark, 20, and Sean Antone, 19, are among the 15 Salisbury students who in early November were taken into custody in connection with the attack and charged with hate crimes.
All three men standing trial this week are only facing two charges: Second degree assault and false imprisonment, which are both misdemeanors.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus to hold town hall on Eastern Shore
Delmarva Pride Center, DoCoPride to co-host Wednesday event

The Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus on Wednesday will hold a town hall with the Delmarva Pride Center and DoCoPride that will focus on legal protections for LGBTQ Marylanders.
The town hall will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Waterfowl Building (40 S. Hanson St.) in Easton. It will also be virtual for those who cannot attend in person.
A press release notes elected officials and āstate and federal legal expertsā will talk about āthe current status of protections for LGBTQ+ Marylanders and what the future may hold.ā
āAs Maryland prepares for the incoming federal administration, the LGBTQ+ Caucus is steadfast in reaffirming Marylandās commitment to supporting all of its residents,ā said state Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County), who chairs the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus. āCoordination will be critical to building a comprehensive package of legislation that affirms the unique lived experiences of all its residents ā especially queer, nonbinary, and transgender people targeted by harmful legislation.ā
Tina Jones, co-founder and chair of the Delmarva Pride Center in Easton, in the press release notes the LGBTQ community āis facing unprecedented levels of bias and potential harm at this time.ā
āAs part of our safe spaces initiative, we are honored to have this opportunity to partner with the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus and DoCo Pride to educate folks on their rights and stand together to say hate, bias, and harm have no place on the Eastern Shore or anywhere in Maryland,ā said Jones.
Registration for the event is here:
Maryland
HIV decriminalization bill is FreeState Justiceās top 2025 legislative priority
Measure named in honor of Carlton Smith, a prominent activist who died last year

A bill that would decriminalize HIV in Maryland is a top legislative priority for FreeState Justice in 2025.
FreeState Justice Community Advocacy Manager Ronnie Taylor told the Washington Blade on Wednesday the Carlton R. Smith Jr. HIV Modernization Act seeks to repeal āoutdated and stigmatizing laws that criminalize the transfer of HIV, bringing Marylandās public health laws in line with modern science and best practices.ā
The bill is named after Carlton Smith, a long-time LGBTQ activist known as the āmayorā of Baltimoreās Mount Vernon neighborhood who died last May. A similar measure died in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in 2024.
āThe bill emphasizes public health education, anti-discrimination measures, and access to care, ensuring those living with HIV are supported rather than penalized,ā said Taylor.
Taylor pointed out FreeState Justice is working with the Maryland Legislative LGBTQIA+ Caucus and the Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs to build support for four additional bills and policy objectives.
ā¢ The Birth Certificate Modernization Act would āstreamline the process for amending gender markers on birth certificates to make it more accessible and affirming.ā
ā¢ The Commission on History, Culture and Civics would create āan inclusive commission to center marginalized voices in Maryland’s history, culture, and civics education.ā
ā¢ The implementation of āinclusive and diverse English Language Arts Standardsā in public schools that would ensure ācurricula reflect diverse identities and lived experiences, fostering a more inclusive learning environment for students.ā
ā¢ The creation of a ācomprehensive health education frameworkā that would establish āa robust and inclusive health education framework for primary and secondary schools, focusing on equity and affirming all students.ā
Taylor noted FreeState Justice is also āexploring ways to supportā Compassion and Choices, a group that advocates for assisted dying, in their efforts in support of the Honorable Elijah E. Cummings End of Life Option Act.
āThe act has profound historical significance for LGBTQIA+ communities, as end-of-life options were first championed during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1990s, highlighting the importance of dignity and choice,ā said Taylor.
She added the ālegislative efforts reflect FreeState Justiceās commitment to advancing equity and dignity for LGBTQIA+ Marylanders through policy advocacy and community collaboration.ā
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