Victims of human trafficking would have more government support — and their abusers could face harsher punishments — under a bill moving through the state Senate with bipartisan support.

“It's extremely difficult to prosecute these cases,” said Anna Ptak, who was trafficked as a high schooler growing up in Greensboro. “But now we see a glimmer of hope. It really shouldn’t be hard to convict people who buy people to rape."

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Ptak spoke Tuesday in support of Senate Bill 626, which the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee approved after comments from her and other victim advocates.

The bill would make it easier for people who have been forced into sexual servitude to get payments from the state’s Crime Victims Compensation Fund. State law currently allows crime victims to be denied compensation if they were engaged in crime or even general “misconduct” at the time. This bill would eliminate that rule for trafficking victims, who sometimes are charged with prostitution or drug crimes.

The bill would also make it easier for victims to get permanent restraining orders against their abusers. And it would allow police to charge people for trying to solicit people into sexual servitude, even if they don’t ultimately succeed in trafficking their intended victim.

“If folks want to plumb the depths of human depravity, then you need to go no further than learning about the horrific acts committed against humanity, through human sex trafficking activities,” said Sen. Ted Alexander (R-Shelby), the bill’s lead sponsor. “What basically amounts to enslavement, for unspeakable acts.”

Debbie Gates, founder of a Waxhaw-based Christian advocacy group called Compassion to Act, said the changes in this bill would help trafficking victims make what can sometimes be a difficult or scary decision to escape from their circumstances.

“Many women are afraid to come out,” she said. “They're afraid to take the steps it takes to be free."

The legislature has made other changes to state law in recent years aimed at ending trafficking, or supporting victims — like a 2019 law that made it easier for trafficking victims to get criminal charges expunged, and to sue their abusers in civil court.

“I’m really proud of the work we've done in the past few sessions," said Sen. Bobby Hanig, a Currituck County Republican.