What You Need To Know About Sex Work
Q: What about human trafficking?
A. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UNAIDS, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, the World Health Organization, and many other human rights groups support the decriminalization of consensual sex work in order to address human trafficking worldwide. Where sex work has been decriminalized, sex workers and trafficking survivors are afforded human rights. Trafficking, exploitation, and violence against women decrease sharply.
Q. How does this affect my LGBT community?
A. Many LGBT people work in the sex industry. In some cases, due to extreme and persistent discrimination often faced by transgender women, LGBT people turn to the sex industry for survival. These populations also face higher rates of assault and are often prevented from seeking help and reporting for fear of being arrested for prostitution.
Q. How does this relate to the racial justice movement?
A. As you probably know, people of color are targeted by police more often than white people for low-level crimes such as drug possession. The same is true for sex work. Women of color are especially targeted, harassed, and arrested for prostitution crimes at much higher rates than their white co-workers.
Q. What effect would this have on immigrant populations?
A. Even though prostitution is a low-level crime, it has a serious negative effect on immigration applications when people attempt to adjust their immigration status. Decriminalizing prostitution will ensure that otherwise eligible immigrants are not punished for their economic survival skills.
Q. What about spreading STIs? I’m concerned that there will be more STIs.
A. Numerous public health agencies have stated that decriminalizing prostitution is one of the most important policy shifts necessary to prevent HIV and STI infections. When sex work is illegal, police often use condoms in a wallet as evidence of prostitution, preventing some people from wanting to carry them in large numbers, even from the store to home. Also, as stigma is reduced, using and carrying condoms is known to increase.
Q. How does this intersect with disability rights?
A. Individuals with disabilities are often the consumers of professional sexual services. Some people with limited mobility or some mental health challenges depend on sex workers to fulfill their natural human need for sexual relationships. In the Netherlands, a disabled person can access the services of a sex worker once a month at the government’s expense as it is understood as a basic right. Under the current system in the U.S., a person with a disability would be arrested for paying for professional sexual services.
Q. What’s the urgency in changing sex work laws?
A. Although the well-being and human rights of sex workers is urgent, the passage of the federal laws, SESTA/FOSTA, is a threat to everyone’s liberty (including non-sex workers) and has made working conditions even worse for sex workers in this time period.
Q. How will this affect criminal justice resources?
A. In most jurisdictions, tens of thousands of dollars are spent pointlessly arresting and processing nonviolent sex workers. This money could be better spent testing stockpiles of untested rape kits and using those police hours to prevent and solve dangerous crimes such as assault and robbery.
Q. Why don’t sex workers report crimes to the police?
A. Sex workers are not guaranteed immunity from the criminal codes they have broken while working. As such, they put themselves at risk if they seek to report crimes or information they have about crimes. Decriminalization will allow sex workers to collaborate with law enforcement to the benefit of everyone’s safety.
Q. What do police think of this?
A. A lot of police support decriminalization. They see that their hard work is useless and doesn’t help anyone in the endless system of arrests and processing. In addition, they find websites and legal operations very helpful in criminal investigations. They are among the voices that cry out against the closure of sex work advertising sites such as Backpage and Craigslist, both American companies that were helpful to them in critical investigations.
Q. Do you think prostitution should be regulated?
A. No. Consensual sex between adults is not regulated in the United States. You can think of it like the homosexuality laws. When we decriminalized gay sex, we didn’t then regulate it. A person’s income from a small business source is required to be taxed by tax law and, just like people who do services like house cleaning, if you don’t claim and pay taxes on your income, you could get into trouble with the IRS. But just like in other unregulated personal care professions, the minute details of your work are not regulated.
Q. What’s the difference between “sex work” and “prostitution”?
A. Sex work includes the entire field of sexual services, both legal and illegal, including pornography, exotic dancing, fetish work, web-based work, and prostitution. Prostitution is the kind of sex work most often criminalized, and it is the direct, in-person exchange of sex for money.
Q. Will decriminalizing prostitution increase violent crimes against women?
A. There is zero evidence that prostitution causes trafficking, domestic violence, or any other crimes against women.
Q. What about the Equality/Entrapment/Nordic/Swedish/End Demand Model of governing prostitution?
A. The Entrapment Model, also known as the End Demand Model, Nordic Model, or Equality Model, refers to the theory that criminalizing clients and third parties (e.g., managers) will reduce demand in the sex trade, thereby “freeing” sex workers, who are often seen — but rarely treated — as victims. This framework has vocal proponents and bills proposing it have been introduced in a few states, but we must make laws based on evidence and fact instead of ideology. Unambiguous data shows a clear correlation between laws that criminalize clients and an increase in violence, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and exploitation within the sex trade. Decriminalization is the only means of reducing violence, illness, and exploitation. This chart helps to explain the stark comparisons in the evidence on decriminalization and the Equality/Entrapment model.
Immunity Laws
What Are Immunity Laws?
States across the country are increasingly adopting laws that grant some form of criminal legal immunity to people who report crimes. Existing and proposed immunity laws vary in scope: some broadly protect victims from any prosecution for reporting any type of crime; others protect specific victims and/or address specific types of perpetrators; there are provisions written into penal codes that prevent arrest at the time of reporting; and there are evidence rules that forbid the admission of evidence acquired during the investigation and prosecution of a reported crime. Ultimately, immunity laws need to protect victims and witnesses who report violent crime and trafficking from being arrested or prosecuted for prostitution or prostitution-related crimes.
Why Are They Important?
People involved in the sex trade (whether by choice or by force, fraud, or coercion) often are victims of violent crime and exploitation, but frequently don’t report crimes perpetrated against them due to fear of arrest. When those abusers then aren’t discovered by law enforcement, they are able to continue their acts of violence and exploitation with impunity.
Who Do Immunity Laws Help?
Immunity laws serve a dual purpose:
- They allow sex workers and trafficked people to safely report crimes and seek medical care without the fear that they themselves will be criminalized and subject to arrest, incarceration, fines, etc.
- They equip law enforcement entities with an increased ability to identify, investigate, and convict perpetrators of violence and trafficking.
Immunity laws directly protect victims and witnesses of violence and they ultimately benefit all communities by allowing law enforcement to better detect criminal activity.
Existing and Proposed Immunity Laws
Passed in 2016: Alaska SB91
Passed in 2019: Oregon SB596, California SB233, Utah HB40, Washington HB1392
Passed in 2021: New Hampshire HB123, Vermont H18, and Montana HB520
Passed in 2022: Colorado HB1288
Introduced in 2022: Nebraska LB7
Introduced in 2023: Hawaii HB1437, New York S1966, Massachusetts H1758/S1046, Rhode Island S0402, Tennessee HB1383/SB182
Example Language
OREGON – SENATE BILL 596 (2019)
OREGON REVISED STATUTES § 136.437
(1) If a person contacts an emergency communications system or a law enforcement agency to report the commission of a person felony, any statements or other evidence relating to the crime of prostitution … obtained as a result of the person making the report may not be used in the prosecution of the person for prostitution or attempted prostitution.
VERMONT – HOUSE BILL 18 (2021)
13 V.S.A. § 2638
(b) A person who, in good faith and in a timely manner, reports to law enforcement that the person is a victim of or a witness to a crime that arose from the person’s involvement in prostitution or human trafficking shall not be cited, arrested, or prosecuted for a violation of the following offenses: [prostitution and drug possession offenses]
CALIFORNIA SENATE BILL 233 (2019)
Section 1162 of the Evidence Code is amended to read:
Evidence that a victim of, or a witness to, a serious felony … assault … domestic violence … extortion … human trafficking … sexual battery … or stalking … has engaged in an act of prostitution at or around the time they were the victim of or witness to the crime is inadmissible in a separate prosecution of that victim or witness to prove criminal liability for the act of prostitution.
Section 647.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
(a) A person who reports being a victim of, or a witness to, a serious felony … assault … domestic violence … extortion … human trafficking … sexual battery … or stalking … shall not be arrested for [public nuisance, public lewdness, prostitution, or loitering for prostitution] if that offense is related to the crime that the person is reporting or if the person was engaged in that offense at or around the time that the person was the victim of or witness to the crime they are reporting.
UTAH HOUSE BILL 40 (2021)
LAWS OF UTAH SECTION 76-10-1302(4)
A prosecutor may not prosecute an individual for a violation of [prostitution] if the individual engages in a violation of [prostitution] at or near the time the individual witnesses or is a victim of any of the following offenses, or an attempt to commit any of the following offenses, and the individual reports the offense or attempt to law enforcement in good faith: (a) assault, Section 76-5-102; (b) aggravated assault, Section 76-5-103; (c) mayhem, Section 76-5-105; (d) aggravated murder, murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, child abuse homicide, or homicide by assault under Title 76, Chapter 5, Part 2, Criminal Homicide; (e) kidnapping, child kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, human trafficking or aggravated human trafficking, human smuggling or aggravated human smuggling, or human trafficking of a child under Title 76, Chapter 5, Part 3, Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Smuggling; (f) rape, Section 76-5-402; (g) rape of a child, Section 76-5-402.1; (h) object rape, Section 76-5-402.2; (i) object rape of a child, Section 76-5-402.3; (j) forcible sodomy, Section 76-5-403; (k) sodomy on a child, Section 76-5-403.1; (l) forcible sexual abuse, Section 76-5-404; (m) aggravated sexual abuse of a child or sexual abuse of a child, Section 76-5-404.1; (n) aggravated sexual assault, Section 76-5-405; (o) sexual exploitation of a minor, Section 76-5b-201; (p) sexual exploitation of a vulnerable adult, Section 76-5b-202; (q) aggravated burglary or burglary of a dwelling under Title 76, Chapter 6, Part 2, Burglary and Criminal Trespass; (r) aggravated robbery or robbery under Title 76, Chapter 6, Part 3, Robbery; or (s) theft by extortion under Subsection 76-6-406(2)(a) or (b).
Immunity and Serial Killer Investigations: Gilgo Beach & Beyond
People involved in the sex trade (whether by choice, circumstance, or coercion) often are victims of violent crime and exploitation, but they frequently do not report crimes perpetrated against them due to fear of arrest. When those abusers then are not discovered by law enforcement, they are able to continue their acts of violence and exploitation with impunity. The most recent and prescient example of unmitigated violence targeting sex workers is the case of the Long Island Serial Killer. Law enforcement in Suffolk County, New York, recently arrested Rex Heuermann for the murders of three women whose bodies were discovered well over a decade before his arrest. Other unsolved murders may be associated with the suspect. His victims were known sex workers, and he continued patronizing sex workers while law enforcement monitored him leading up to his arrest.
As details of the investigation and news media about the case continue to emerge, it has become clear that other sex workers were aware of the suspect’s violent tendencies. Unfortunately, these important tips could never be relayed to investigators, who would have arrested those individuals for prostitution. The bodies were found in 2010, and it took 13 years to identify the suspect — years where he continued patronizing and likely perpetrating violence against sex workers. If New York had an immunity policy in place, it is likely that this serial killer would have been discovered much sooner. New York has yet to pass an immunity law, though one has been introduced for the past several years.
The Gilgo Beach killer is just one of many serial killers who deliberately and openly preyed on sex workers, taking advantage of their vulnerability and law enforcement indifference. Gary Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer, said during his sentencing hearing, “I picked prostitutes as my victims because I hate most prostitutes. … I also picked prostitutes because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew that they would not be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.” Jack the Ripper, Robert Hansen (“the Butcher Baker”), Richard Cottingham (“the Torso Killer”), and Samuel Little were all known to have targeted sex workers, and all went undetected for many years. In the case of Cottingham, sex workers came out after his arrest to say that they had information but couldn’t report it to law enforcement because they would be arrested. There are also many unsolved serial murders of sex workers across the country. Immunity laws could lead to the arrests of other undetected killers and prevent future violence.
Media Coverage
Denver Post article: Colorado sex workers gain new protections under law signed by Gov. Jared Polis
The Crime Report article: Want To Reduce Violence Against Sex Workers? Offer Them Immunity
Gothamist article: Bill would allow sex workers to report crime without fear of prosecution
Pix11 article: Manhattan DA supports bill providing immunity to sex trafficking survivors
The Rhode Island special legislative commission to study ensuring racial equity and optimizing health and safety laws affecting marginalized individuals has released a report documenting its findings and recommendations. The commission’s key findings recognize human trafficking as distinct and different from consensual adult sex work and that between 1980 and 2009, when indoor prostitution was legal in Rhode Island, there was a significant decline in sexually transmitted diseases and sexual assaults. When prostitution was again criminalized in 2009, the decline ended.
The commission recommends critical reforms to Rhode Island’s sex work-related laws, including decriminalization. Its final report states that “[the legislature should] consider a Rhode Island law to restore the pre-2009 landscape, such that private, consensual sexual activity remains out of the reach of criminal laws.” The report also recommends a number of incremental legislative measures, including a law that would provide limited criminal immunity to sex workers and survivors of trafficking who are victims of or witnesses to a crime and the repeal of RI’s “loitering for the purposes of prostitution” law. The report also recommends passage of a bill that would establish a “patient bill of rights.” As sex workers often face stigma and discrimination while seeking health care, this protection is critical in ensuring health and safety. The bill which provided that “a patient shall not be denied appropriate care on the basis of age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, source of income, source of payment, or profession” became law in RI shortly before the release of the report.
The study commission was formed following the unanimous passage of House Resolution 5250, which proposed a special legislative commission to study ensuring racial equity and optimizing health and safety laws affecting marginalized individuals. The bill, as passed, delineated who should sit on the commission, which includes 13 members, including individuals with lived experience. Other members of the commission include two legislators, a member of COYOTE RI, a representative from Amnesty International, two representatives of organizations serving populations disproportionately impacted by the criminalization of commercial sex, the director of the Department of Health, an attorney from the Rhode Island Public Defender’s Office, the Rhode Island attorney general, or designee, a representative from the Brown University Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, and the president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, or their designee.
Read the report here.