New York state lawmakers introduce bill to decriminalize sex work
A group of Democratic lawmakers in New York state introduced a bill Monday that seeks to decriminalize sex work and make it legal to engage in the consensual sale of sex.
The bill , which follows similar legislative efforts in other states, including Massachusetts and Maine, would go further by vacating prior convictions of people engaged in activity that would no longer be considered criminal. Supporters stressed that the legislation would not alter current laws on sex trafficking or the exploitation of minors.
At a news conference in New York, legislators and advocates with Decrim NY, the coalition pushing for the bill, said that legal attempts to crack down on sex work have historically failed and that an overburdened criminal justice system shouldn't be used to prosecute consenting adults.
In addition, advocates noted that current state laws disproportionately affect women of color and members of the trans community who are the most vulnerable and susceptible to violence and are regularly targeted by law enforcement.
Such people are "having to face stigma, discrimination and abuse in trying to advocate for their rights to be treated with dignity and to be treated like human beings," said state Sen. Julia Salazar, a sponsor of the bill, who represents Brooklyn, New York City.
In New York, prostitution is treated as a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail and a fine of up to $500. Those found guilty of soliciting a prostitute could face prison and a fine as well.
New York's decriminalization bill — a version of which was also introduced in the state Assembly — is broad, and it's unclear what kind of support it will have among most Democrats and across party lines.
Nevada is the only U.S. state to allow some form of legal prostitution in certain counties through the operation of brothels.
TS Candii, a sex worker from the Bronx, New York City, said police have previously stopped her and she was once threatened with jail even though she was simply leaving her apartment and not engaged in any criminal activity.
During the news conference, she lamented how she was discriminated against as a trans woman in traditional jobs, so turning to sex work felt like her best option to stay off the streets.
"Because of sex work, I have consistent money to provide for myself. Money to pay for gender-confirming health care, rent, food, my phone bill. It's a source of income where I'm not discriminated against," Candii said. "I don't have to worry about getting fired tomorrow because my boss hates trans people."
But Candii said she must still tread carefully because of her situation.
"On one hand, the trans community faces discrimination and violence at every turn," she added. "On the other hand, the state criminalizes and makes it unsafe, one of our best means of survival."
The newest bill, however, may not get to the heart of the problems within the illegal sex trade industry, some advocates say.
The group Sanctuary for Families, which advocates for survivors of sex trafficking and domestic violence, has said that decriminalization legislation doesn't go far enough, and would only legalize a system that would turn mostly women and girls into "commodities to be bought and sold."
"It's beyond comprehension why anyone would want to decriminalize an industry of abuse and violence which profits from the commodification of human beings," attorneys for the group wrote last month . "We need a legislative model shown to reduce the commercial sex market, increase safety, provide services for survivors, and hold men accountable for the crimes they commit."
"The answer is not making it legal to pimp or buy sex," they added. "The answer is ensuring that we respect the full equality and dignity of every human."
Jessica Raven, a Decrim NY organizer and former sex worker, wrote in an op-ed in the New York Daily News on Monday that until safe housing and a living wage are made available to all, people who choose to sell sex to survive should be afforded laws that make their lives safer — not put them in danger.
"For us, this is a bodily autonomy issue — our bodies, our choice — but more than that, it's an economic issue," she wrote. "And it's personal."
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I'm not sure how to feel about this. It is the oldest trade. Ideas?
Personally, I have never understood why a non-desperate man would seek a prostitute. Maybe I am too logical, but I am not interested in someone who I know is faking it. I prefer a real relationship.
However, I am not against prostitution, etc. I am for ensuring it is conducted in a safe fashion but would never personally have anything to do with it.
Well you know the saying - you're not paying for the sex, you're paying for the person to leave afterwards
From what I've seen and from what men have told me, some "need" variety, some feel if they pay for it then they control it, some want to screw something younger and/or prettier than they have at home and would never notice them otherwise,....etc., etc.
One guy, that I had a passing acquaintance with when I was 21, "offered" to introduce me to a madam he knew if I was interested in making a "lot" of money. I laughed at him and asked if he was going to promote prostitution as a way of life for his daughter. He exploded with anger and threatened to kill me if I ever mentioned him or his daughter in such a manner ever again. He was just typical of the male hypocrites that I have encountered all of my life. I like to picture these days discussing work with their prostitute daughters over Christmas dinner. Women should never be treated as a commodity to be bought and sold - never.
One racist guy (while very drunk) told me that he had "bought" a n*gger prostitute once but would deny it to his dying day if I ever told anyone. I think he was playing out his slave owner fantasy. Evidently, reality did not live up to fantasy - which is common throughout life. People are always going to be happy when they reach some milestone or acquisition that they have made the symbol of what happiness is.
When it comes to prostitution, there is no reason to allow some man's fantasy to become anyone's nightmare for any reason.
I look at it in a more general way. I am opposed to all victimless crimes. If it doesn't hurt anyone, why is there a law against it?
There shouldn't be. But it's tradition.
Most victimless crimes came about for the same reason...religion.
Absolutely, but the religious rules surrounding sexuality are often attached to the economic protections of married women in agrarian societies. Prohibitions on divorce, adultery, fornication, and homosexuality all have the very convenient side effect of keeping married men attached to and supporting their wives.
You'll notice even the primary opposition to legalization on this seed is coming from women.
I never understood paying for it. If one can't get lucky after a drunken night at a bar....
In reality, all they would have to do is film it and it would be legal...
Actually I could care less. If a woman/man wants to sell their body, who is to say they can't.
I think the people involved have to pick their battles. If they choose actual legitimacy do they then need to accept regulation ?
For public health reasons, I think regulation is a necessity.
I always thought, better to be out in the open than some back alley.
IMO it would be safer all around. Just like any business, a place with a safe, good reputation would fare better than a dive.
What would those regulations be ? Most Prostitutes probably couldn't meet the standards that would be set. Most Prostitutes are drug addicts and most have Herpes and many have Hepatitis or HIV , certainly the regulations would bar them from legitimate Sex Employment. Sure we could just decriminalize it but do you really want a drug addicted prostitute walking up and down your block flogging her wares ?
Your post confuses me. You seem to saying that under legal prostitution there would be regulations that include drug addiction and disease. But then you ask if under legal prostitution if we want a drug addicted prostitute out on the street?
My sense is that you are against legalized prostitution but I cannot decipher your logic.
Some stats from a study conducted over a 30-year period on the adverse impact of prostitution on women's health.
Why would anyone, who cares about women, want to do this to women? Is this the type of life that they want for their mother? Their daughter? If not, then they shouldn't be doing it to someone else's mother or daughter.
So we should be decriminalizing it and then helping them get out, instead of keeping them in jails and under pimps.
Much of that is related to the fact that the work is illegal.
Drug dealing is hard on your health, too. Unless you're a pharmacist, in which case not so much.
I've never been comfortable with the idea of criminalizing prostitution because at the level of an individual transaction, it seems like an extreme response to a victimless crime.
But we also need to recognize that there are a few undesirable consequences of prostitution. Even where legal, it promotes psychologically unhealthy sexual relations, human trafficking, disease, physical abuse of women, and it can destroy healthy familial relationships.
This is what really happens when prostitution is decriminalised
I don't know about the unhealthy sexual relations. I can see arguments for either side there. Decriminalizing sex workers would remove trafficking and physical abuse as they are still illegal and reportable to law enforcement without fear the women themselves would be penalized. Regulations on health screening would limit disease.
Last, why would anyone in a healthy familial relationship go to a hooker? Wouldn't they be getting everything they need already at home?
You're not married are you?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Otherwise, as far as I am concerned, the spouse should be allowing or disallowing from a marriage perspective. I would never visit one myself, but my wife has a friend, who for some reason or another, absolutely hates sex. Yet, she got married because she wanted children. Now that she has a daughter (3 years old) the husband has been completely cut off, but is unwilling to broach the "D" word because of his daughter.
Some spouses (not all, or even most, but some) would more than likely be willing to allow it if there were some assurances in regards to disease and outside pregnancy. Who know, maybe it would even help lower rates of rape, incest, etc...
I was married for 6 years. I have been cohabiting with the same wonderful woman for 19 years now.
My roommate talked me into it when I was 19 in the Army in Germany. It was very, very... meh.
Unfortunately situations like these happen all too often. It was why Craigslist was so popular. Interesting fact... Women enrollment on the cheater's dating website ashleymadison spikes the day after Mother's Day every year.
Though I myself do not subscribe, I see no reason not to and many reasons why (medical regulation etc.).
But as an aside I must say I am rather bemused by our lawmakers of late. For years we were told the things that were considered kryptonite ( ie. weed, prostitution etc.) would unleash terrible horrors upon the earth. They are now looking at these same horrors as an unlimited source of tax revenues, strange the way that money will sway principles, hmmmmmmm.
It's a younger generation, too. The younger people would like to keep more of their income from their paychecks so why not legalize cannabis and sex work so we can reduce payroll taxes?
Who says the younger generation is dumb?
Amen.
I have yet to see a politician who didn't mind spending every penny and more of what they collect.
Not a good idea.
Government can't even regulate Guns Correctly....let alone "Sexual Disease" or "Women Trafficking" (which is way more complicated than guns) !
I totally agree.
I wonder if most people would support all of the regulations necessary to ensure that women are not being trafficked, coerced, and physically and/or mentally abused on any level?
There would have to be minimum age requirements. Prostitutes should be required to be at least 21 years of age and required to undergo a mental evaluation to make sure that they are mentally competent. I believe that in the interest of understanding the effects that prostitution has on the mind and body that there should be further evaluations every 6 months for at least 5 years. These evaluations would be a societal benefit in understanding how much abuse that some men are willing to inflict on others in order to satisfy their lusts, fetishes, and anger. Because of the societal benefit, the evaluations should be paid for by the federal government and the finding published every year.
There should also be 6 month medical exams (including drug testing) paid for by the federal government. The findings should also be published on a yearly basis. Prostitutes using illegal drugs should be subject to the laws of the state and lose their license to prostitute until they have successfully completed rehab. If the prostitute requires drugs to deal with being a prostitute, then they should not be licensed to be a prostitute.
Prostitutes should be required to be citizens of the United States. Importing women for the sex trade should never be allowed. That is human trafficking.
Prostitutes should always have the right to refuse their services to anyone without explanation. Otherwise, the government is legalizing rape.
I've known military guys who have used prostitutes in the Philippines, Vietnam and South Korea. In 1982, my neighbor, at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, babysat my daughters for extra income to support her 3 sons while her husband was buying a prostitute on a monthly basis while on temporary duty in South Korea. I know this because he was deployed with my husband. I didn't tell my neighbor, but someone else did. The next time her husband was deployed she found herself a willing Marine to warm her bed until her husband returned. This seemed fairly common in the 70s/80s when my husband was in the Marine Corps.
Before we legalize prostitution inside the US, I believe it would be beneficial to understand how the US males in the military use prostitutes in other countries and the problems that ensue for the women.
Some background on the US military men and prostitution. I will cite a small part of a fairly good article. I wonder how many people really know how much the men in the US government have forced other countries to supply our troops with prostitutes? Could this be linked to the demand for legalized prostitution in the US today?
Is this really how we want women treated in the United States?
Folks just WANT....and then just go about their business as if nothing happened.
But LATER comes.....and it becomes ….. WTF ….. by those that initially "Wanted".
NOW they'll want another Private "Raise-in-pay" to pay for what they used to want, that they forgot they wanted in the first place.
Wouldn't decriminalization and regulation at any level make things better? Or should be simply continue to ignore what we are doing isn't more than a band-aide on a geyser?
If they are mentally competently enough to live on their own as an otherwise fully functioning adult then they should make their own career decisions.
A study would probably be a great idea, but why do you think women would have to put with abuse were it decriminalized? Wouldn't assault still be illegal? There are fetish and S&M clubs that cater to those people in controlled environments.
Why should there be mandatory drug testing? I see no reason to presume one has to be a druggie without evidence.
Again you equate drug use to being a prostitute without logical reason. I would be fully happy to support any system that would address the physical, dental and mental health needs of all people. Including rehab & education - which is why I support decriminalizing prostitution and drugs. These should be Health & Human Services issues not Law Enforcement issues.
This is irrelevant.
I believe that we need to talk to women who have sold their bodies to better understand this issue.
The men, who are pushing to legalize using women's bodies, are not in the least fucking interested in the mental and physical well-being of women.
Men, who care about women, don't try to use them as just another mindless, unfeeling commodity to be bought and sold like a barrel of oil.
Wouldn't it really be a matter of a woman's (or man's) choice?
I think you might be surprised at the number of female sex workers themselves that are pushing to legalize.
I probably would be surprised. I would certainly want to know their background and how they became prostitutes versus choosing another occupation and what their future life goals are.
However, no one should be surprised to hear what former sex workers have to say about prostitution.
Progress is coming
Why would any conservative male who is anti-choice support prostitution? Are they going to insist that johns take DNA tests and support the offspring of prostitutes when birth control fails?
Why would any Christian, who believes that sex outside of marriage is sinful, support prostitution?
Where are all of the Republican reps denouncing prostitution in the same manner that they do abortion?
Republicans come in all shapes, sizes, and stripes. Many do not have a problem with early abortions, or what adults, with mutual consent, do with their own bodies.
So they are not Christians or socially conservative?
On what basis do they identify as a Republican?????
Contrary to some opinions, Republicans are not just old white men, not all Republicans are Christians, not all Republicans are religious, and not all are conservative.
Just like not all Democrats are progressive liberals.
Seriously??
I agree--make prostitution legal.
It is a man's and a woman's choice to engage in it or not.
You can regulate it the same way Nevada brothels are regulated.
At least stop giving them 90 days in jail and a huge fine
It is the customers who should be jailed.
The majority of the prostitutes were most likely forced into sex work because of poverty and lack of education to have better choices.
We need to help women to have better choices instead of sell their bodies to the highest bidder like they were slaves on the auction block.
Prostitution is not a sustainable career choice. There is little money, no benefits or retirement. Once the youth and body is gone, how is the woman going to survive with no "assets" to sell and few, to no, marketable skills?
One thing people seem to push aside, there are men prostitutes as well.
Why not allow those women their choice?
Yes. Men and boys are sexually exploited in the US. One guy in New York make 10 million dollars sexually exploiting men and boys. I wonder how much the male prostitutes made?
If it's regulated, does that mean they would get dental plans?
The county I live in is full of $5.00 meth ho's with no teeth, (which they see as an occupational upgrade).
The answer is, yes. Look at Nevada. There are many establishments that offer full benefits, worker compensation insurance (you can throw out your back you know...especially when you're doing it right...) health insurance and regular exams and STD testing.
If we're honest about it, the real issue with prostitution is the exploitation and surrounding crimes to it because it's illegal. No State is going to be able to completely eliminate sex trafficking. But by decriminalizing the prostitute the women who make that choice wouldn't have to rely on criminals for their income and can choose to be a sex worker in a relatively clean, regulated, insured manner, and the "Johns" in that State don't have to rely on criminals to get some illicit sex on the side.
By decriminalizing it, I believe it would also reduce the threat of criminals on the internet recruiting young teens with promises of money, freedom and drugs but turning them into sex slaves kept drugged up in some basement in Florida. It's supply and demand. There will always be a demand for some unfortunate incel's or sex addicts who need to pay for sex. Making a clean, legal option eliminates the need for them to go to criminals who might be telling you she's 18, clean and here of her own volition but she might really be 16, high on X and alcohol and been used by two dozen filthy untested Johns in the last week.
Personally, I think the idea of anyone selling their bodies for sex is frankly revolting. I think it's disgusting. But it's not my body and if someone wants to risk their lives being a crab fisherman for money or risk their health having frequent sex with random partners for money, that's not my business. And the reality is, sex trafficking people against their will is far, far worse than a person making the choice to become a sex worker. So while I would never encourage a person to get an abortion, sell their bodies for sex, or work in some fast food restaurants, I recognize each individuals right to make that choice for themselves.
I am in 100% agreement. Who am I to impose my personal beliefs or morals on someone else? Live and let live, but, regulation to at least some degree would be preferable.
This.
I sorta feel like this is so obvious that we shouldn't have to explain it, but apparently we do.
the resulting late night, "learn a trade" commercials on TV will be hilarious... seriously... LOL
The government should not be legislating or controlling private behavior.
as a Christian Minarchist I support keeping government out of prostitution, drug use, pornography, and marriage and divorce.
And women's reproductive decisions, right ?
Well now you've done it. Larry hates government control of ANYTHING, except a uterus. Then? 100% control is acceptable.
Yes. I don’t oppose birth control or preventing Women and or men from purchasing birth control
i do oppose government mandating taxpayer paid birth control or insurance companies being forced to cover it.
but I’m sure you are trying to indirectly refer to abortion. Abortion is unconnected to reproductive decisions. That moment has come and gone when conception occurs. You want the mother to have the right to murder her unborn child which is entirely separate
Nonsense.see 15.1.2
Don't be ridiculous, that's absurd.
You want the mother to have the right to murder her unborn child which is entirely separate
Again, ridiculous.
The government should not be legislating or controlling private behavior.
You can't have it both ways. A woman and her doctor's decisions are theirs alone, no one else's business.
science says you’re wrong. Abortion doesn’t prevent conception. It is an act of murder by the mother.
Where did I say otherwise ? Abortion certainly is a reproductive decision.
It is an act of murder by the mother.
Emotional falsehood.
Is rape a reproductive decision?
I am just interested to see if you seriously are focused on reproductive decision and not just that once a woman is pregnant she should have no choice but to carry to term.
Um...
Demonstrably false!
Yes, 15.1.2 is nonsense!
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Said New York state lawmakers would probably be the first customers...
They might get a discount or 2 for price of 1