Decriminalized prostitution in DC: 15 hour council hearing 10/17-10/18

[Anonymous]

Just finished watching the council hearings ran by Grosso and Allen in the proposed revised legislation regarding decriminalized prostitution , brothels, and facilitation (pimping), and solicitation in the District.

Truly truly heartbreaking on both sides of the issue.

Worth a listen if you have the time


http://video.oct.dc.gov/VOD/DCC/2019_10/10_17_19_Judici.html

[Anonymous]

New York Times has a pretty good summary here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/us/washington-legal-prostitution.html

Of note, a particular point is highlighted in the article regarding legalized brothels located in private homes in residential neighborhoods. (Yes the bill facilitates this)

[Anonymous]

Comments are only open until November 1st.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who supports this bill: Grosso, Allen, Nadeau, Silverman, etc. are morons. Complete fools.

[Anonymous]

I get the argument for legalization, but I lived next door to women actively participating in sex work and it was awful. If we're going to legalize, we need to figure out the zoning because it should not be happening near kids or schools.

[Anonymous]

I do think that Grosso and Allen are short-sighted to the lack of resources the trafficking statute has. One of the key points mentioned in the hearings that stood out for me was the fact that the criminalizing removes probable cause for arresting search for suspected traffickers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the argument for legalization, but I lived next door to women actively participating in sex work and it was awful. If we're going to legalize, we need to figure out the zoning because it should not be happening near kids or schools.

Can you tell us a bit about what happened and why it was so terrible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the argument for legalization, but I lived next door to women actively participating in sex work and it was awful. If we're going to legalize, we need to figure out the zoning because it should not be happening near kids or schools.

Can you tell us a bit about what happened and why it was so terrible?

Men would come up on our porch late at night and ring the doorbell, before realizing they were looking for the house next door. Condom wrappers in front of the house. Sometimes we would see groups of girls standing on the corner in the morning, bent over with butts out. People coming and going at all hours. Occasional police activity. There were also way too many people living in the house, and many of them smoked (though that's unrelated to the sex work). They were also young women, renting a house, who had zero investment in taking care of the place, so there was trash everywhere. Again, unrelated to the sex work, but it sucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the argument for legalization, but I lived next door to women actively participating in sex work and it was awful. If we're going to legalize, we need to figure out the zoning because it should not be happening near kids or schools.

Can you tell us a bit about what happened and why it was so terrible?

Men would come up on our porch late at night and ring the doorbell, before realizing they were looking for the house next door. Condom wrappers in front of the house. Sometimes we would see groups of girls standing on the corner in the morning, bent over with butts out. People coming and going at all hours. Occasional police activity. There were also way too many people living in the house, and many of them smoked (though that's unrelated to the sex work). They were also young women, renting a house, who had zero investment in taking care of the place, so there was trash everywhere. Again, unrelated to the sex work, but it sucked.

Thank you for sharing. A few years ago when AirBnB first started , I rented out an apartment as “entire apartment” for three days. Stopped when a pimp rented the apartment and had “clients” running in and out of the space for at least two of the days.

[Anonymous]

I sincerely hope the DC Council has an ounce of sense and does not pass this legislation. We're in a weird era where hyper-left ideas can rocket to the top of the policy agenda, without much meat behind them. While I am hyper-left myself and would love to live in a world where women who legitimately chose sex work could do it safely, I'm smart enough to know that we are not in that world. Prostitution preys on the most vulnerable of women, and this bill is not going to change that, and may in fact increase it. It's a shockingly irresponsible way to legislate, and my sense is that the council members pushing it just want a progressive feather in their caps, without doing the HARD work of actual policymaking.

One thing the bill sponsors claim is that the bill does not legalize prostitution -- it just decriminalizes it. But I don't understand why this is a good thing. What that means, to me, is that DC will stop controlling prostitution at all (currently through policing), will create a brand new economy for sex work, but will completely fail to regulate that brand new economy! On what planet is that good policy, particularly where the stakes are so high for these workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sincerely hope the DC Council has an ounce of sense and does not pass this legislation. We're in a weird era where hyper-left ideas can rocket to the top of the policy agenda, without much meat behind them. While I am hyper-left myself and would love to live in a world where women who legitimately chose sex work could do it safely, I'm smart enough to know that we are not in that world. Prostitution preys on the most vulnerable of women, and this bill is not going to change that, and may in fact increase it. It's a shockingly irresponsible way to legislate, and my sense is that the council members pushing it just want a progressive feather in their caps, without doing the HARD work of actual policymaking.

One thing the bill sponsors claim is that the bill does not legalize prostitution -- it just decriminalizes it. But I don't understand why this is a good thing. What that means, to me, is that DC will stop controlling prostitution at all (currently through policing), will create a brand new economy for sex work, but will completely fail to regulate that brand new economy! On what planet is that good policy, particularly where the stakes are so high for these workers.

+100

[Anonymous]

D.C. police statistics related to prostitution related arrests in the city show that sex trafficking associated with minors or adults is rare. The police data show that out of a total of 2,685 prostitution related arrests made in a five-year period in D.C. between 2013 and 2017, only eight were linked to sex trafficking of any kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D.C. police statistics related to prostitution related arrests in the city show that sex trafficking associated with minors or adults is rare. The police data show that out of a total of 2,685 prostitution related arrests made in a five-year period in D.C. between 2013 and 2017, only eight were linked to sex trafficking of any kind.

So how does this statistic relate? The argument is that decriminalizing prostitution in the District will increase the market for prostitution of all types -- hence, trafficking as well. Also, the definition of trafficking is likely very narrow (kidnapping or deception of the girl/woman). There is still a LOT of room for exploitation of vulnerable people even if they are not technically trafficked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D.C. police statistics related to prostitution related arrests in the city show that sex trafficking associated with minors or adults is rare. The police data show that out of a total of 2,685 prostitution related arrests made in a five-year period in D.C. between 2013 and 2017, only eight were linked to sex trafficking of any kind.

Trafficking skyrockets where prostitution is decriminalized. https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/lids/2014/06/12/does-legalized-prostitution-increase-human-trafficking/

[Anonymous]

Data shows that the enforcement of sex work laws disproportionately impacts communities of color, gay and transgender people, people with disabilities, immigrants, and people with criminal convictions.

Furthermore, a growing body of research indicates that the criminalization of sex work leads to sex workers facing extreme stigma, systematic exclusion, violence and discrimination. These challenges create an environment in which individuals trading sex have difficulty accessing health services and information, experience various human rights abuses, and decline to seek protection from the police even when in grave danger.