Sex Workers Organization Supports Bill Creating Commission to Study Prostitution Laws
GoLocalProv News Team
Sex Workers Organization Supports Bill Creating Commission to Study Prostitution Laws
The bill would create a commission to study the impact of commercial sexual activity laws, including the decriminalization of sex work.
Williams’ bill comes a couple of months after three Foxy Lady employees were arrested on prostitution charges and the club was closed for several weeks.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAt the time Coyote-RI blasted city officials for arresting the three sex workers.
On Williams’ bill, Coyote RI released the following statement:
"Coyote Rhode Island endorses bill H 5354 to create a special legislative commission to study the health and safety impact of revising commercial sexual activity laws. We support the implementation of evidence-based practice surrounding sex worker health that would move toward the eventual decriminalization of sex work.
Decriminalization of sex work would improve the health and safety of sex workers in Rhode Island. As cited in the bill text, a recent meta-analysis of 134 studies showed that that repressive policing was associated with having three times the odds of experiencing sexual and physical violence from clients or other parties. In Rhode Island, decriminalization of indoor prostitution from 2003 to 2009 was associated with a 31 percent decrease in rape and a 39 percent decrease in gonorrhea incidence among women. Decriminalization of sex work has also been associated with decreased incidence of HIV as reported by the esteemed scientific journal Lancet HIV. We join diverse and respected groups as the World Health Organization, United Nations AIDS, and Amnesty International, who all recommend decriminalization of sex work to reduce violence against sex workers.
We additionally support this legislation as necessary against a backdrop of recent attacks on sex worker rights. For instance, legislators recently introduced RI - S0096, also known as the Adult Entertainment Performance Tax Act on January 16, 2019. The bill imposes a tax for admission to adult entertainment businesses which will go to the Attorney General's office to “combat human trafficking. This bill attacks sex worker establishments by forcing them to pay to combat sex trafficking, for which they are not culpable.
We are also concerned by recent news stories detailing state repression of sex workers. Just last week, a Providence police lieutenant who was assigned to a strip club detail was placed on administrative leave after allegedly assaulting a sex worker he was romantically involved with. Additionally, two sex workers were arrested last week in a story involving a Boston police officer. The officer, who allegedly paid for sex, accused the women of stealing his gun (which was left unattended by him). We are alarmed that the women currently sit in jail while the officer is being rewarded with administrative leave with pay for his negligence in leaving a lethal weapon unattended."
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