U.S. Reps. Khanna and Lee, Sens. Warren and Wyden Introduce the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act To Examine the Effects of SESTA
December 17, 2019:
Representatives Ro Khanna and Barbara Lee announce in the House, and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden introduce in the Senate, the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act to examine the effects of SESTA.
The bill calls for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish empirical data on the risks sex workers face on a day-to-day basis as a result of SESTA.
Since its passage, there is no evidence that SESTA has reduced trafficking, while there is significant evidence that it causes increased violence and economic desperation. Additionally, the law has impeded law enforcement investigations into trafficking by obscuring these operations.
Khanna’s bill seeks to bring these disastrous consequences to light. In order to endorse this important step forward, please take the time to reach out to your state representative by visiting DSW’s Take Action page.
How Sex Workers Helped Write a Bill to Study the Effects of SESTA/FOSTA | Rolling Stone
Bill To Study SESTA’s Harms To Be Introduced in Congress
December 2, 2019
Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) , who was one of only 25 votes opposing FOSTA/SESTA (SESTA) in 2018, has announced a bill to study this new federal law. The bill, which would cause the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study SESTA’s harmful effects, would “establish the risks sex workers face on a day to day basis: the risk of violence, safety, [and] dignity.” There is no evidence that SESTA has reduced trafficking, while there is significant evidence it causes increased violence and economic desperation.
In addition to broader concerns about SESTA’s limitation of free speech on the internet, the law negatively impacts sex workers’ ability to protect themselves against violence and predators posing as clients. By restricting online advertisements of sexual services, SESTA removes safety networks used to vet potential clients and drives sex workers onto the streets.
In a Rolling Stone article, Tamika Spellman of HIPS DC estimated that there had been a 75-80% increase in street-based sex work since SESTA became law. Maxine Doogan, president of ESPLERP, says that SESTA has caused sex workers to lose their housing and has reduced workers’ bargaining power when negotiating with clients, forcing them to make riskier decisions.
Lived experience is backed up by hard data. A 2019 study by economists Scott Cunningham, Gregory DeAngelo, and John Tripp showed that the former “erotic services” section on Craigslist, a platform for sex workers to advertise and screen clients, reduced the overall female homicide rate by a staggering 10-17%. This finding comports with economic theory: Reducing the restrictions on any industry expands available economic opportunities and increases bargaining power, particularly for those at the bottom of the economic scale. With the balance of power shifted towards workers, those they interact with change their behavior.
Despite ample evidence of SESTA’s harmful effects, there is a lack of comprehensive research into the scope of SESTA’s impact. A short survey of trafficking-victim service providers, conducted by the Samaritan Women in July 2018, found disastrous consequences. Shelters have seen an uptick in aggravated assaults since the law was implemented and have had to increase capacity to meet the growing need.
Violence, abuse, and the number of victim/exploiter relationships have gone up according to service providers. There is no way to determine if SESTA is the direct cause, but the correlation is clear. One interviewee said that “pimps have been actively seeking out prior victims with the promise of clients since it’s more difficult for those involved in the industry to find customers on their own.”
With the Woodhull Freedom Foundation’s constitutional challenge to SESTA still pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals, winning this case would be an essential step in potentially overturning the law. Rep. Khanna’s bill is a historic step towards incorporating the voices of impacted community members into federal legislation. Visit DSW’s Take Action page to contact your U.S. House member in support of this vital legislation.
Marchers in Las Vegas demonstrate against SESTA in June. (Photo: John Locher/Bangor Daily News)
U.S. Rep. Khanna announced his bill on December 2.
DSW Newsletter #9 (December 2019)
Defense Lawyers Understand the Harms of Criminalization
Remembering Yang Song: Wife, daughter, New Yorker, and victim of criminalization
DSW Welcomes Two Incredible New Team Members
Bill To Study SESTA’s Harms To Be Introduced in Congress
DSW Newsletter Archive
Ayanna Pressley Just Called for Decriminalizing Sex Work | VICE
DSW Supports the Fight Against FOSTA in U.S. Court of Appeals
September 20, 2019
Earlier this year, DSW filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit brought against the U.S. government by the Woodhull Freedom Foundation (WFF), Human Rights Watch, The Internet Archive, and two other plaintiffs in reaction to the terrible federal law known as the “Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” (FOSTA). FOSTA chills speech and harms sex workers. It makes it harder for people to protect themselves from violence and personal risk and violates constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment.
The court wrongly dismissed the lawsuit, but the plaintiffs appealed. After a year of fighting for the case to be heard, DSW and our plaintiff allies finally got our day in court: On September 20, attorneys for WFF and the other plaintiffs addressed a panel of three appellate judges. They asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction to halt the future enforcement of FOSTA, meaning that ideally, people would no longer be arrested.
Kaytlin Bailey attended the hearing on September 20. No decision has been issued at this time, and it may take months for the appellate court to rule. WFF was joined by fellow plaintiffs from SWOP Behind Bars, related organizations, and brave individuals who put their reputations and livelihoods on the line by articulating for the courts how FOSTA/SESTA has impacted them. The current position of the federal government is that issues of free speech, sex worker safety, and trafficking are not impacted by FOSTA/SESTA — and that the law simply disrupts trafficking without endangering individual rights or safety.
After the oral arguments attorneys, plaintiffs, and advocates, including Bailey, gathered for a debriefing. Learn more about the case in a Peepshow Podcast interview with Ricci Levy. Our coalition is waiting for the judges’ decision. No matter the outcome, we will continue to fight this transparently unconstitutional law.
DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey is pictured with Ricci Levy, WFF’s CEO, president and former executive director, named the lead plaintiff in the Woodhull v. USA case, as well as the team from Davis Wright Tremain Law Firm, litigating the suit. (L to R: Larry Walter, Ricci Levy, Robert Corn-Revere, Kaytlin Bailey and Ronald G London; Photo: DSW, 2019)
DSW Newsletter #6 (September 2019)
DSW Attends International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference
DSW Supports the Fight Against FOSTA in U.S. Court of Appeals
Historic Prison Reform in NYC
Could Britain Be Next?
Dancers Unite! Historic Legislation on Stripper Labor Rights Passed in Minneapolis
DSW Newsletter Archive
Woodhull and Other Plaintiffs Deliver Their Oral Arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals
September 18, 2019:
Woodhull and other plaintiffs deliver their oral arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
DSW Supports the Continued Legal Fight Against FOSTA/SESTA
August 23, 2019
Next month, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the appeal of Woodhull Freedom Foundation et al v. The United States of America, a case that seeks to challenge the constitutionality of the Fighting Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). FOSTA modified the Communications Decency Act Section 230 to permit civil and criminal suits against third-party platforms/websites that promote or permit prostitution or trafficking. DSW, along with many other sex workers’ rights, civil liberties, and human rights organizations vehemently oppose this law. Woodhull Freedom Foundation’s initial challenge to FOSTA was denied in U.S. District Court in 2018 on the grounds of standing, and they have since filed this appeal. DSW General Counsel Melissa Broudo co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of a dozen allied organizations in support of Woodhull’s challenge to the law back in February of this year.
Plaintiffs are asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction and put a halt to future enforcement of FOSTA, meaning no one could be arrested and charged until the case is decided. The chilling effect is undeniable and has already threatened the livelihood of sex workers and pushed many to work in less safe conditions. This is a bad and dangerous law.