Category: News Releases

Decriminalize Sex Work
www.DecriminalizeSex.Work
Contact Kaytlin Bailey, Director of Communications
kaytlin@dswork.org  (919) 649-7725 (cell)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
March 5, 2019

Ohio Vice Cop Forces Women to Choose Between Arrest and Rape

The criminalization of sex workers makes them more vulnerable to predators who want to rape or kill them. Andrew Mitchell, the Ohio police officer who murdered single mother and sex worker Donna Dalton after trapping her in his unmarked vehicle last August, has been arrested by the FBI for kidnapping and raping multiple women. The Columbus, Ohio, vice cop is accused of trapping women “under the guise of an arrest,” transporting them to another location, and offering his victims freedom in exchange for oral, vaginal and anal sex.

Kaytlin Bailey, director of communications for Decriminalize Sex Work, says, “The criminalization of sex work perverts the power of police officers, and enables predators like Mitchell to prey on women instead of protecting them.”

Crystal DeBoise, an anti-trafficking expert and advocate, says “Although U.S. police departments don’t release information about their officers having sexual contact with sex workers, in my 10 years of providing direct social services to sex workers, I can tell you that at least 40% have been forced or coerced into sexual contact with a police officer.”

There is also no national data on how many police officers have abused sex workers, or suspected sex workers. In many states it is legal for law enforcement officers to make sexual contact with those suspected of prostitution and then use that sexual contact to make an arrest. In any other context we would call this what it is, rape. Bailey says, “Police officers are already literally hunting prostitutes.”

Bailey concludes, “The difference between what Mitchell did and what police departments are asked to do all over the country is how much paperwork was involved.”

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Decriminalize Sex Work
www.DecriminalizeSex.Work
Contact Kaytlin Bailey, Director of Communications
kaytlin@dswork.org  (919) 649-7725 (cell)

NEW YORK, NY
February 22, 2019

What Robert Kraft Did Should Not Be Illegal

In response to the high-profile arrest of Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, for getting a “happy ending” massage from a spa in south Florida that’s well known for providing such services, we believe it is time to reevaluate the way we police prostitution. The Juniper police are trying to convince the press, and the public, that Mr. Kraft and the 200 other people being charged in relation to this sting operation are human traffickers, but law enforcement has provided no evidence that any minors — or victims of force, fraud, or coercion — were involved.

Kaytlin Bailey, Director of Communications for Decriminalize Sex Work, said, “If no minors or coercion were involved, no one should have been arrested, including Mr. Kraft.” Far from bullying or coercing an unwilling massage therapist into committing sex acts against their will, Mr. Kraft and the other patrons limited their “solicitations” to a well known “rub and tug” establishment.

In addition to facing up to 60 days in jail, Mr. Kraft and the other men arrested will be forced to attend and pay for classes colloquially called “John Schools,” many of which are religiously affiliated and conflate all forms of adult consensual sex work with the rare and terrible crime of human trafficking.

The police in Palm Beach, Florida spent months and thousands of taxpayer dollars surveilling this spa. They staged a bomb threat to evacuate the building in order to install hidden cameras, and they spent hundreds of police hours spying on unwitting people. Currently, Palm Beach has over 8,500 unsolved rape cases. Bailey continued, “Instead of arresting men who pay women money for sex acts, police should be investigating the men who think they can just take it.”

Alex Andrews, cofounder of SWOP Behind Bars, which is based in Florida, said, “All of the so-called victims in this case were taken away in handcuffs. If the police were serious about combating human trafficking, they’d be investigating hotels, restaurants, and the agricultural industry. Arresting adults for consensual sex helps no one.”

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Decriminalize Sex Work
www.DecriminalizeSex.Work

Contact Kaytlin Bailey, Director of Communications
kaytlin@dswork.org (919) 649-7725 (cell)

NEW YORK, NY
February 21, 2019

Florida Senate Considers Creating Prostitution Registry

Florida Senate Bill 540 with the Orwellian title “Human Trafficking” would create a registry for people found guilty of the loosely defined crime of “soliciting, inducing, enticing, or procuring” another to commit “prostitution, lewdness, or assignation.” Such people, once prosecuted, would be added to a registry entitled “Soliciting for Prostitution Registry.” Registries have long been a dystopian nightmare for sex workers, as stigma against the profession all but guarantees a host of predictable and preventable problems — from future employment discrimination, to ugly custody battles and domestic violence.

This bill, if it becomes a law, would also require any public lodging establishment to train its employees in the dubious skill of spotting “human trafficking.” These notorious trainings are conducted by a tapestry of organizations that profit from the conflation of sex work between consenting adults with trafficking, which is legally defined only when a minor is involved or there is force, fraud, or coercion.

Alex Andrews — co-founder of Sex Worker Outreach Program Behind Bars, a national social justice organization dedicated to the rights of people who face discrimination in the criminal justice system due to the stigma associated with the sex trade — says, “A prostitution registry is yet another legislative knee jerk reaction to a community based problem that will cause far more harm to marginalized members of our community.” Andrews points out that “women are the fastest growing segment of the prison population” and that “policies like this will just make it harder for people to escape a punitive criminal justice system that offers no solutions for people in poverty.”

“This bill is part of a national trend cracking down on the freedom of movement for women, trans people and other overly policed minorities,” said Kaytlin Bailey, Director of Communications for Decriminalize Sex Work. “Historically, efforts to police the oldest profession have resulted in policies that trap the very people these laws are ostensibly supposed to help.” The mission of Decriminalize Sex Work, a new national organization, is “to end the prohibition of prostitution in the United States.”  

Alex Andrews says, “Surely we have evolved from a culture that punishes a human being with a scarlet letter that they can’t escape. Let’s create better and more accessible services for victims and survivors, not force them to sign up for a lifetime of discrimination.” Her organization hopes to see efforts to prevent trafficking redirected to services that might help people escape cycles of poverty instead of punishing them. Kaytlin Bailey adds that “if hotels, airlines, restaurants, and state governments want to crack down on labor trafficking and exploitation I suggest they allow unions to advocate for better working conditions, not sic the police on the most vulnerable.”

Both organizations are a part of the growing sex-workers rights movement. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published research showing that sex workers suffering under repressive policing are three times more likely to experience violence as those who live in countries like New Zealand, where prostitution is no longer a crime. This study bolsters the recommendations and official policies of the World Health Organization, Amnesty International, and the ACLU, all of which support ending criminalization.  

You can contact Alex Andrews for comment at alex@swopusa.org or (407)310-0879.

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