VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

January 31, 2024

Companion bills S.277 and H.605, introduced this month in Vermont, propose to eliminate offenses related to the location of prostitution while retaining the offenses of aiding or abetting, engaging in, or procuring or soliciting prostitution. Passage of this bill would increase access to housing for individuals formerly or currently engaged in sex work1, allow them to access justice should their right to housing be denied based on their occupation, and reduce stigma and discrimination against sex workers, which gravely affects all aspects of their lives. DSW and other advocates claim the bill is critical to ensuring equity, health, and safety2 for sex workers and should be part of the state’s strategy to keep marginalized and vulnerable individuals housed.

Some individuals choose sex work among other well-paying jobs and some are in circumstances, namely exclusion from the traditional labor force due to discrimination, that lead them to sex work even if it is not their first choice for earning an income. Like most individuals who engage in any form of labor, sex workers name accessing and maintaining housing as one of the primary motivators for engaging in sex work. Simultaneously, criminalization, along with stigma and discrimination often make it impossible for them to access and keep safe and adequate housing. In a 2016 report, Amnesty International writes, “Criminalization and discrimination often lead to violations of the right to adequate housing for many sex workers, even though this right is enshrined under international laws and standards.”

Criminalization punishes everyone involved in sex work, including those who are seeking a way out. Burdened with criminal records, many former sex workers who wish to exit the sex industry find themselves unable to do so and must return to sex work to make ends meet. Private housing providers often implement policies that restrict individuals with arrests or criminal convictions. Under current law, landlords may discriminate against sex workers. These circumstances push many sex workers, current and former, directly into homelessness.

Homeless or housing-unstable sex workers are more vulnerable to violence due to lack of access to private space for working and living. In particular, women sex workers face a high burden of unstable housing and evictions, which are linked to increased odds of intimate partner and workplace violence.3 Stigma and discrimination cause tremendous harm to all people engaged in sex work, whether their form of work is legal or not and whether they are working by choice, circumstance, or coercion. Laws that further stigma, shame, misogyny, and discrimination enable and amplify harms to an already vulnerable population.


1 Sex work is the exchange of sexual services for money or something of value. Sex work includes the entire field of sexual services, both legal and illegal, including pornography, exotic dancing, fetish work, web-based work, and prostitution. Prostitution is the kind of sex work most often criminalized, and it is the direct, in-person exchange of sex for money or other things of value.

2 Goldenberg S.M., Buglioni N., Krüsi A., Frost E., Moreheart S., Braschel M., Shannon K. Housing Instability and Evictions Linked to Elevated Intimate Partner and Workplace Violence Among Women Sex Workers in Vancouver, Canada: Findings of a Prospective, Community-Based Cohort, 2010-2019. Am J Public Health. 2023 Apr;113(4):442-452. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2022.307207. PMID: 36888950; PMCID: PMC10003487.

3 Ibid.

DSW Newsletter #51 (January 2024)

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January 1, 2024 January is nationally recognized as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Human trafficking can occur in any labor sector and can happen to men, women, and children of...
Read More
January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

January 31, 2024 Companion bills S.277 and H.605, introduced this month in Vermont, propose to eliminate offenses related to the location of prostitution while retaining the offenses of aiding or abetting,...
Read More
VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

January 24, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) headed to Vegas for the second year in a row to attend the Adult Video News (AVN) Awards in Las Vegas, the largest adult...
Read More
DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

January 30, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) has been fortunate to partner with dedicated and talented interns pursuing a number of fields of study, and we are thrilled to welcome Jessica...
Read More
DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

January 30, 2024

Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) has been fortunate to partner with dedicated and talented interns pursuing a number of fields of study, and we are thrilled to welcome Jessica Moore, who is pursuing a masters in public health (MPH) and plans to be a lawyer.

Moore is an Atlanta native. She graduated from Jasper County High School in 2018. While there, she engaged in independent biotechnology research focused on the genotype and phenotype of Lichens. The computational biology research “Lichen Phenotypic Expression with Genomic Verification” led Jessica to win the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at Georgia College and State University. Jessica went on to present her research at the State Science and Engineering Fair at the University of Georgia and the International Science and Engineering Fair held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the International Science and Engineering Fair, Jessica received a special award from the United States Air Force recognizing her work in STEM. Jessica was later granted admission to the University of Georgia.

In 2022, Jessica earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from the University of Georgia. Following graduation, she embarked on a summer internship, as part of her experiential learning requirement, with the East Georgia Cancer Coalition creating resources tailored toward patients in 52 counties in Georgia undergoing cancer treatment and survivorship. By the end of the summer, Jessica was offered a position working with East Georgia Cancer Coalition as a program assistant where she has since been dedicated to serving the nonprofit organization for the past year two years.

Currently, Jessica is pursuing an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and a certificate in the Social Determinants of Health from the University of Georgia. Throughout her enrollment in the master's program, Jessica served as the clinic assistant at the Clarke Middle Health Center through the UGA medical partnership, which provides free health services to medically underserved families in Athens-Clarke County. During her 2nd year as an MPH student, Jessica is interning, as part of her applied learning practice requirement, with Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW). Jessica will graduate in May of 2024. Following her graduation, Jessica plans to attend law school with a specialization in public health law in the fall of 2024.

“Upon learning about DSW I was immediately drawn to intern with the organization. I know the power of advocacy because my accomplishments are owed to someone who advocated for me. DSW just felt like the perfect fit for me.”

Read why decriminalization is critical to improving public health and safety here.

Jessica Moore

Courtesy of Jessica Moore.

DSW Newsletter #51 (January 2024)

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January 1, 2024 January is nationally recognized as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Human trafficking can occur in any labor sector and can happen to men, women, and children of...
Read More
January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

January 31, 2024 Companion bills S.277 and H.605, introduced this month in Vermont, propose to eliminate offenses related to the location of prostitution while retaining the offenses of aiding or abetting,...
Read More
VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

January 24, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) headed to Vegas for the second year in a row to attend the Adult Video News (AVN) Awards in Las Vegas, the largest adult...
Read More
DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

January 30, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) has been fortunate to partner with dedicated and talented interns pursuing a number of fields of study, and we are thrilled to welcome Jessica...
Read More
DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

January 24, 2024

Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) headed to Vegas for the second year in a row to attend the Adult Video News (AVN) Awards in Las Vegas, the largest adult entertainment expo and trade show in the country. The AVN expo welcomes industry professionals, content creators, and fans alike to attend the convention. This open attendance policy not only allows fans to meet their favorite creators in person, but also allows the general public to engage in important conversations about ethical porn consumption, new laws affecting the adult industry, and the need to decriminalize consensual adult sex work in the United States.

DSW Staff Attorney Rebecca Cleary, Community Engagement Consultant Henri Bynx, and Development Manager Esmé Bengtson attended the expo. They were able to meet with content creators, academics, industry executives, and fans to discuss a wide range of topics including the difference between legalization and decriminalization, the threat of the Entrapment Model, and what the prominence of AI means for pornography.

In 48 states in the U.S., prostitution remains completely criminalized. Nevada legalized prostitution in 1971; however, it is only legal in Nevada’s smallest counties and must occur in a legal brothel. These restrictive laws mean that if a sex worker is working anywhere other than one of the few remaining brothels in the state, they are subject to arrest. Maine altered its prostitution laws in 2023 by enacting Entrapment Legislation. This new law criminalizes sex workers’ clients while removing criminal penalties for the sex workers themselves. Unambiguous data from countries that have enacted this type of legislation shows a clear correlation between laws that criminalize clients and an increase in violence, STIs, and exploitation within the sex industry. The failings of the prostitution laws in Nevada and Maine demonstrate that the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work is the only way to improve public health and safety and reduce exploitation. The attendees at AVN agree, the United States’ approach to prostitution is outdated and harmful.

While in Vegas, DSW staff attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ (UNLV) launch event for their new collection, Sexual Entertainment and Economies. The purpose of the archive is to preserve the history of sexual entertainment, culture, and economies in Southern Nevada and beyond. The collection will include materials on sex workers rights and activism, feminist entrepreneurship, adult film and media, and the history of Nevada’s legal brothel industry. The launch event featured panels on sex worker representation, research, and resistance in the age of FOSTA/SESTA and the politics, practice, and pedagogy of adult entertainment. It was wonderful to see an academic setting engage in an informed and intersectional conversation about sex work while affirming that the history of sex workers is American history and deserves to be preserved.

DSW Community Engagement Consultant Henri Bynx was interviewed by a number of outlets while attending the convention. During one interview, Bynx gave the following compelling quote, “One of the reasons why we like to come to places like this (AVN) is because activating the consumers of sex work is really important to us. We want to make sure people are engaged ethically with the content they’re consuming and are looking out for the rights of content creators and service providers. It provides a really organic mode of connection and a safe space for people to talk about something you typically wouldn’t discuss over the dinner table.” AVN marked a productive start to the 2024 conference season. Thank you to everyone that visited the Decriminalize Sex Work booth, and welcome to our new newsletter subscribers — we’re thrilled to have you!

DSW Staff Attorney Rebecca Cleary, content creator and advocate @onlypomma, DSW Development Manager Esmé Bengtson and DSW Community Engagement Consultant Henri Bynx pose in front of the DSW booth at AVN.

DSW Staff Attorney Rebecca Cleary, content creator and advocate @onlypomma, DSW Development Manager Esmé Bengtson and DSW Community Engagement Consultant Henri Bynx pose in front of the DSW booth at AVN.

While in Las Vegas, DSW staff attend the launch of the UNLV Special Collections and Archives’ new collecting Initiative: Sexual Entertainment and Economies.

DSW Newsletter #51 (January 2024)

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January 1, 2024 January is nationally recognized as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Human trafficking can occur in any labor sector and can happen to men, women, and children of...
Read More
January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

January 31, 2024 Companion bills S.277 and H.605, introduced this month in Vermont, propose to eliminate offenses related to the location of prostitution while retaining the offenses of aiding or abetting,...
Read More
VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

January 24, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) headed to Vegas for the second year in a row to attend the Adult Video News (AVN) Awards in Las Vegas, the largest adult...
Read More
DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

January 30, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) has been fortunate to partner with dedicated and talented interns pursuing a number of fields of study, and we are thrilled to welcome Jessica...
Read More
DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

DSW Newsletter Archive

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January 1, 2024

January is nationally recognized as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Human trafficking can occur in any labor sector and can happen to men, women, and children of any age, race, sexual orientation, or country of origin. Trafficking is defined by force, fraud, or coercion. Human trafficking is an abhorrent abuse of power and violation of human rights. Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW), along with a number of other human rights and anti-trafficking organizations, fights to end human trafficking and exploitation through the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work.

This past October, the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls released a report calling for the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work globally. The group cited a 2021 investigation that found that criminalization endagers and undermines the work of sex worker rights advocates who are best suited to do life-saving anti-trafficking work as a reason for supporting full decriminalization. We know that sex workers are the strongest anti-trafficking advocates and are uniquely suited to identify traffickers and their victims. However, due to criminalization, sex workers often fear reporting crimes to law enforcement due to fear of prosecution and victims of trafficking are often arrested for crimes they were forced to commit.

The conflation of consensual adult sex work and human trafficking has dire consequences. Notably, up to 96% of anti-trafficking resources in the United States are directed towards combating trafficking in commercial sex, neglecting survivors in other industries. Anti-trafficking raids often target sex workers under the guise of rescuing them, leading to arrests, court fees, and immigration consequences without concrete evidence of trafficking. Furthermore, survivors of trafficking are often arrested for prostitution. Criminal convictions prevent trafficking survivors from accessing critical social resources while attempting to recover from being exploited. A key solution to addressing human trafficking lies in the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work. Evidence suggests that resources currently used to criminalize sex workers could be more effectively redirected towards trafficking prevention.

Freedom Network USA (FNUSA) is the nation’s largest coalition working to ensure that trafficked persons have access to justice, safety, and opportunity. They utilize a human rights-based approach to combat trafficking. In a September 2021 position paper FNUSA states, “Human trafficking is fueled by racism, misogyny, poverty, lack of affordable housing, discrimination, and restrictive immigration policies which create vulnerability to labor and sex trafficking. Traffickers take advantage of these factors and use force, fraud, and coercion to extract labor from those who are left without protection in a range of industries from agriculture to hospitality to sex work. Criminalizing the purchase of sex does not address the underlying factors that cause people to become trafficked, does not provide the services and support needed by trafficking survivors, and does not increase the investigation and prosecution of traffickers.”

Current laws in the U.S. do little to address trafficking and exploitation, while instead punishing consensual adults engaging in the sex industry. To mitigate the harms caused by criminalization, legislators need to listen to survivors of trafficking and sex workers when legislating on prostitution and decision-making coalitions at all levels of government need to include survivors of trafficking and sex workers in their membership.

DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo was recently interviewed for a Forbes piece advocating for a public health approach to prevent human trafficking. She is quoted as saying, “I advocate to remove criminal penalties that are forced upon sex workers and survivors of trafficking so that they are not further harmed by criminalization (arrests, police brutality, etc.) and the burden of a lifelong criminal record. Everyone deserves a chance at obtaining employment, housing, immigration status, as well as a life free of harm, violence, and stigmatization. Hopefully human trafficking awareness will bring these issues to the forefront and allow us to pass critical legislation to ensure survivors can live a life free of harm and gender-based violence.” This January, we hope that advocates, law enforcement, and legislators explore a human-rights and public health approach to address the egregious crime of human trafficking.

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

(Bark, 2020)

DSW Newsletter #51 (January 2024)

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January 1, 2024 January is nationally recognized as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Human trafficking can occur in any labor sector and can happen to men, women, and children of...
Read More
January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

January 31, 2024 Companion bills S.277 and H.605, introduced this month in Vermont, propose to eliminate offenses related to the location of prostitution while retaining the offenses of aiding or abetting,...
Read More
VT Bill Aims To End Housing Discrimination Against Sex Workers

DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

January 24, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) headed to Vegas for the second year in a row to attend the Adult Video News (AVN) Awards in Las Vegas, the largest adult...
Read More
DSW Attends Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas for Second Consecutive Year

DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

January 30, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) has been fortunate to partner with dedicated and talented interns pursuing a number of fields of study, and we are thrilled to welcome Jessica...
Read More
DSW Welcomes MPH Intern

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW’s Year in Review

December 26, 2023

In 2023, Decriminalize Sex Work’s (DSW’s) advocacy efforts led to legislative victories in the Northeast that reverberated on a national scale. Notably, DSW advocates worked to pass the country’s most comprehensive ban on police sexual violence in Vermont. In Rhode Island, staff championed an expansion of the patient bill of rights, a crucial step toward dismantling discrimination based on income source and enhancing access to healthcare for sex workers. Also in RI, DSW advocates supported testimony and the finalization of a legislative study commission resulting in a groundbreaking report recommending the decriminalization of prostitution.

DSW’s impact extends beyond legislative triumphs as DSW continues to be at the forefront of national media regarding sex work legislation. In 2023, among numerous local news mentions and other notable appearances, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Crystal DeBoise, appeared on The Brian Lehrer Show and in The New York Times emphasizing the vital need for sex workers to be able to work with law enforcement. An op-ed by Legal Director Melissa Broudo in Newsday outlined how immunity legislation could have saved lives following the arrest of the Long Island Serial Killer. Broudo also appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press to share the perspective she has gained from over twenty years as an attorney for sex workers and survivors of trafficking.

Heading in to 2024, DSW remains dedicated to our mission of ending the prohibition of consensual adult prostitution and improving policies related to all forms of sex work. We look forward to strengthening our partnerships with grassroots organizations, elected officials, and the numerous internationally recognized human rights groups endorsing decriminalization. Specific goals include continued advocacy for immunity and good samaritan legislation in New York and Rhode Island along with the pursuit of the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work in Vermont and New York.

View DSW’s successes since our founding in 2018 here.

DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo and Community Engagement Consultant Henri Bynx testify before the RI legislative study commission.

DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo and Community Engagement Consultant Henri Bynx testify before the RI legislative study commission.

Decriminalize Sex Work hosted a press conference to advocate for immunity laws at the New York State Capitol in April 2023.

Decriminalize Sex Work hosted a press conference to advocate for immunity laws at the New York State Capitol in April 2023.

DSW staff, allies, and elected officials in the Vermont State House following a press conference introducing companion full decriminalization bills.

DSW Newsletter #50

DSW’s Year in Review

December 26, 2023 In 2023, Decriminalize Sex Work’s (DSW’s) advocacy efforts led to legislative victories in the Northeast that reverberated on a national scale. Notably, DSW advocates worked to pass the...
Read More
DSW’s Year in Review

The UN Calls for Decriminalization

December 1, 2023 The United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has once again called for the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work globally. Their most recent...
Read More
The UN Calls for Decriminalization

DSW on Meet the Press

December 9, 2023 NBC’s Meet the Press recently covered Maine’s misguided decision to implement the Entrapment Model of governing sex work. The segment featured DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo, who shared...
Read More
DSW on Meet the Press

Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 20, 2023 Each year, on December 17, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) brings together community members, advocates, and allies to honor those who have been lost...
Read More
Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter Archive

Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 20, 2023

Each year, on December 17, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) brings together community members, advocates, and allies to honor those who have been lost to violence and abuse. The day also marks a renewed commitment to promoting rights, health, safety, and visibility for sex workers and related communities.

The annual event was first recognized in 2003 when community members in Seattle, Washington, came together to remember the victims of the Green River Killer. That year, Gary Ridgeway pled guilty to 48 counts of murder, though he is suspected of having nearly 80 victims, most of them sex workers or runaways. Just this week, investigators identified the  remains of Lori Anne Ratzpotnik, a 15-year-old who had run away from home in 1982. Two victims remain unidentified and there are three women — Kassee Ann Lee, Kelly Kay McGinnis and Patricia Ann Osborn — who were last seen in the Seattle area in the early 1980s. Authorities note they “are listed on the official Green River Homicides list,” but Ridgway was not charged in their disappearances.

In an interview, Ridgeway describes having targeted sex workers because he “knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.”

Ridgeway was not alone, nor was his logic incorrect. ​​Peter Sutcliffe (the Yorkshire Ripper), Jack the Ripper, Robert Hansen, Robert Pickton, Joel Rifken, Steve Wright, Benjamin Atkins, Donald Murphy, and Richard Cottington are all serial murderers who have admitted to targeting sex workers for their crimes either because they believed they would not get caught, or because they believed sex workers were immoral and expendable. A 2011 Indiana University found that between 1970-2009, 22 percent of confirmed victims of serial murderers were known sex workers and prostitutes. These numbers increased throughout the study, reaching a high of 69% from 2000-2009.

Law enforcement is often apathetic to cases involving sex workers, confirming serial murders’ view that they are expendable. “No Humans Involved” is a designation that has historically been used by ​​police, politicians, and judges when looking at crimes committed against sex workers and other marginalized individuals, a heartbreaking acceptance of the continued violence against these communities and the belief that they are unworthy of human rights.

Importantly,  D17 is also a day to recognize the hard work and dedication to justice and human rights of so many organizations and individuals promoting rights for sex workers, survivors of human trafficking, LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, racial justice, immigration reform, and more. It is a celebration of solidarity in the face of oppression and systemic inequality.

International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter #50

DSW’s Year in Review

December 26, 2023 In 2023, Decriminalize Sex Work’s (DSW’s) advocacy efforts led to legislative victories in the Northeast that reverberated on a national scale. Notably, DSW advocates worked to pass the...
Read More
DSW’s Year in Review

The UN Calls for Decriminalization

December 1, 2023 The United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has once again called for the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work globally. Their most recent...
Read More
The UN Calls for Decriminalization

DSW on Meet the Press

December 9, 2023 NBC’s Meet the Press recently covered Maine’s misguided decision to implement the Entrapment Model of governing sex work. The segment featured DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo, who shared...
Read More
DSW on Meet the Press

Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 20, 2023 Each year, on December 17, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) brings together community members, advocates, and allies to honor those who have been lost...
Read More
Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW on Meet the Press

December 9, 2023

NBC’s Meet the Press recently covered Maine’s misguided decision to implement the Entrapment Model of governing sex work. The segment featured DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo, who shared why full decriminalization is the only solution that ensures the rights and safety of consensual adult sex workers and victims of human trafficking. Watch the episode here.

More on Maine and the Entrapment Model

In June of 2023, Governor Janet Mills of Maine signed LD1435, “An Act to Reduce Commercial Sexual Exploitation” — the first Entrapment Model legislation passed in the United States. The harmful myth that all consensual adult sex work is exploitation is more prevalent than ever, thanks in part to anti-bodily autonomy rhetoric pushed by activists who believe that they can “end demand” for sexual labor. However, data shows that this approach actually creates more danger for sex workers and trafficking survivors alike.

Variations of the Entrapment Model have been implemented in Norway, Northern Ireland, Sweden, and Canada.

As these laws explicitly target clients, people who purchase sexual services are increasingly wary of potential prosecution. Sex workers, who are financially dependent on criminalized clients, are compelled to accept clients who refuse to give their legal names, exhibit nervous behavior, or insist on a remote location. This means sex workers are unable to practice harm reduction strategies for safety. Because sex workers are surveilled by police who are looking to arrest clients, reasonable people start to insist on a location of their choosing rather than a place where the sex worker feels comfortable. This makes it easier for predators to lure sex workers to their robbery, rape, or death.

After the Entrapment Model was implemented, sex workers reported higher levels of anxiety and unease as well as increased stigmatization, and have been subject to heightened rates of anti-social and nuisance behavior. A 2004 report by the Norwegian government assessed the situation in Sweden and found that “more abuse takes place … as the women cannot afford to say ‘no’ to the clients they have their doubts about.”

Sex workers in countries where the Entrapment Model has been implemented are frequently harassed and threatened by law enforcement. Enforcement often involves police raids on sex workers, which are extremely psychologically (and sometimes physically) harmful experiences. Workers are often pressured to act as witnesses against their clients. Law enforcement habitually confiscates workers’ possessions and allows the media to film raids, which inevitably outs workers to their communities.

Because criminalizing clients pushes the entire industry further underground, sex workers are more dependent on potentially exploitative third parties to help clients avoid discovery in order to keep their business, even if this risks exploitation.

Sweden and Northern Ireland implemented Entrapment Model laws in 1999 and 2015, respectively. In both places, prostitution persists.

In Northern Ireland, a 2019 review of the impact of the legislation found no decrease in demand, but did observe a 5% increase in online ads. The study, conducted by Queen’s University Belfast and published by the Department of Justice, determined the policy to be ineffective.

A study released in Sweden in 2019 reports the unambiguous failure of the Entrapment Model to reduce demand for prostitution, or to deter people from engaging in sex work, or to provide meaningful resources to victims of human trafficking in or out of the sex industry.

The Entrapment Model incentivizes landlords and financial institutions to discriminate against sex workers, creating barriers to obtaining secure housing, buying property, or accessing financial services. For example, Norway’s “Operation Homeless” initiative was designed to have sex workers evicted from their homes. Between 2007 and 2014, at least 400 sex workers were evicted, most of whom were migrant women.

Landlords in Sweden run the risk of being held liable for promoting prostitution unless they attempt to evict those they suspect of being sex workers — leading directly to homelessness. When sex workers use their own homes to sell sexual services, they risk losing the right to own their property.

To create a better future for sex workers, we must fully decriminalize consensual adult sex work, as recommended by Amnesty International, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and sex workers around the globe.

NBC New Correspondent Zinhle Essamuah and DSW’s Melissa Broudo on Meet the Press.

NBC New Correspondent Zinhle Essamuah and DSW’s Melissa Broudo on Meet the Press.

DSW Newsletter #50

DSW’s Year in Review

December 26, 2023 In 2023, Decriminalize Sex Work’s (DSW’s) advocacy efforts led to legislative victories in the Northeast that reverberated on a national scale. Notably, DSW advocates worked to pass the...
Read More
DSW’s Year in Review

The UN Calls for Decriminalization

December 1, 2023 The United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has once again called for the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work globally. Their most recent...
Read More
The UN Calls for Decriminalization

DSW on Meet the Press

December 9, 2023 NBC’s Meet the Press recently covered Maine’s misguided decision to implement the Entrapment Model of governing sex work. The segment featured DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo, who shared...
Read More
DSW on Meet the Press

Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 20, 2023 Each year, on December 17, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) brings together community members, advocates, and allies to honor those who have been lost...
Read More
Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter Archive

The UN Calls for Decriminalization

December 1, 2023

The United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has once again called for the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work globally. Their most recent report, released in late November, is the seventh in which they have explored the numerous ways that criminalization deprives sex workers of their human rights. Since 2016, it has advocated for decriminalization in reports on gender discrimination in health, women deprived of liberty, women’s rights in the world of work, and poverty as well as country-specific reports focused on Nigeria and South Africa.

Several other UN agencies are advocating for the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work, including the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the World Health Organization, the UN Population Fund, and the UN Development Program. Other organizations taking a stance against criminalization, based on evidence and research, include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Notably, the report clarifies that “Decriminalisation would not jeopardise the protective functions of the State in relation to combatting exploitation, as other criminal law provisions would be used in the case of violence, compulsion or exploitation, including anti-trafficking laws. However, antitrafficking measures should not be implemented in a way that infringes sex workers’ rights, as recognised by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons and the Special Rapporteur on the right to health.”

The evidence is unequivocal and organizations focused on a human rights based approach continue to call for decriminalization. Decriminalization is the only approach to consensual adult sex work that promotes rights and justice for all women.

The United Nations headquarters in New York, New York.

The United Nations headquarters in New York, New York.

DSW Newsletter #50

DSW’s Year in Review

December 26, 2023 In 2023, Decriminalize Sex Work’s (DSW’s) advocacy efforts led to legislative victories in the Northeast that reverberated on a national scale. Notably, DSW advocates worked to pass the...
Read More
DSW’s Year in Review

The UN Calls for Decriminalization

December 1, 2023 The United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has once again called for the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work globally. Their most recent...
Read More
The UN Calls for Decriminalization

DSW on Meet the Press

December 9, 2023 NBC’s Meet the Press recently covered Maine’s misguided decision to implement the Entrapment Model of governing sex work. The segment featured DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo, who shared...
Read More
DSW on Meet the Press

Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 20, 2023 Each year, on December 17, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) brings together community members, advocates, and allies to honor those who have been lost...
Read More
Commemorating International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter Archive

RI Legislative Study Commission Releases Report Recommending Reforms to Prostitution Laws

September 15, 2023

The Rhode Island special legislative commission to study ensuring racial equity and optimizing health and safety laws affecting marginalized individuals has released a report documenting its findings and recommendations. The commission’s key findings recognize human trafficking as distinct and different from consensual adult sex work and that between 1980 and 2009, when indoor prostitution was legal in Rhode Island, there was a significant decline in sexually transmitted diseases and sexual assaults. When prostitution was again criminalized in 2009, the decline ended.

The commission recommends critical reforms to Rhode Island’s sex work-related laws, including decriminalization. Its final report states that “[the legislature should] consider a Rhode Island law to restore the pre-2009 landscape, such that private, consensual sexual activity remains out of the reach of criminal laws.” The report also recommends a number of incremental legislative measures that Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) champions around the country, including a law that would provide limited criminal immunity to sex workers and survivors of trafficking who are victims of or witnesses to a crime and the repeal of RI’s “loitering for the purposes of prostitution” law. The report also recommends passage of a bill that would establish a “patient bill of rights.” As sex workers often face stigma and discrimination while seeking health care, this protection is critical in ensuring health and safety. The bill which provided that “a patient shall not be denied appropriate care on the basis of age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, source of income, source of payment, or profession” became law in RI shortly before the release of the report.

The study commission was formed following the unanimous passage of House Resolution 5250, which proposed a special legislative commission to study ensuring racial equity and optimizing health and safety laws affecting marginalized individuals. The bill, as passed, delineated who should sit on the commission, which includes 13 members, including individuals with lived experience. Other members of the commission include two legislators, a member of COYOTE RI, a representative from Amnesty International, two representatives of organizations serving populations disproportionately impacted by the criminalization of commercial sex, the director of the Department of Health, an attorney from the Rhode Island Public Defender’s Office, the Rhode Island attorney general, or designee, a representative from the Brown University Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, and the president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, or their designee.

The study commission met eight times starting fall of 2021 with experts from both within the commission and outside of it testifying at each meeting. In her capacity as legal director at DSW and with over 20 years of experience representing and advocating for the legal rights of consensual adult sex workers and survivors of human trafficking, Melissa Sontag Broudo testified in April 2022 about the devastating consequences of the conflation of consensual adult sex work and human trafficking. She helped to draft the legislation proposing the study commission as she believes that public policy should be informed by research and evidence. In April 2023, Broudo and Henri Bynx, DSW’s community engagement consultant, testified together, providing recommendations to the commission. Bynx has testified on the impacts of criminalization on their life as a consensual adult sex worker. A leading advocate for sex worker rights, Bynx spoke powerfully about the critical need for decriminalization — the vital step that would allow individuals marginalized by criminalization to live with less fear and more dignity. In June 2022, Bynx provided testimony on the intersection of sex work and LGBTQIA+ rights.

DSW advocates for the creation of study commissions focused on evaluating prostitution laws, addressing trafficking concerns, and identifying better ways to create support systems for both sex workers and trafficked people.

Read our fact sheet on study commissions to review existing laws and address trafficking and exploitation.

In August 2023, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek vetoed two bills that would establish similar study commissions in Oregon. Read more here: With 2 quiet vetoes, Gov. Tina Kotek pushed back on drive to decriminalize sex work in Oregon

DSW Newsletter #49

RI Legislative Study Commission Releases Report Recommending Reforms to Prostitution Laws

September 15, 2023 The Rhode Island special legislative commission to study ensuring racial equity and optimizing health and safety laws affecting marginalized individuals has released a report documenting its findings and...
Read More
RI Legislative Study Commission Releases Report Recommending Reforms to Prostitution Laws

The European Court of Human Rights Agrees To Hear Case Brought by Sex Workers

August 31, 2023 The European Court of Human Rights has accepted a case brought by sex workers whose human rights have been violated following France’s 2016 adoption of Entrapment Model policies,...
Read More
The European Court of Human Rights Agrees To Hear Case Brought by Sex Workers

Tell The New York Times: Sex Work Is Work

September 2, 2023 In August, Pamela Paul penned an opinion piece for The New York Times titled “What It Means to Call Prostitution ‘Sex Work’.” The op-ed was in response to...
Read More
Tell The New York Times: Sex Work Is Work

DSW and Allies Educate NY Legislators on the Critical Need for Immunity Laws

September 14, 2023 New York legislators were invited to attend a webinar on A7471 (Kelles) / S1966 (Sepúlveda), a bill that would grant immunity from prosecution for prostitution to victims and...
Read More
DSW and Allies Educate NY Legislators on the Critical Need for Immunity Laws

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW and Allies Educate NY Legislators on the Critical Need for Immunity Laws

September 14, 2023

New York legislators were invited to attend a webinar on A7471 (Kelles) / S1966 (Sepúlveda), a bill that would grant immunity from prosecution for prostitution to victims and witnesses of crime. The webinar, “A Decade Wasted: How Immunity Could Have Solved The Gilgo Beach Murders,” explained why sex workers and survivors of trafficking need protection in reporting crimes to encourage New York State legislators to co-sponsor the bill.

The webinar was hosted by assembly sponsor Dr. Anna Kelles of District 25 and moderated by DSW Legal Director Melissa Sontag Broudo. Assemblymember Kelles opened the webinar by emphasizing that the investigation into the murders of sex workers on Long Island was hindered by the inability of sex workers who had valuable information about the crimes to report them to local law enforcement. Four panelists provided their unique perspectives on the importance of this legislation. Laura Mullen, Survivor Advisory Board co-founder and president at ECLI-VIBES, spoke about her experience as a survivor and an advocate on Long Island who would have been safe to aid in law-enforcement investigations if the immunity policy was in place at the time of her exploitation. Abigail Swenstein, Esq., staff attorney at the Exploitation Intervention Project of the Legal Aid Society, is a public defender who works with sex workers and survivors of trafficking in New York City. She explained how her clients sometimes cannot seek justice for their own victimization because of criminalization. Jonathon Junig, Esq., chief of the Human Trafficking Unit at the New York County District Attorney’s Office, discussed the challenges to prosecuting crimes when victims and witnesses cannot safely collaborate with prosecutors and explained that his office's non-prosecution policy for prostitution has made it easier to prosecute violent crime. Ceyenne Doroshow, founder and director of G.L.I.T.S. and star of HBO’s The Stroll and Last Call, described her lived experience as a sex worker in New York City and the great challenges she has faced when seeking help from law enforcement.

The webinar was well attended by legislative staff from both the senate and assembly. It ended with Assemblymember Kelles again urging her colleagues in both chambers to join her and senate sponsor Luis Sepúlveda in co-sponsoring this critical and common sense legislation that will protect sex workers and trafficking survivors and aid in law-enforcement investigations across New York State.

DSW Newsletter #49

RI Legislative Study Commission Releases Report Recommending Reforms to Prostitution Laws

September 15, 2023 The Rhode Island special legislative commission to study ensuring racial equity and optimizing health and safety laws affecting marginalized individuals has released a report documenting its findings and...
Read More
RI Legislative Study Commission Releases Report Recommending Reforms to Prostitution Laws

The European Court of Human Rights Agrees To Hear Case Brought by Sex Workers

August 31, 2023 The European Court of Human Rights has accepted a case brought by sex workers whose human rights have been violated following France’s 2016 adoption of Entrapment Model policies,...
Read More
The European Court of Human Rights Agrees To Hear Case Brought by Sex Workers

Tell The New York Times: Sex Work Is Work

September 2, 2023 In August, Pamela Paul penned an opinion piece for The New York Times titled “What It Means to Call Prostitution ‘Sex Work’.” The op-ed was in response to...
Read More
Tell The New York Times: Sex Work Is Work

DSW and Allies Educate NY Legislators on the Critical Need for Immunity Laws

September 14, 2023 New York legislators were invited to attend a webinar on A7471 (Kelles) / S1966 (Sepúlveda), a bill that would grant immunity from prosecution for prostitution to victims and...
Read More
DSW and Allies Educate NY Legislators on the Critical Need for Immunity Laws

DSW Newsletter Archive