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2022 Bills That Endanger Sex Workers

Although legislators are increasingly recognizing the harms of criminalizing sex work, as this year’s legislative session opens, lawmakers continue to propose bills that endanger the rights, health, and safety of sex workers across the country. These laws increase criminal penalties, present new criminal categories around commercial sex, increase surveillance, or propose to decriminalize the sale, but not the purchase of sex work. Below is an explanation of several pieces of legislation which, if passed, would have a significant impact on sex workers’ ability to survive.

There are currently three different state bills that propose to decriminalize the sale of sex but maintain penalties for purchasing sexual services. S940/H1761 in Massachusetts, S6040/A7069 in New York, and S771 in Rhode Island propose this model known as the “Entrapment Model,” the “End Demand Model,” or the “Swedish Model” of criminalization. The bill introduced in Rhode Island is slightly different in that it does not remove all criminal penalties from prostitution but rather makes it a civil offense with fines attached.¹ This mode of criminalization promotes the belief that sex work is inherently exploitative, painting all sex workers as victims and all clients and third parties as abusers. Not only is this a false and dangerous assumption, but the policy is ineffective. By focusing on demand, the model aims to abolish commercial sex altogether. While it may seem appealing to those who object to prostitution, in reality, the entrapment model does nothing to impact demand. Where and when it has been implemented, sex workers experience an increased risk of violence and assault and heightened stigmatization and unease.

In Wisconsin, SB836 is a bill proposed to regulate adult-entertainment establishments. In effect, the bill prevents trafficking survivors and sex workers from working at or owning such establishments by prohibiting people who have been convicted of certain offenses (including prostitution-related crimes) from owning or working at strip clubs. The bill also prohibits adult-entertainment establishments from having employees who have been the victim of certain trafficking offenses. It requires establishments to post a human trafficking poster created by the Department of Justice in a prominent location for employees to view. The bill also mandates that these businesses furnish a list of their employees, operators, and owners to local law enforcement officials upon request. This law not only violates the privacy of employees but it infringes upon the rights of survivors of trafficking and sex workers and their ability to earn a living.

AB139/SB26 was also proposed in Wisconsin. The bill is a penalty increase for individuals convicted of patronizing or soliciting a prostitute, pandering, or keeping a place of prostitution. Under the proposed law, a $5,000 surcharge would be imposed to be used for treatment and services for sex-trafficking victims and for investigative operations relating to internet crimes against children. Most state crime fees in Wisconsin are $67 per count for misdemeanors and $92 per count for felonies. While the creation of resources for survivors of sexual exploitation seems positive, the method of collecting these funds creates complications. The bill imposes a disproportionately high charge on misdemeanor crimes which would have a deleterious impact on the lives of indigent offenders, putting many in debt to the court system. It is also clear from the language of the bill that it conflates consensual adult sex work and human trafficking, meaning that many of the funds created to service the needs of human trafficking survivors might in reality be used to create mandatory programming for sex workers who have been convicted of prostitution. This not only wastes resources, but the criminalization of poverty in the United States perpetuates cycles of criminalization and victimization.

Another bill that increases penalties for crimes related to commercial sex was introduced in Florida. HB521/S760 provides criminal penalties for receiving value from human trafficking, using labor or services, or commercial sexual activity of an adult. The law also prohibits facilitating or enabling prostitution, lewdness, or facilitating or enabling any person to remain in a location for such purposes and increases criminal penalties for specified prohibited acts relating to prostitution, lewdness, or assignation. While on its face, the legislation is an anti-trafficking bill, in reality, its motives are prohibitionist. The law aims to discourage prostitution by increasing the criminal penalties for many common third-party activities used by sex workers to make their work safer, thus putting them at risk.

Many of these bills are proposed with the intention of helping survivors of human trafficking escape exploitation and rebuild their lives. However, because of the deep-rooted conflation between human trafficking in commercial sex and consensual adult sex work, these laws create unintended harm for both sex workers and survivors. If you are a resident of any of these states and want to protect the rights of sex workers and related communities, please reach out to your representative and ask them to oppose these bills.

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1 One positive attribute of the Rhode Island bill is that it repeals the authority to detain a defendant in the event they test positive for venereal disease.

State Bills to Watch in 2022

January 1, 2022 Bills to decriminalize sex work are being considered in New York (S3075/A849), Massachusetts (H1867), Vermont (H630), and Missouri (H2388). Several other pieces of legislation to improve the health, safety, and human rights of sex...

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Decriminalize Sex Work; Fight Human Trafficking January 11, 2022 Human trafficking, in any labor sector and at the hands of any perpetrator, is an abhorrent human rights violation and abuse of power. DSW fights to decriminalize sex...

Federal Courts Rule, Title IX Protects Sex Workers from Discrimination

December 3, 2021 Coos County covers a rural stretch of Oregon’s coastline about 200 miles south of Portland, Oregon. The area is markedly conservative. In 2018, the community came to the defense of a public high school...

2022 Bills That Endanger Sex Workers

January 1, 2022 Although legislators are increasingly recognizing the harms of criminalizing sex work, as this year’s legislative session opens, lawmakers continue to propose bills that endanger the rights, health, and safety of sex workers across the...

NY District Attorney Bragg Includes Landmark Sex Work Reform in Policy Statement

January 3, 2022 Newly elected Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg, the first African American to be elected DA in New York City, knows that limiting incarceration to a last resort, one reserved for violent crime, will...

The Legacy of Gilgo Beach: Protect Sex Workers

December 13, 2021 Too many violent criminals have admitted to targeting sex workers because it was less likely that the disappearances or deaths of individuals selling sex would be noticed or reported. Even in the case that...

DSW Newsletter Archive

State Bills to Watch in 2022

Bills to decriminalize sex work are being considered in New York (S3075/A849), Massachusetts (H1867), Vermont (H630), and Missouri (H2388). Several other pieces of legislation to improve the health, safety, and human rights of sex workers and related communities have been introduced around the country.

Massachusetts also saw the introduction of S947, proposed by Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz. The bill would support survivors of trafficking and abuse by increasing eligibility for expungement and the sealing of records. If passed, survivors would be eligible for expungement for all crimes they were compelled to commit as a result of their exploitation. This bill is similar to the Survivors of Trafficking Attaining Relief Together (START) Act, enacted in New York last year. The New Jersey Senate also recently passed S3433 which would similarly provide a process to vacate and expunge the convictions of human trafficking survivors. The governor signed the bill into law this month.

New York and Rhode Island have both proposed Good Samaritan Bills [also known as immunity]. These laws are critical to the health and safety of sex workers and broader communities. Because of criminalization, sex workers often do not report crimes committed against them for fear of arrest and prosecution. Good Samaritan laws, as proposed, provide limited immunity from prosecution for individuals engaged in prostitution who are victims of or witnesses to a crime, allowing them to come forward without risking prosecution.

Rhode Island has two other important bills that have been introduced this session to protect sex workers’ rights. The first, H6049/S249, criminalizes custodial sexual assault of defendants in the custody of a peace officer. An offense under this law would be subject to imprisonment for up to three years. There is a pattern of sexual abuse of sex workers at the hands of law enforcement across the United States. Vice divisions have used criminalization to coerce sexual favors from sex workers. A 2019 Johns Hopkins University study also found that abusive police interactions with sex workers increase the likelihood of violence at the hands of clients. These findings are reflective of the general stigmatization directed at sex workers, encouraging tacit acceptance, and sometimes even perpetuation, of violence against them by law enforcement.

H5464, also introduced in Rhode Island, would establish non-discrimination standards for healthcare providers in the state. The bill mandates that any patient seeking services “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.” Sex workers are commonly subjected to discrimination and stigma when seeking healthcare which results in inadequate care and nondisclosure. Discrimination may stop sex workers from seeking services at all. If passed, this bill will create important protections for sex workers and other marginalized communities when accessing life-saving care.

In New York, A8281 was recently introduced in the State Assembly to remove unauthorized or unlicensed practice of massage therapy, and aiding or abetting unauthorized or unlicensed practice of massage therapy, from the criminal statute of unauthorized practice. This legislation is intended to put an end to the routine harassment and abuse of the largely immigrant population working in massage parlors in certain counties by NYPD’s vice division. Vice routinely conducts stings at massage parlors in certain neighborhoods under the guise of “rescuing” women from trafficking rings. Undercover officers request sex acts at the end of an appointment. If the masseuse agrees, they are arrested for prostitution, and if they say no, the officer can still charge them with unlicensed massage under the Unauthorized Practice of a Profession statute (ED 6512). Immigrant women of Asian descent have been disproportionately targeted for these arrests. Between 2015 and 2019, 93.3% of unlicensed practice of a profession arrests were of Asian-identified individuals, increasing by 2700%. 91 percent of the 2016 cases were against non-citizens.

The Gender Identity Respect, Dignity, and Safety Act (S6677/A7001), also introduced in New York, would amend the state’s corrections law. The bill “requires that incarcerated people in state and local correctional facilities who have a gender identity different from the person's assigned sex at birth be addressed and have access to commissary items, clothing, and other materials that are consistent with the person's gender identity.” It also mandates that individuals be placed in correctional facilities with people of the gender that they most closely align with, with the freedom to change their placement. This bill creates essential protections for transgender, non-conforming, and non-binary (TGNC/NB) community members. When TGNC/NB are placed in the wrong prison or jail, many are subjected to violence, harassment, psychological distress, or blocked from medical care.

DSW will continue monitoring and reporting on bills, such as these, which are important to the rights of sex workers and related communities. We urge readers who are residents of states with active legislation to reach out to their representatives and ask them to support these bills.

Visit https://decriminalizesex.work/advocacy/take-action-your-state/ to send letters in support of decriminalization to your legislators.

State Bills to Watch in 2022

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Federal Courts Rule, Title IX Protects Sex Workers from Discrimination

2022 Bills That Endanger Sex Workers

NY District Attorney Bragg Includes Landmark Sex Work Reform in Policy Statement

The Legacy of Gilgo Beach: Protect Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter Archive

Hero of the Month: Joaquin Remora

After more than a decade of commitment to harm reduction in transgender, sex worker, and housing rights spaces, Joaquin Remora has never lost his sense of curiosity about his community. “I understood very early … that these dynamics, people living on the streets, are entirely misunderstood. To do this work I needed to have curiosity rather than an opinion. Like, hey, what’s your story? What do you need?” Now the Director of Our Trans Home SF, a coalition of organizations addressing housing instability for Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex (TGI) people in the Bay Area, Remora has channeled his open-minded, dynamic nature into building the city’s first transitional housing program for homeless Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming (TGNC) adults.

Remora initially moved to San Francisco from Vancouver, Canada, looking for a community in which he would feel comfortable transitioning. He joined St. James Infirmary, the first occupational health and safety organization for sex workers in the country, and a parent organization of Our Trans Home, as a participant. Remora’s care for his community and expertise was quickly recognized and he was asked to join St. James’s board of directors. Our Trans Home was founded in January of 2020 and Remora began to volunteer. When it became apparent that the program needed strong trans leadership to succeed, he stepped in as director.

Navigating enormous obstacles, of which COVID-19 has only been one, Our Trans Home has flourished with the support of Remora and other transgender leaders, now serving about 150 participants. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to need. Remora had previously worked at a housing navigation center, gaining expertise on the risks and challenges posed by housing programs, particularly for TGI community members. The San Francisco shelter system is built on a temporary housing model, ill-equipped to provide any kind of long-term resources to the communities they serve. Many unhoused trans folks end up leaving the system because they don’t feel safe. Funding, says Remora, is the biggest challenge.

Born on the western peninsula of Mexico, Remora was raised near Vancouver, BC. He was drawn to the richness and diversity of the culture in San Francisco, something that he felt was missing in Vancouver. Remora describes growing up “in a very specific way that made the bigger picture very clear. Whereas maybe if I had been raised in a more progressive home or my parents had been liberals, or if I wasn’t mixed-race, maybe anything like this would have not made everything stand out so stark[ly] to me.” He also points to the different cultural cues he received from his father’s spiritual indigenous family and his mother’s more material white one providing a great deal of insight about his own journey: “Understanding the systems and the way they impact people emotionally and spiritually, and seeing that you can have a lot of very dysfunctional behaviors due to the trauma that you deal with. But you can be more in touch with your humanity that way [than] someone who is aligned with the system and has access to more resources and yet there is so much more suffering and detachment.”

While living in Vancouver, Remora began doing harm reduction with the unhoused population there. He was also working at the BC Compassion Club Society, the oldest and largest medical cannabis dispensary in Canada which is completely consensus-based and run by indigenous women. Vancouver is also home to North America’s first safe injection and needle exchange facility and a lot of harm reduction policy innovations. After working as a service provider for so long, Remora took an enormous risk, moving to San Francisco without documentation, money, or permission to work legally. He was dealing with his own substance use and beginning to transition and relied a lot on St. James for resources and community until his life stabilized and he once again became a provider.

In part because of his full-circle perspective, Remora doesn't identify as an activist, but rather an advocate or a friend to community and sex workers. While his advocacy has blossomed into a career, for Remora that was never the point. “I don't want to identify the work as separate from my own path. … For me, this is just how life should be. These things are a part of my story and therefore this is just what comes with showing up to that story and telling [it] so that things can improve for anyone in that situation. I want to normalize it.”

Remora sees relationship-building as central to his work: getting to know people, understanding their unique stories, struggles, and trauma, and helping them achieve their goals with appropriate support. It’s far from perfect, but seeing people build up their self-esteem and become more and more themselves every day, simply by having access to basic resources is incredibly rewarding to him. “There is so much gratitude,” Remora says. “I don’t ask for any gratitude because housing is a human right. But … when you go from having nothing to feeling like a normal part of the world, that is a really generous place of gratitude.”

Reflecting on the most significant challenges he has faced, Remora pauses. “There is still so much that society at large doesn’t understand about trans people — the city doesn’t understand that they are not going to stay in their resources because it’s not safe for them.” Remora says he too is learning every day, about transmisogyny and other invisibilized forms of violence. When asked if he ever feels like he’s trying to put a band-aid on a bullet hole, Remora laughs. “Definitely. But I’m lucky that I have some really radical mentors that are like, ‘We can’t really put too much weight on this because it’s kind of shoveling water.’”

Remora also reframes the work — away from solving the problems themselves, and towards setting up systems and solutions that allow people with lived experience to lead. “There are little ways in which I’m not looking at this as a solution. I’m just saying let’s just put those problems in the right hands, more than anything.” He feels fortunate to have strong mentors who are uncompromising in their dedication to taking action based on consensus and setting up strong boundaries.

Looking forward, Remora hopes that the success of Our Trans Home will be a jumping-off point for other programming. He is optimistic that the city will agree to help fund a navigation center for a specifically trans and TGNC shelter system focused on serving people of color. He also hopes to budget for trans and TGNC staff, who already donate so much of their time to this work. Again the need is enormous: they need services for people living on the street who aren't yet ready to transition to permanent housing, better mental health services, access to healthcare, and employment development. “Right now we just need to demonstrate to funders how well our program is working and how much more it needs to grow to make a difference in the larger population.” He also hopes that the organization can develop direct referrals for asylum seekers and programs supporting migrant sex workers in order to get trans people out of detention centers faster, referencing a detention center in New Mexico with 60 trans women from Central America seeking asylum.

Remora is forever staying attuned to how the movement can heal its own trauma, build solidarity, and take collective action to challenge systemic violence. “It requires everyone to do a lot of healing and self-exploration, deprogramming from the things that keep us separate, and being curious about each other’s cultures. Because that’s what’s going to help us be stronger together.” He sees what they are up against as rooted in centuries-old systems of oppression. “To look at another person and say ‘you’re not human,’ that comes from a very injured place. Transphobia and whorephobia are the same thing … to me, it’s a spiritual disease that’s the issue and how do we help each other do that healing and that deprogramming?”

For Remora the answer is simple — through, curiosity, and love. “There’s a lot of things that cause harm to the movement … understanding what love really is and what it isn’t. This work comes from a place of love but if you are confused about what love means we’re not going to be able to make the right moves. To me, the lesson is really defining one’s philosophy of what love is, love for the community, love for all humans. That’s always the thing that re-centers me. Because that’s love, Instead of saying, well I suffered, now I’m gonna get my piece of the pie, no I’m gonna remember that I suffered so other people don’t have to.”

Burlington, VT City Council Votes To Remove Language on Sex Work From Its City Charter

December 13, 2021 In a historic move, the Burlington, VT City Council unanimously supported a resolution to remove harmful, stigmatizing, and archaic language around prostitution from its city charter. Burlington voters will now have the opportunity to...

Johns Hopkins University Hosts Panel on Decriminalization

December 2, 2021 The Oregon Sex Workers’ Committee (OSWC) collaborated with Woodhull Freedom Foundation to present a discussion on decriminalization and marginalized communities. The panel was hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human...

Honoring International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 17, 2021 Each year, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) brings together community members, advocates, and allies from around the world to honor the lives of those who have been lost to violence...

Hero of the Month: Joaquin Remora

December 21, 2021 After more than a decade of commitment to harm reduction in transgender, sex worker, and housing rights spaces, Joaquin Remora has never lost his sense of curiosity about his community. “I understood very early...

DSW Newsletter Archive

Honoring International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

Each year, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) brings together community members, advocates, and allies from around the world to honor the lives of those who have been lost to violence and abuse and to renew their commitment to promoting rights, health, safety, and visibility for sex workers and related communities.

This 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. In an interview, Ridgeway describes having targeted prostitutes because they were easy to pick up discreetly and 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 targetting sex workers for their crimes either because they believed it would make them harder to catch, or because they believed sex workers were immoral and expendable. A recent spate of murders in St. Louis is thought to have been carried out by a single individual targeting sex workers. A 2011 study out of Indiana University found that between 1970-2009, 22 percent of confirmed serial murders were known sex workers and prostitutes. These numbers increased throughout the study, reaching a high of 69% from 2000-2009.

These heartbreaking statistics are backed up by antipathy on the part of law enforcement. “No Humans Involved” or NHI 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 tacit 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, LGBTQIA individuals, racial justice, immigration reform, and more. It is a celebration of solidarity in the face of oppression and systematic inequality. During the week leading up to D17, sex worker communities and social justice organizations around the world stage actions and vigils to raise awareness about violence and marginalization, and how to combat them.

This year, Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (GLITS) was hoping to host an event at Nowadays in Brooklyn, NY, on the evening of December 16. Titled “Whore Dynasty,” it would have featured Barbara Tucker, an award-winning recording artist. Unfortunately, the night was canceled due to the increasingly high rate of COVID-19 infections.

Other organizations hosted their own events and honored lives lost in a variety of ways. NYTAG hosted the third annual Marsha P. Johnson Community Leader Awards remotely on the afternoon of December 17, honoring the work of six intersectional community leaders who have made critical contributions to the rights of sex workers, transgender, and gender-nonconforming communities. The honorees spoke on the significance of D17, sex workers’ rights, the legacy of Marsha P. Johnson, and their visions and strategies for the future. The Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo screened “CAER,” a feature-length documentary on trans female migrant sex workers.

To read the names of sex workers who have lost their lives to violence and criminalization this year, see the SWOP USA D17 webpage.

Burlington, VT City Council Votes To Remove Language on Sex Work From Its City Charter

Johns Hopkins University Hosts Panel on Decriminalization

Honoring International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

Hero of the Month: Joaquin Remora

DSW Newsletter Archive

The Legacy of Gilgo Beach: Protect Sex Workers

Too many violent criminals have admitted to targeting sex workers because it was less likely that the disappearances or deaths of individuals selling sex would be noticed or reported. Even in the case that they were, because of the stigma surrounding sex work, law enforcement often handles crimes committed against sex workers differently than they would otherwise. In the words of Gary Ridgeway, also known as the Green River Killer, “I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.”

Ridgeway’s assumption is chilling, made even more so by the fact that it’s true. A 2014 study found that between 45-75% of sex workers will experience physical and sexual violence while working, with little recourse as reporting the crime would mean risking arrest and prosecution. Criminalization also exposes sex workers to abuse and exploitation by law enforcement. Human Rights Watch found that sex workers in South Africa do not report rape or armed robbery to police for fear of being arrested, profiled, harassed, or laughed at and not taken seriously. “No Humans Involved” or NHI 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, an acceptance of the continued violence against these communities and the belief that they are unworthy of human rights. In some cases, laws do not even define violence against sex workers as a criminal act.

Taking into account this history of disproportionate victimization, a Good Samaritan bill was recently proposed in New York State. S2233A/A225 would provide immunity from prosecution for individuals engaged in prostitution who are victims of or witnesses to a crime and either report it or assist in the investigation or prosecution. If enacted, the bill will be a critical step in protecting the rights of sex workers in New York State. Similar laws have already been enacted in Vermont, New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, and Utah.

The proposal of S2233A comes at an interesting time. Suffolk County’s newly elected Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison recently pledged to re-open the case of the Gilgo Beach serial killer in the Long Island area. Most of the Gilgo Beach Killer’s victims were sex workers who had advertised in the area on Craigslist. In a press conference on December 31, 2021, Harrison stated that the department was “in a great place to solve” the case and cited new leads.

The case had been cold for a decade. In May of 2010, Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old from the south shore of Long Island, disappeared mysteriously. The search for her uncovered ten bodies scattered along the beach highway. Later that year, the remains of four more women were found near Gilgo Beach. Discoveries continued, among them, the body of a toddler and a woman believed to be her mother. In all, there were ten bodies officially linked to what has been dubbed the Long Island Serial Killer (LISK) Case and seven others who are likely connected.

We will never know for sure if an immunity law might have saved the lives of any of the victims in the Gilgo Beach case. What we do know is that as it currently stands, sex workers are put in danger because of criminalization and then left unprotected from any number of crimes including armed robbery, assault, and murder. 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 targetting sex workers either because they believed it would make them harder to catch, or because they believed sex workers were expendable, a notion that our society continues to perpetuate. A recent spate of murders in St. Louis is thought to have been carried out by a single individual targeting sex workers. A 2011 study out of Indiana University found that between 1970-2009, 22 percent of confirmed serial murders were of known sex workers and prostitutes. These numbers increased throughout the study, reaching a high of 69% from 2000-2009.

It is because of this violence, fueled by stigmatization, ignorance, and criminalization, that human rights organizations like Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, the American Civil Liberties Union, and more support the decriminalization of sex work, as well as more incremental measures such as Good Samaritan laws to save lives and protect the rights of sex workers and communities. The impact of criminalization and victimization falls most heavily on sex workers with intersectional vulnerabilities: immigrants, BIPOC individuals, transgender, and non-binary folks, the gay and lesbian communities, those who are unhoused, and people living in poverty. Everyone deserves protection and recourse from crime, and we cannot stand by and allow marginalized communities to be excluded from this right.

State Bills to Watch in 2022

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Federal Courts Rule, Title IX Protects Sex Workers from Discrimination

2022 Bills That Endanger Sex Workers

NY District Attorney Bragg Includes Landmark Sex Work Reform in Policy Statement

The Legacy of Gilgo Beach: Protect Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter Archive

Burlington, VT City Council Votes To Remove Language on Sex Work From Its City Charter

In a historic move, the Burlington, VT City Council unanimously supported a resolution to remove harmful, stigmatizing, and archaic language around prostitution from its city charter. Burlington voters will now have the opportunity to vote on the measure in March. The formal process to amend the charter mandate to “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common prostitutes and persons consorting therewith,” was triggered by a resolution by City Councilor Perri Freeman, which was unanimously approved in June 2021. The City Council Charter Committee then voted in favor of bringing the amendments to the full Council. Voters will now have the opportunity to make a change that would support human rights and dignity.

When the resolution was first introduced, Mayor Miro Weinberger asked City Council members to “work to repeal or amend any language that is discriminatory towards women, to sex workers and to victims of sex crimes.” Vermonters who engage in consensual adult sex work and individuals who have experienced trafficking urged City Councilors to allow residents to vote on the issue. “We have been criminalized and marginalized for too long,” said Henri Bynx, co-founder of The Ishtar Collective, Vermont’s only organization run by and for sex workers and survivors of trafficking, “We’re asking our neighbors to recognize us as deserving of dignity and bodily autonomy. This charter change would be a step in the right direction towards improving the health and safety of individuals who engage in sex work consensually and those who are trafficked into it,” Bynx continued.

The charter amendment would not decriminalize prostitution, as it remains illegal at the state level. In May 2021, Gov. Phil Scott approved legislation that provides limited criminal immunity to people who report a crime committed against them, or which they witnessed, while voluntarily involved in sex work or while a victim of human trafficking. “This [law] means that a pimp or an abuser could no longer threaten arrest to exploit a sex worker or survivor of trafficking, which is a common tactic of exploitation. It shows lawmakers care about us as people. They are taking action to protect our safety by giving us equal protection under the law,” said Bynx.

Sex work is not inherently dangerous or exploitative but criminalization puts sex workers at risk and creates conditions that allow trafficking to proliferate. “Permitting sex workers to come forward and report being the victim of or witness to a crime without fear of arrest is critical but I’m looking forward to the day when we will no longer be as vulnerable to crime or exploitation as we are now. That day will come when consensual adult sex work is decriminalized,” said J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly, co-founder of The Ishtar Collective and research and project manager at DSW.

Stigma and discrimination cause tremendous harm to all people in the sex industry, whether they are there by choice, circumstance, or coercion. Laws that further this stigma, shame, misogyny, and discrimination enable and amplify harm to an already vulnerable population. The current Burlington City Council charter mandate is not only immensely archaic and dehumanizing, but it also does nothing to support the health and well-being of the citizens of Burlington.

Ishtar Collective members and others testified in support of the charter change at the meeting on December 13. The City Council also heard vocal opposition from national groups who intentionally conflate trafficking and consensual adult sex work and unanimously stood on the side of evidence, human rights, and dignity. DSW is pleased to be working with The Ishtar Collective, a DSW grantee, and others to make this important and historic change in Burlington.

Burlington, VT City Council Votes To Remove Language on Sex Work From Its City Charter

Johns Hopkins University Hosts Panel on Decriminalization

Honoring International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

Hero of the Month: Joaquin Remora

DSW Newsletter Archive

Vermonters Urge Burlington City Council To Change Discriminatory and Dangerous Language in City Charter

NEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | PDF

Media Contact:
Ariela Moscowitz, director of communications
[email protected] | (212) 368-7874

Burlington, VT (December 12, 2021) — The Burlington City Council will vote on whether to adopt recommended changes to archaic, dangerous, and discriminatory language in the Burlington City Charter. The formal process to amend the charter mandate to “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common prostitutes and persons consorting therewith,” was triggered by a resolution by City Councilor Perri Freeman, P-Central, which was unanimously approved in June 2021. The City Council Charter Committee then voted in favor of bringing the amendments to the full Council. On December 13, 2021, City Councilors will determine if the measure should head to the March ballot, giving voters the opportunity to make a change that would support human rights and dignity.

Vermonters who engage in consensual adult sex work and individuals who have experienced trafficking are urging City Councilors to allow residents to vote on the issue. “We have been criminalized and marginalized for too long,” said Henri Bynx, co-founder of The Ishtar Collective, Vermont’s only organization run by and for sex workers and survivors of trafficking, “We’re asking our neighbors to recognize us as deserving of dignity and bodily autonomy. This charter change would be a step in the right direction towards improving the health and safety of individuals who engage in sex work consensually and those who are trafficked into it,” Bynx continued.

Sex work is not inherently dangerous or exploitative but criminalization puts sex workers at risk and creates conditions that allow for trafficking to proliferate. “Permitting sex workers to come forward to report being the victim of or witness to a crime without fear of arrest is critical but I’m looking forward to the day when we will no longer be as vulnerable to crime or exploitation as we are now. That day will come when consensual adult sex work is decriminalized,” said J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly, co-founder of The Ishtar Collective and research and project manager at Decriminalize Sex Work.

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Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) is a national organization pursuing a state-by-state strategy to end the prohibition of consensual adult prostitution in the United States. DSW works with local organizations, advocates, and lobbyists to build community support and convince legislators to stop prostitution-related arrests. Evidence shows that decriminalizing sex work will help end human trafficking, improve public health, and promote community safety.

Federal Courts Rule, Title IX Protects Sex Workers from Discrimination

Coos County covers a rural stretch of Oregon’s coastline about 200 miles south of Portland, Oregon. The area is markedly conservative. In 2018, the community came to the defense of a public high school principal who had been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for discriminating against LGBTQ students and forcing them to read the Bible. It is also home to Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC), one of the largest employers in the county. SWOCC was recently sued by Nicole Gilliland for discrimination on the basis of having engaged in sex work. Gilliland alleged that her instructors treated her differently, ignored her in class, marked her down on assignments, or gave her extra work, because of her history working in the porn industry.

In December of 2021, Federal Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai ruled in Gilliland’s favor, marking the first time that Title IX has been invoked by a student to fight discrimination based on a history of doing sex work. Judge Kasubhai found that the evidence Gilliland presented to prove discrimination was directly connected to her work history. He also found that the actions of the professors constituted sex discrimination as they made comments that advanced a stereotype of the kind of woman “appropriate for the nursing profession,” deeming Gilliland unfit.

It began with a single professor. While Gilliland was recovering from illness, Melissa Sperry gave Gilliland an extra assignment that no one else in the class was assigned. Three days later when Gilliland turned it in, Sperry refused to grade it. Later, Sperry docked Gilliland’s grades on tests she had taken late as a result of her illness. When Gilliland questioned this, Sperry replied “unclassy women shouldn’t be nurses, Nicole.” Sperry then changed passing grades on assignments Gilliland had previously turned in to fail her and alleged that Gilliland had plagiarized them. At a hearing to clear up the plagiarism accusation, the head of the nursing program testified that Gilliland was an angry person and unsafe around her patients.

Gilliland was confused at first. She was on the Dean’s List (before beginning to fail her classes inexplicably) and she had received rave reviews from the nurse overseeing her practicum placement. Suddenly it all clicked. Gilliland realized she wasn’t being penalized for underperforming in school, but rather because of her history as an adult-film performer. Other students refused to speak to her on campus out of fear of the same treatment from professors. It became clear to Gilliland that she wasn’t going to pass the semester.

In an interview with Vice, a classmate of Gilliland’s said that she was not surprised that she faced discrimination as a result of her history in porn. “The instructors decided that she was not right for the program and singled her out — the first step was the bogus assignment, then they landed on plagiarism. It was a total shit show. SWOCC’s nursing school has a reputation for having bullies.” Other students at SWOCC reported similar patterns of discrimination based on their accents or because of their age. But they were always able to graduate. However, in Gilliland’s case, the stigma around being a sex worker was too great for Coos County.

Gilliland’s lawsuit is based on a claim, not only of individual discrimination but also that SWOCC engaged in a pattern of behavior that targets and excludes female students. While it’s difficult to determine the exact demographics of people doing sex work, statistics tend to report that a majority are women. 66% of prostitution arrests in the United States in 2014 were of women. Derek Demeri, a 2020 graduate of Rutgers law school, authored an article in Rutgers University Law Review outlining how and why discrimination against sex workers violates Title IX. Now, the federal court’s ruling confirms it. “It’s not just about Title IX — getting a court to recognize that discrimination against sex workers is sex discrimination could bring a sweeping movement across the country,” Demeri said of the lawsuit.

The road to victory has not been easy for Gilliland. Treatment by her professors and the school administration drove her to a suicide attempt in 2019, which caused her to lose custody of her children. Her younger daughter was sent to live with the very family members who had told the Coos County community about her history with sex work. She was then fired from her food service job because of her “legal troubles” and kicked out of her apartment for “stirring up trouble” with the lawsuit. “At first I thought, how in the hell do you think you’ll get away with this?” Gililland told Vice. “But now I see that they really could. We have one whore taking on all of these noble people.”

After submitting for a psychological evaluation and acquiring 12 letters of character support from friends and acquaintances, Gilliland finally gained back custody of her children. After bouncing between a homeless shelter and a shed in someone’s backyard that cost $200/month, she was put in touch with Alex Andrews, long-time sex worker rights advocate who started a GoFundMe for the family and found them a new place to live.

Despite all the setbacks, Gilliland bravely pushed forward with her lawsuit. “Gililland is using her privilege to achieve good for everyone else,” says Andrews. “That is a remarkable thing to do. There are a lot of people doing sex work who can’t be out about it because the consequences they would face are way too great.”

Her experience in the legal system inspired Gilliland to change careers. She now plans to attend law school to continue fighting against discrimination. As intended, her fight is sure to empower sex workers and other marginalized individuals who experience similar rejection and stigmatization. Going forward, Gilliland will not shy away from her history with sex work but own it proudly. Hiding, she says, only “empowered people who shouldn’t have had power over me.”

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January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Federal Courts Rule, Title IX Protects Sex Workers from Discrimination

2022 Bills That Endanger Sex Workers

NY District Attorney Bragg Includes Landmark Sex Work Reform in Policy Statement

The Legacy of Gilgo Beach: Protect Sex Workers

DSW Newsletter Archive

Johns Hopkins University Hosts Panel on Decriminalization

The Oregon Sex Workers’ Committee (OSWC) collaborated with Woodhull Freedom Foundation to present a discussion on decriminalization and marginalized communities. The panel was hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights and featured prominent community members and advocates from across the country. It brought together these tremendous individuals to exchange their expertise and experiences around sex work, education, and the policies that we must pass to save lives. The panelists spoke eloquently about the complexities of circumstances that lead people to engage in sex work. They bravely shared stories of past traumas and how these experiences have shaped their commitment to decriminalization to allow sex workers, and other criminalized and marginalized communities, to fully realize their rights, and to achieve safety and health.

The event began with an introduction from moderator Bianca Beebe, a sex worker, MPH candidate at JHU, and the co-chair of OSWC. Beebe also lives and works in New Zealand, the only country in the world to have decriminalized sex work on a national level, and advocates for decriminalization based on her experiences working under that model. Panelists then took turns introducing themselves and what brought them to this work:

* Tamika Spellman (she/her) is the Policy and Community Engagement Manager for Honoring Individual Power & Strength (HIPS) D.C. She came to HIPS after being a client of the organization for several years. As a sex worker, a transgender woman of color, a former drug user, and someone living with a disability, Spellman has an innate understanding of the importance of decriminalization and other harm-reduction policies in this work. She has testified on behalf of HIPS at DC city council hearings, spoken on several harm reduction panels, and is managing SWAC (DECRIMNOW).

* Joaquin Remora (he/him) is an advocate for Transgender empowerment and liberation with 10+ years of experience working to promote racial equity, harm reduction principles, and LGBTQ cultural competency. He has done crisis intervention, housing, and social services work in many settings, including at St. James Infirmary in San Francisco. Remora is currently the Director of Housing at Our Trans Home SF, a project of St. James Infirmary. As a young trans man, Remora remembers realizing how many parts of our society and the things we are told are designed to keep people separated and living lives of suffering. He wanted to change that and is now dedicated wholeheartedly to inspiring and teaching empathy and creating momentum towards social change.

* Esther K (she/her) is a Lead Organizer with Red Canary Song, an Asian-American sex worker-led group focusing on migrant massage business workers outreach. Since 2019, she has been doing anti-trafficking and decriminalization work with Chinatowns across the United States through RCS, involving sex workers in anti-trafficking initiatives. She is also a consultant with the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center. A first-generation Taiwanese immigrant, K does not identify as a sex worker but began doing sexualized labor out of necessity after being rejected from a number of other forms of work. She eventually moved to Chicago and began working for an anti-trafficking organization that was very pro-law enforcement. There, she saw the immense harm caused by anti-trafficking groups who endorse criminal-legal solutions, and the danger this imposes on the communities they purport to serve.

* Keyanna Monae (she/her, they/them) a teenager from central Virginia recently relocated to Baltimore, Maryland hoping to become an activist and advocate, fighting HIV/AIDS, state-sanctioned violence against trans and queer folks, and ensuring that all youth have access to accurate, comprehensive education on sexuality & health. Monae was forced to leave home at the age of thirteen and began participating in survival sex work. She knew that she identified as a woman, but after being rejected for coming out as gay, she hid that part of herself. Contending with homelessness and poverty at such a young age, Monae says that sex work both “saved me and damaged me.” She is committed to educating and supporting her community so that no child has to experience what she went through, with a firm belief that every challenge in life provides an opportunity for a breakthrough.

The OSWC advocates for decriminalization as an essential component of a public health framework that recognizes and protects the human rights of sex workers, but also emphasizes that decriminalization is not the end of the road for sex workers’ rights: it’s just one of many important steps in the long pursuit of equity and justice. Watch the full discussion here.

Burlington, VT City Council Votes To Remove Language on Sex Work From Its City Charter

Johns Hopkins University Hosts Panel on Decriminalization

Honoring International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

Hero of the Month: Joaquin Remora

DSW Newsletter Archive

Save the Dates

The Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is hosting a panel entitled “Beyond Sex Work Decriminalization: Possibilities and Priorities for Marginalized Sex Workers.” The panel is a collaboration between Woodhull Freedom Foundation and the Oregon Sex Workers’ Committee (OSWC). It will be moderated by Biance Beebe, co-chair of the Oregon Sex Workers Committee and a student at JHU. The event will feature four incredible panelists: Tamika Spellman, Interim Policy and Advocacy Director at HIPS DC, Esther K, Kaycee Voorhees-Washington, and Joaquin Remora, director of Our Trans Home SF and a DSW community engagement consultant.

The conversation promises to be an insightful and creative exploration of the impact of sex work decriminalization in Oregon and beyond. The OSWC advocates for decriminalization as an essential component of a public health framework that recognizes and protects the human rights of sex workers, but also emphasizes that decriminalization is not the end of the road for sex workers’ rights: it’s just one of many important steps in the long pursuit of equity and justice. Register here and stay tuned for more details on social media!

The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17) has been observed annually since 2003. The day brings together sex workers and allies to memorialize and honor lives lost to violence and abuse. The event was founded by Annie Sprinkle and the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle, Washington.

Each year, on D17, we call attention to the need to end the stigma and discrimination perpetrated against sex workers, particularly those who live with intersecting vulnerabilities. This involves individual accountability, but also challenging systems that allow for the institutional abuse of people who are or are perceived to be substance users or involved in the sex trades.

Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (G.L.I.T.S.) will be hosting an event on the evening of December 16th. Stay tuned for the registration link on DSW social media channels. To see a full list of D17 events in your area, please visit https://december17.swopusa.org/. Please join us in commemorating this important day!

Gov. Hochul Signs START Act Into Law

November 16, 2021 In a historic and long-fought victory, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Survivors of Trafficking Attaining Relief Together (START) Act into law. The START Act (A459/S674), sponsored by Senator Jessica Ramos and Representative...

Commission Studying Sex Work Law and Policy Convenes in Rhode Island

November 16, 2021 A commission to study the health and safety impact of laws related to sex work met for its first official hearing at the Rhode Island Statehouse. Officially called the “Commission to Study Ensuring Racial...

Decriminalization Gaining Momentum in Oregon

November 16, 2021 Advocates in Oregon filed a petition on the Sex Worker Rights Act which would decriminalize consensual adult sex work with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. The petition will ideally allow voters in the...

Conferences

October 26: APHA’s Annual Meeting DSW’s J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly, Melissa Broudo, and Frances Steele attended the American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, and presented on the role of sex work decriminalization in promoting public...

January 1, 2022

(DSW, 2021)

DSW Newsletter #32 (January 2022)

January 1, 2022

(SWARM Collective, 2013)

DSW Newsletter #32 (January 2022)

December 21, 2021

(Courtesy of Joaquin Remora, 2021)

DSW Newsletter #31 (December 2021)

December 17, 2021

(GLITS, 2021)

(New York Transgender Advocacy Group, 2021)

(The Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo, 2021)

DSW Newsletter #31 (December 2021)

December 13, 2021

The New Suffolk County Police Comissioner, Rodney Harris, has pledged to reopen and solve the Gilgo Beach Murders. (CBS, 2021)

DSW Newsletter #32 (January 2022)

December 13, 2021

(Shutterstock, 2021)

DSW Newsletter #31 (December 2021)

NEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | PDF

December 3, 2021

Nicole Gilliland stands in front of her new home in November of 2019. (Ricardo Nagaoka, Vice, 2019)

Nicole Gililland is pictured with her daughters. (WWeek, 2019)

DSW Newsletter #32 (January 2022)

December 2, 2021

(Woodhull Freedom Foundation, 2021)

DSW Community Engagement Consultant Joaquin Remora spoke about his experiences with sex work and as an advocate for trans rights. (Woodhull Freedom Foundation, 2021)

DSW Newsletter #31 (December 2021)

December 2: Panel Discussion

December 17: International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (D17)

DSW Newsletter #30 (November 2021)