May 12, 2019 By Rylee Free
Is decriminalizing sex work a way to protect women from oppression and abuse?
Rhode Island is considering a proposal to decriminalize prostitution. The proposal is supported by the ACLU and various sex work advocacy groups like the SOAR institute and COYOTE ("Call off your tired old ethics"). Their argument is that decriminalizing prostitution reduces violence against sex workers and empowers women.
It would seem that elected officials have short memories — Rhode Island has already experimented with decriminalized sex work, and the consequences were disastrous.
For 29 years (1980–2009), because of a legal loophole, Rhode Island banned outdoor solicitation — seeking clients by standing on street corners or walking the streets. But it legalized indoor prostitution — sex work that takes place through brothels, strip clubs, massage parlors, escort agencies, and the online market.
During that period, Rhode Island became a sex tourist destination, functioning as the red-light district for all of New England. In addition to outright prostitution, sex businesses concealed as spas, nail salons, health centers, modeling agencies, and other "thinly veiled houses of prostitution" posed as legitimate businesses, offering "acupressure," "body work," or "table showers." The state became a Petri dish for all sorts of crime— sexual assault, murder, and armed robbery, to name just a few.
Given this history, how is it possible that legislators are even considering going down this road again? The Rhode Island experiment debunks the claimed benefits of legalization........To Read More
My Take - Once again we see that if the ACLU is for something, that in itself is good reason to be against it. At least until more information becomes available.
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