Bill In Vermont Would Decriminalize Sex Work

Some Vermont lawmakers hope to make sex work safer and remove the stigma that often prevents sex workers from seeking police protection and health care.

A bill introduced last month by four female legislators would decriminalize sex work, while the state would maintain its laws against sex trafficking.

Rep. Selene Colburn, the bill's lead sponsor, thinks a related proposal will have a better chance at movement this year. It would give immunity to people who were victims of or witnessed a crime while engaged in sex work or sex trafficking so they can report it to law enforcement. The bill also calls for the creation of a panel to make recommendations on modernizing Vermont's sex work laws. That bill was referred to a committee on Wednesday.

"Right now sex workers really feel that they cannot access police protection," said Colburn, a Progressive from Burlington. "There are tons of statistics about the violence, the high levels of violence, and sex assault that people who engage in sex work experience."

The push in Vermont is part of a small but growing movement to decriminalize sex work that advocates say will bring it above ground, and help prevent sex workers from being assaulted, exploited and trafficked and keep them from facing punishment for breaking the law.

Advocates see the bills as starting a discussion and say that with more education there's a possibility for additional states and jurisdictions to propose decriminalizing sex work.

"A lot of people doing sex work are trading sex out of circumstances: they're homeless, they're experiencing disabilities, they're trans and they're experiencing discrimination in the workplace," said Nina Luo, an organizer with Decrim NY, a group working to decriminalize the sex trades in New York City and the state.

Currently, sex work is legal only in Nevada, where it's permitted in licensed brothels in eight counties.

In New York, where a decriminalization bill was introduced last year, advocates are pushing for a repeal of criminal penalties for loitering with the intent to engage in prostitution. They say it's often used to harass people based on their appearance and that transgender people are often charged.

"It's a stepping stone to reclaiming back our identity, our voice," said TS Candii, of New York City, a transgender woman and former sex worker. "This is a stepping stone to be able to walk outside and not have to worry about so much ... profiling from the police."

The New York Police Department has said it "shifted focus" to target traffickers and those who promote or solicit sex workers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week called for passage of the repeal.

A proposal to decriminalize the buying and selling of sex in Washington, D.C., stalled last year. And proposals in Maine and Massachusetts in recent years have not had traction .

Changing the laws around the buying and selling of sex is an uphill battle. In New York, the group Not on My Watch! said the decriminalization bill, if approved, "would open the floodgates for sex establishments who want to set up shop in New York."

"They're framing it under decriminalization of 'sex work' but all it means is legalization of pimping, brothel owning and sex buying," wrote the group's founder, Rev. Dr. Que English in an editorial.

The National Organization of Women is against full decriminalization, and instead supports removing criminal penalties for those who are prostituted and criminalizing the purchasers of sex and others who benefit financially from the sale of other people for sex. The World Health Organization supports decriminalization.

In Vermont, the chairwoman of the Vermont Republican Party declined to comment on the proposal. An email was sent to the Republican minority leader in the Vermont House seeking comment. A phone message was left with Vermont Interfaith Action.

Colburn said she believed it was time to start talking about the issue in Vermont.

The question is: "Is there a reason that we need to criminalize adult consensual sex between people on any terms?" she said.