by Mary Margaret Olohan
New York lawmakers introduced groundbreaking legislation to legalize sex work in the state of New York on Monday.
The legislation, titled Stop Violence in the Sex Trade Acts, covers a variety of topics related to sex work. Lawmakers say that the bill would decriminalize sex work and guard against human trafficking within the sex working industry, according to The Hill.
“Sex work is work and should not be criminalized by the state,” said lead sponsor of the bill Democratic New York Sen. Julia Salazar.
“Our current policies only empower traffickers and others who benefit from keeping sex work in the shadows,” Salazar added. “New York State needs to listen to sex workers and make these common-sense reforms to keep sex workers safe and empower sex workers in their workplaces.”
Decrim NY, the coalition backing the bill, said in a press release that Stop Violence in the Sex Trade Acts is the first statewide bill of it’s kind in United States history. The coalition is a group of more than 30 organizations working on topics such as LGBTQ, racial justice, har reduction, and immigrant rights spaces.
Lawmakers emphasized that the bill decriminalizes sex work only between consenting adults.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: We're introducing a bill to decriminalize & decarcerate the sex trades in NY, the first statewide bill in the nation. Thank you @DickGottfried @JuliaCarmel__ @jessicaramos @AMDanQuart @rontkim @yuhline @CatalinaCruzNY Read: https://t.co/hWkHDaYtAK
— Decrim NY #decrimNY (@DecrimNY) June 10, 2019
The bill would also allow consenting adults to “trade sex in spaces where legal businesses are permitted, while upholding that maintaining an exploitative workplace where coercion and trafficking takes place is a felony,” according to Decrim NY’s press release.
“Decriminalizing sex work between consenting adults in New York will protect many of my neighbors — people who have found themselves in limited situations because of employment and housing discrimination,” said Senate Labor Committee Chair Jessica Ramos according to the press release.
Lawmakers also said that the criminalization of sex work negatively impacts LGBTQ populations and endangers sex workers.
“For too long, the criminalization of sex work has negatively terrorized a community of disproportionately minority, female, LGBTQIA+, and/or undocumented individuals,” said Assembly Asian Pacific American Task Force Co-Chair Yuh-Line Niou.
“We deserve to have the opportunity to utilize our justice system without fear and receive support from language-accessible and culturally sensitive resources.”
Decrim also introduced a bill to legalize sex work in Washington, D.C. in June.
We’re introducing a bill to decriminalize sex work in DC next week. You excited like we are?
We gotta end violence and police abuse against Black and Brown people in the sex trades.
We believe that we will win.#DecrimNow #SheSafeWeSafe pic.twitter.com/m8ec6MEgKl
— DECRIMNOW DC (@DecrimNowDC) May 30, 2019
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Mary on Twitter.
Photo “Julia Salazar” by Julia Salazar. Background Photo “New York State Capitol” by kurtman518. CC BY-SA 4.0.
