YesonPropK.org
“Worker
Safety is Public Safety!”
Proposition
K, San Francisco, November 2008:
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS RELATED TO PROSTITUTION AND SEX WORKERS
Prop
K To Suppress Trafficking and Prevent Child Prostitution
Utrecht, 17 August 2008
Re: San Francisco
Proposition K, "Enforcement of Laws Related to Prostitution and
Sex Workers"
From: Marjan Wijers (LL.M, MA) Independent researcher on human rights
and human trafficking, former policy officer and project leader of
the Dutch Foundation Against Trafficking in Women, former president
of the Experts Group on Trafficking in Human Beings, established by
the European Commission.
Having worked for more than 20 years in the field of anti-trafficking,
I would like to share with you my analysis of the Initiative Measure
Entitled "Enforcement of Laws Related to Prostitution and Sex
Workers."
The proposition would require the Police Department to rigorously
enforce existing laws against coercion, extortion, rape and other
violent crimes, regardless of the victim's status as sex worker; to
not use public resources for the investigation and prosecution of
sex workers for prostitution related offences, nor for racial profiling
as a means of targeting alleged trafficking victims and to decriminalise
prostitution.
According to my opinion, the proposition would substantially contribute
to the effective combat of trafficking in persons and to a better
protection of sex workers against violence and abuse for a number
of reasons.
In the first place, a persistent problem in combating trafficking
is the lack of willingness of victims to report the crime. One of
the reasons is the fear to be prosecuted themselves for prostitution.
The criminalisation and prosecution of prostitutes feeds into this
fear, and in doing so benefits the traffickers while deterring the
victims to report the crime. In fact, one should be aware that any
measure that further stigmatises and marginalises prostitutes adds
to their vulnerability to trafficking and other forms of violence
and abuse.
Secondly, because of their status of prostitutes most victims of trafficking
do not trust the police and have no confidence that their complaint
will be taken seriously and their violators will be prosecuted, no
matter if they were coerced into prostitution or knew on forehand
they would work as prostitutes. To my experience people can enter
prostitution for very different reasons, varying from their own decision
to being forced by others. In all cases, no matter how they entered
prostitution, they should be entitled to protection against violence
and abuse. However, even when one assumes that women cannot choose
to engage in sex work and, consequently, that all prostitutes are
victims, it makes no sense to prosecute the very victims. Rather it
would make sense to redirect funds to instead prosecute trafficking
and other crimes against sex workers. This would help to increase
the confidence of victims in the police and encourage them to denounce
their traffickers.
Thirdly, research shows that victims of trafficking come from all
parts of the world, including the country itself. Racial profiling
will therefore not add to the effective prevention or prosecution
of trafficking. On the contrary, it might divert attention from certain
groups of trafficking victims who do not fit the presumptions underlying
the concept of racial profiling.
Fourthly, decriminalising prostitution creates the conditions for
regulating the industry and the application of health and safety standards.
It opens the way to use a whole new array of instruments to suppress
trafficking and prevent child prostitution other than the criminal
law, which - though necessary - has proven to have only very limited
preventive effect.
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