On Dec. 6 Supervisor Ammiano introduced resolution #071642 commending a pro-prostitution group called US Prostitutes Collective. Supervisor Ammiano is an incredibly sweet human being and a good politician, but he does not understand the true nature of trafficking & prostitution in San Francisco.
Full text of resolution.
The resolution refers back fondly to the recommendation that came out of the S.F. Taksforce on Prostitution in 1996 to decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco. The language of the resolution seems to imply that the S.F. Board of Supervisors agree that decriminalizing prostitution would somehow reduce the harm of prostitution.
Below is an email written by a friend which makes the case against this resolution. Something not mentioned is the possibility that this vote will be cited as a precedent by those pushing for decriminalization.
Despite letters and calls to the Supervisors urging the defeat of this resolution, it passed today with no dissent and no discussion. So does every Supervisor support decriminalization of prostitution in San Francisco? Apparently so, based on this vote.
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Dear Supervisor,
Resolution #071642 will automatically pass the board today unless a Supervisor removes it from the consent calendar. The wording of the resolution implies that the Board of Supervisors supports decriminalization and promotion of prostitution. Before a policy statement like that gets passed, it should be discussed.
The prostitution decriminalization resolutions are well-meaning theories that have been proven completely wrong over the past decade and are harmful to women. Global trafficking of human beings is a huge problem in the 21st century. The Board members may honestly feel they are promoting tolerance, but the end result of these policies would be cruel indifference to human suffering.
Background
Resolution #071642 commends a group called US Prostitution Collective for their work 11 years ago getting the Task Force on Prostitution to urge decriminalization of prostitution in San Francisco. That Task Force Resolution was thankfully never implemented, but there seems to be new efforts to push prostitution decriminalization onto the citizens of San Francisco.
In the 10 years since the Task Force on Prostitution report things have changed:
* A huge body of research has been collected which clearly shows that prostitution is harmful to the prostituted woman.
* Research has shown that sex trafficking and organized crime iINCREASE wherever prostitution is legalized. Once an area is open for business, the law of supply and demand kicks in and traffickers get rich serving up a supply of younger and more desperate women to feed the demands of johns.
* In 2000 Amsterdam legalized prostitution. In September 2007, the city of Amsterdam spent $15 million Euros ($22 million U.S. dollars) to purchase and shut down one third of the brothels in the red light district.
* On December 4, 2007 the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery (CA ACTS) Task Force released its final report. The 18 month study found that California is a top destination for for traffickers bringing women and girls in for forced prostitution. Over 80% of the trafficked people discovered were women and children.
• The country of Sweden has done a complete turnaround based on the government's policies of gender respect and equality. Sweden does not criminalize prostitutes, but does outlaw pimps and johns. They have also focused on providing women viable alternatives to prostitution which most prostitutes say they want. As a result of this policy, they have almost completely eliminated the huge sex trafficking problem that had come along with legalization.
The problems of trafficking will only get worse if prostitution is decriminalized in San Francisco.
Resources:
Research on Prostitution
http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/c-prostitution-research.html
http://action.web.ca/home/catw/readingroom.shtml
San Francisco and California are already trafficking centers
http://www.safestate.org/index.cfm?navID=442
The City of Amsterdam spends $22 million to shut down brothels
http://www.iamsterdam.com/press_room/press_releases_0/2007/red_light_district
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ivGoSHCL-ZbA7_GIWwT48gOTlLMg
1 comment:
"Supervisor Ammiano is an incredibly sweet human being and a good politician, but he does not understand the true nature of trafficking & prostitution in San Francisco."
If you think that equating all prostitution with trafficking is an effective way to stop human trafficking, then you don't understand prostitution and trafficking either. Equating all prostitution with trafficking does nothing to stop human trafficking or address the core issues that lead to human trafficking, but has resulted in human trafficking legislation that seems more focused on perscuting sex workers than stopping human trafficking. Human trafficking legislation should never be used to arrest sex workers, but it is. Since when does perscuting sex workers stop human trafficking?
Congratulations to sex workers rights activists for getting this initiative onto the ballot. Let's end the persecution of sex workers and look for effective solutions to stopping human trafficking!
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