NOTE: THE LETTER BELOW IS AN “EVERGREEN” STATEMENT: IT WILL BE USED REPEATEDLY AND SENT TO DIFFERENT GOVERNMENTS AND OFFICIALS WHO ARE CONSIDERING FULL DECRIM POLICIES. PLEASE ONLY SIGN THIS STATEMENT IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR NAME BEING SIGNED REPEATEDLY IN OPPOSITION TO POLICIES THAT DECRIMINALIZE PIMPS AND SEX BUYERS

Dear XX:

We, the (XX insert number) undersigned survivors of the sex trade, have all experienced the impacts of being commodified and sexually exploited. We have been bought, sold, rented, and denied the right to exit prostitution. We have collectively experienced thousands of rapes, assaults, mutilations, and various forms of abuse during our years in prostitution. We know first-hand that prostitution is not a victimless crime because all of us have experienced significant long-term physical and psychological harm as a result of being bought, sold, and rented for sex.

As survivors, not criminals, we believe that people who are trafficked and prostituted should never be arrested or criminalized but rather offered comprehensive services to be able to exit the sex trade. However, many jurisdictions are going much further than decriminalizing those who have been trafficked and prostituted and are instead decriminalizing the very people who harm us—buyers and pimps. In response, we collectively write this statement to voice our strong and urgent opposition to any attempts at full decriminalization of the sex trade.

Several states and jurisdictions are considering policies that offer legal protections to exploiters by decriminalizing acts of pimping, sex-buying, and brothel owning, demonstrating a fundamental and egregious misunderstanding of the power dynamics that uphold the commercial sex trade. In formulating these laws and policies, there has been a failure to consult with sex trade survivors, who number in the thousands. Consequently, state and local officials are inadvertently promoting policies that empower and embolden the very people who enact the most violence against us. For these reasons, our voices, expertise, and experiences MUST be central to any discussion about policies and legal changes that so fundamentally impact us.  

Although often framed as an effort to protect people in prostitution, attempts to decriminalize “sex work” decriminalize the entire industry, including those who exploit and profit off of our exploitation. By decriminalizing and empowering exploiters, jurisdictions would not only increase the harm faced by individuals in the sex trade, but would invite more instances of sex trafficking into the community by further fueling the demand for commercial sex, even allowing sex tourism to thrive wherever there is full decriminalization of the sex trade.

Despite widespread efforts to distinguish acts of prostitution from sex trafficking, it is critical to understand the ways in which these two issues overlap and intersect. Sex trafficking exists because demand for paid sex consistently outpaces the supply. This means that despite the existence of laws prohibiting the purchase of sex, many men are still willing to buy sex illegally; so much so that there are never enough willing participants in the sex trade to fulfill the demand for paid sex. As a result, traffickers are incentivized to lure and coerce vulnerable people—including children— into the sex trade to capitalize off of this demand.

Moreover, in our experience, sex buyers cannot tell, nor do many even care, whether the individuals they are soliciting are there by ‘“choice,” coercion, extreme vulnerability, at the hands of a trafficker, or desperation because of poverty and other factors.

Empirical evidence supports the reality that condoning sex-buying through legislation and policy increases the market for commercial sexual exploitation. Once the sex trade becomes legitimated, it explodes. Men who were previously deterred from buying sex due to its illegality, in a fully decriminalized industry become new and emboldened consumers in this demand-driven market.

As a 2018 study of 8,000 American men demonstrate, over 20% of respondents who never bought sex reported they would if circumstances were more favorable (in other words, if it were decriminalized or legalized).
In countries that decriminalized pimping and sex buying, such as New Zealand, government data shows that the number of sex buyers on the streets doubled and violence and sexual abuse in prostitution continued as before.

The only way to effectively protect people in the sex trade is to reduce the number of individuals bought and sold in prostitution while providing resources and exit strategies to help them leave the industry for good.

Full decriminalization policies do the opposite: they expand the commercial sex trade by unleashing market forces that pull more vulnerable people in and empower exploiters and pimps as they become legitimate entrepreneurs and business managers.

We urge your support in helping us end the unjust criminalization of sex trade survivors through passing the Equality Model, which are laws that end the arrest and incarceration of those being exploited while holding exploiters accountable for the harms they cause. The Equality Model also provides for critical services and exit strategies to those individuals seeking to leave the sex trade. As the prevailing global response towards prostitution, this legislative model successfully exists in several countries around the world.

In conclusion, we ask you to stand with survivors. Offering legal protection or a free pass to sex-buyers, pimps, and brothel-owners will unleash immense harms with no benefit and meaningful safety for those exploited. There is a clear path forward without legitimizing pimps and sex buyers. Survivors across the nation are watching and counting on you to oppose harmful measures such as the full decriminalization of the sex trade and implore you to instead support the Equality Model in your jurisdiction.


Respectfully,