“The current system has had a few thousand years to try to get it right. It failed, and it is time to realize it. You know, sex work is pretty much the only example I can think of where an activity that`s legal per se is made illegal if you accuse it, and I don`t think that makes sense,” he said. On Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., announced that his office would no longer pursue unlicensed prostitution and massage arrests, and that it would drop 914 cases from the 1970s. The office has also released more than 5,000 people loitering for prostitution cases stemming from the highly controversial “walk during trans people” law, which was repealed last February. Also in March, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez requested that all warrants for more than 1,000 open prostitution and loitering cases be denied, saying his office was no longer pursuing such charges. Since 2002, when the German law was passed, sex trafficking has reportedly at least tripled – there are now an estimated 400,000 people. Most of them are women and most come from other countries, driven by desperation and some of them are traded by third-party profiteers. Now Germany and the Netherlands are rethinking because their approach to legalizing prostitution has not had the desired effect. No one denies that sex workers face serious and ongoing risks of violence and that the status quo is unsustainable and unjust. Because sex work is illegal in every state except Nevada, sex workers — who are at high risk of violence from clients, pimps, and police — typically have no way to organize for better health and safety or report violence without risking a burden. Vance asked a judge to dismiss 914 open cases of prostitution and unauthorized massage, as well as 5,080 cases of “loitering for the purpose of prostitution.” We must recognise that large numbers of prostituted people are victims of human trafficking, and we must not legitimise an industry that thrives on the exploitation and abuse of LGTBQI women, girls and people.

Under the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol, ratified by the United States and Sweden, we have an obligation under international law to respond to the demand for prostitution. It`s good news that New York is now considering the Sex Trade Survivors Justice and Equality Act, a bill to decriminalize prostitutes. This legislative reform, sponsored by Senator Liz Kreuger and Representative Pamela Hunter, is long overdue. Paternalizing a prostitute is a Class A offence punishable by up to one year in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000. The paternalism of a prostitute is a class E crime if the prostitute is under 14 years of age. A person convicted of this crime could spend two to five years in prison. Permitting prostitution is a Class B crime punishable by up to three months in prison and/or a fine of up to $500. According to German psychologist and trauma expert Dr. Ingeborg Kraus: “Prostitution leaves deep scars on the body and soul. Rachel Moran, a survivor of the sex trade, wrote convincingly in her book “Paid For” about the trauma of prostitution caused by dissociation, which she describes as “necessary but dangerous.” She explains: “Dissociation is essential here; The prostitute cannot preserve her identity or spirit without them. The Swedish model of gender equality decriminalizes all those exploited in prostitution by offering them services instead of punishment, while punishing those who would buy sex as a commodity.

Our law holds buyers accountable, as well as pimps, not those who have fallen into prostitution through debt, manipulation or coercion. Sex work is still not completely legal in the district. Instead, the office will focus its efforts on tracking those who buy sexual services, rather than those who sell them. Proponents of sex work have long argued that this type of sex work law enforcement model threatens workers` rights and safety because it always encourages law enforcement to interfere in their affairs. The New York State legislature is debating two bills that decriminalize sex workers, but offer vastly different approaches to doing so. The Stop Violence in the Sex Trade Act aims to fully legalize “consensual” sex trafficking. The Justice and Equality for Survivors of the Sex Trade Act, adapted from the Nordic model, would decriminalize sex workers while maintaining laws punishing pimps and clients. Both would continue to punish those other than victims who are involved in the “non-consensual” side of trafficking, including human trafficking, coercion or sexual exploitation of minors.

For too long, around the world, those who have been bought and sold in the sex trade – mostly women – have been targeted by law enforcement, while those who buy and sell them – so-called “customers” and pimps – enjoy impunity. In Sweden, we were the first to pass a law in 1999 that became the model for what is now called the equality model or Nordic model. We recognize that prostitution is an expression of inequality – inequality between the buyers of prostitution and those who are sold or sell themselves for what we recognize as sexual exploitation. Our Swedish model has proven to be an effective exit strategy for people exploited by the sex industry, as well as an effective strategy to combat the scourge of sex trafficking. Manhattan prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will stop prosecuting those arrested for prostitution — but not their clients — making it the latest place to do so as part of a national shift in the U.S. criminal justice system`s treatment of sex work. While removing previous prostitution convictions and refusing to prosecute those arrested for selling sex shows simply doesn`t go far enough, says Dr. Jill McCracken, co-director of SWOP Behind Bars, a sex worker advocacy group. In fact, some data suggests that in countries where the sale of sexual services has been decriminalized but the purchase of sexual services has not been criminalized – a model known as the “Nordic model” – the sex industry is driven underground, making it difficult for workers to control clients who are afraid of being arrested. As a result, marginalized people are at increased risk.

“If our goal is to make it safer for all people in general, victims of human trafficking and consenting workers, then persecuting people looking for sex workers makes it even less safe. It pushes sex work into the shadows, it discourages people from coming forward. It basically says it`s an illegal act that should be criminalized and perpetuates all the stigma,” McCracken said. Decriminalizing sex work and eliminating the threat of prosecution makes it easier for sex workers and victims of trafficking to seek help and report crimes committed against them, advocates say. Most district prosecutors who have stopped prosecuting prostitution do not say they will stop prosecuting sex workers` clients or those who promote them. Last month, Baltimore Attorney General Marilyn Mosby said the city would no longer prosecute prostitution and other low-level crimes to “no longer maintain the status quo to primarily criminalize people of color for addiction.” In January, U.S. Attorney Eli Savit of Washtenaw County, which includes Ann Arbor, Michigan, said his office would stop laying charges against adults who participate in consensual sex work, both for sex workers and their clients. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner asked his assistant prosecutors to deny allegations of prostitution if a person had fewer than two previous convictions, he told NPR in 2019. That same year, newly elected San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said his office would stop prosecuting sexual solicitation charges. Following the closure of brothels across Europe, 16 members of the German Bundestag recently supported our gender equality model and expressed hope that brothels will remain permanently closed when the country reopens.

The marketing of prostitution in Germany illustrates the evils of prostitution – the “packages” of mega-brothels that advertise beer, hot dogs and women, commercialize and dehumanize women. They are humiliating, they have no power. For decades, Germany and the Netherlands have supported the legalization of prostitution, likely believing that this approach is beneficial to both those who sell in the sex industry and those who profit from the industry, such as pimps and brothel owners. Now that brothels have been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the debate about the success of this approach is gaining visibility, and now is a good time to seriously address the issues raised. By refusing to prosecute cases of prostitution, New York City has joined other cities like Baltimore, which have made similar announcements as a result of ongoing discussions on decriminalizing sex work and criminal justice reform. (Other counties, such as Queens, have also announced that they will deny the prostitution allegations.) And many sex workers` rights advocates applauded the postponement.