Protect people in the sex trade, not those who buy them

Unsuccessful attempts to reform prostitution laws in the 2024 session of the General Assembly failed for good reason. They would have undone all the work to prevent trafficking and suffering of vulnerable people.(Serghei Turcano/Getty image)

I am a survivor of sex trafficking. It happened right here in Rhode Island after indoor prostitution was decriminalized and organized crime and trafficking ran rampant in the state.

My trafficker had me living with a group of girls in a dirty, rundown apartment on South Main Street in Woonsocket. Every morning, we’d be shuttled off to massage parlors and whenever we didn’t make enough money, we would be shipped to Twin River, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. Sometimes, he’d take us up and down Interstate-95 from Maine to Florida. Half the time, I didn’t even know where I was.

I know from my own experience that allowing the sex trade to grow unfettered is not progressive, will not protect women, and will not keep communities or families in Rhode Island safe. Yet the Rhode Island Legislature this past session was considering a bill that would remove all aspects of prostitution as a crime — including pimping, sex buying and operating a brothel — positioning our state to once again become the region’s largest sex tourist destination.

In addition, two other bills (S2225 and S2441) framed as efforts to protect people in prostitution, inexplicably sought to extend the same protections to sex buyers — the very people inflicting us harm. 

If these new laws were to come to fruition, Rhode Island would undo all the good work it has done to prevent trafficking and suffering of vulnerable people. 

Sex-buying is not a victimless crime. Far from it. The men purchasing sex have no clue whether the person they’re procuring is trafficked, is a child, or is being coerced. Statistics show society’s most marginalized members are the ones most often being purchased.

We have been here before. Rhode Island decriminalized prostitution from 1980-2009. During that time, organized crime groups operated legal brothels and sex trafficking rates spiked and led to horrific crimes against women in the state.

If Rhode Island’s own history isn’t enough evidence, Nevada – currently the only state allowing legal brothels, has the highest per capita rate of sex trafficking, 63% higher than the next highest state. This is the end result of supporting these types of measures. There will be more trafficking, more trauma, and more organized crime. 

To be clear: I do not believe society should be arresting people bought and sold in prostitution, but all-or-nothing bills are not the answer. The Survivor Model, or partial decriminalization, is a more commonsense approach that offers survivors support and a way out. This model has been adopted in several countries and is finally gaining steam in the U.S.

Last summer, Maine became the first state to sign The Equality Model or Survivor Model into law. And there’s been legislation introduced next door in Massachusetts and New York as well. Rather than arrests and criminal penalties, this survivor-centered approach offers legal protection solely to those being sold for sex — not their exploiters. And it works. Research shows it reduces the size of the sex trade and accompanying violence, abuse and trafficking.

Moving forward, Rhode Island has an opportunity to be a leader by embracing this thoughtful, survivor-led approach which focuses on what’s best for the most at-risk people in the sex trade. It’s time to listen to survivors with lived experience and bring about meaningful change here in Rhode Island.