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RESEARCH AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SAN FRANCISCO PROSTITUTION LAW AND POLICY
The San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution, established by the Board of Supervisors in 1996, comprised of a wide cross section of people who, over two years, conducted the most comprehensive examination of prostitution law and policy ever in SF. It found that the:
a) City’s enforcement of prostitution laws “marginalizes and victimizes prostitutes, making it more difficult for those who want to get out of the industry and more difficult for those who remain in prostitution to claim their civil and human rights.”
b) “Once a person gets a rap sheet as a known prostitute she/he is trapped and stigmatized for life, unable to pursue other jobs.”
c) “Prostitutes are afraid to call the police when they are crime victims, for fear of being arrested themselves.”
d) Law enforcement targets “those working on the street and those most vulnerable, including African American, transgender, and immigrant women”… and ”though enforcement may increase there is no evidence that it does any more than force street workers to move from one place to the next.”
e) Enforcing the prostitution laws cost the city at least $7.6 million in 1996. The City’s Budget Analyst updated the figure in 2005 to $11.4 million.
f) San Francisco’s law enforcement resources could be better spent fighting violent crime instead of the current approach of entrapping, arresting and prosecuting prostitutes and clients for consenting sex.
g) Stigma and bias due to criminalization allow abuse in workplaces, violation of labor laws, lack of access to services, greater risk in terms of health and safety and the denial of the rights that other workers have.
The Task Force recommended diverting money from criminalizing sex work “towards services and alternatives for needy constituencies”.
Report and Recommendations on “Violence against Women in Prostitution in San Francisco” by the Commission on the Status of Women was issued in 1998 following a public hearing in 1997 where sex workers reported:
a) “An extremely high incidence of violence” and that “sex workers are least likely to report violence and rarely seek crisis support services”.
b) ”Police do not take violence against prostitutes seriously, do not prioritize investigations of victimized prostitutes…prostitutes are typically treated with disregard and contempt” and ”police misconduct and violence against prostitutes is commonplace in San Francisco and that women on the streets believe they are at risk of sexual assault and other abuse from members of the San Francisco Police Department”.
c) “Prostitution is inextricably linked to poverty, limited employment opportunities and the challenges of being the sole support for one’s children”.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisor’s “Mitigating Violence against Prostitutes” Resolution passed in 2000, called for the Task Force recommendations to be implemented, stating:
a) “Criminalization of prostitution only forces prostitution further underground and increases incidents of violence against prostitutes… such as coercion, extortion, rape, battery, robbery, attempted homicide.”
b) “Many prostitute women have children and must rely on prostitution to support their families;…rejection by family, poverty and homelessness often force young women and men to turn to prostitution for survival.”
The resolution is supported by SF’s Immigrant Rights Commission, the Youth Commission and Human Rights Commission, church people, lawyers and many others.
Proposition K The 2008 voter initiative “Proposition K” showed the strength of public feeling on this issue. Put forward by an unfunded grassroots coalition it called for: an end to the enforcement of laws against prostitution; the vigorous prosecution of violent crimes; and the implementation of the Task Force recommendations. It won 41% of the ballot vote despite a well-funded opposition campaign of fear mongering and misinformation led by city officials.
Compiled by US PROStitutes Collective: uspros@allwomencount.net, February 2010
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