Democrats in the New York State Assembly and Senate recently introduced a bill to decriminalize sex work. This comes after they successfully regained control of the Senate from the Republican conference after the 2018 midterm elections. Previously, only the Assembly was controlled by Democrats with the State Senate being a check on them for many years.
The bill is being introduced in time before the end of the annual Legislative session on June 19, with other subjects such as marijuana legalization and rent regulation also being on the agenda.
Advocates hope for New York to become the first State to fully decriminalize sex work. The advocate group DecrimNY helped write the bill. Under it’s current form, it would permit the sale and purchase of sex. The legislation also removed the pronouns “he and she” that were used in the legal statures on the subject and replaced them with “the actor.”
TS Candii, a transgender sex worker, spoke at a news conference with legislators. “Because of sex work, I have consistent money to provide for myself. Money to pay for gender-confirming health care, rent, food, my phone bill. It's a source of income where I'm not discriminated against. I don't have to worry about getting fired tomorrow because my boss hates trans people," said Candii.
The main sponsor of the bill in the Assembly, Richard Gottfried, made multiple cases for decriminalization. One being that sex outside of marriage and same-sex marriage had also been prohibited in the past.
.@DickGottfried reminds us that once upon a time, sex outside of marriage was criminalized, and not long ago, marriage between two people of the same gender was criminalized. Decriminalization of sex work is next! #decrimNY pic.twitter.com/O82NOgJixB
— DecrimNY (@DecrimNY) June 10, 2019
Assemblyman Gottfried also made the case against regulating a potentially legal sex work industry, saying that there aren't regulations around people who engage in consensual sex.
The sex work decrim bill does not include regulation of the industry. Sponsor Gottfried doesn't foresee any safety issues at the moment that would require rules on the industry. "we don't have special regs for ppl who want to engage in .consensual sex not for money."
— rachel silberstein (@RachelSilby) June 10, 2019
New York State currently regulates multiple industries and requires, among others, for security guards and nail salons to have proper state licenses. Massages, for instance, are not regulated if done for free but professional massage therapists are required to have New York State licenses.
We don’t regulate massage that’s not for money, and yet ... https://t.co/hoAaX6dm4s pic.twitter.com/AjPBZgM7ZO
— Bill Hammond (@NYHammond) June 11, 2019
The Chair of the Senate Labor Committee however said that labor protections may be added to the bill, with sex workers also being allowed to collectively bargain.
Sanctuary for Familes, a group that advocates for survivors of sexual violence, urged legislators to “dig deeper” and oppose the bill.
“Prostitution causes severe long term psychological and physical harm. An estimated 90% of people in prostitution in the United States are trafficked. Decriminalizing the system of prostitution would, in effect, sanction human trafficking because it would decriminalize all components of the sex trade. It would render illegal businesses, currently run by organized crime, legal. Brothel and illicit massage parlor owners would be deemed bonafide business owners or managers, and the profits they make off the sale of the bodies of women, children, the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups would be legitimized. We are better than this,” wrote Judy H. Kluger, the group’s executive director.