Decriminalization of the Sex Trade: Don't!

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

Below is a link to an article from Polaris, one of the most authoritative sources on human trafficking (modern slavery), signed by leaders of organizations like A21, various human trafficking task forces, and many survivors of human trafficking. It's an open letter to political candidates looking to decriminalize the sex trade. Please read & heed what they say, realize just how many experts in the field & people who have survived human trafficking are crying out against full decriminalization, and read the letter in its entirety before posting; it's not that long, and addresses various aspects of the issue.

An Open Letter from Trafficking Survivors to Presidential Candidates

May we never stop hoping & praying for an end to this cruel industry, awareness of its harms, and a radical change of heart for all those who exploit others!

And for the Christians concerned with what God wants...

"Deliver the oppressed from their oppressors;
right judgment should not be repugnant to you.
Be like a father to orphans,
and take the place of a husband to widows.
Then God will call you his child,
and he will be merciful to you and deliver you from the pit." --Sirach 4

"So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin." --James 4​

 

[Arcangl86]

It seems to be setting up a strawman argument though. I don't know of any candidate that is calling for the things the article claims they are calling for.

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

It seems to be setting up a strawman argument though. I don't know of any candidate that is calling for the things the article claims they are calling for.

This is a valid concern, and thank you for sharing your skepticism. I'd much rather people vocalize their doubts rather than let me think that everyone agrees.

Perhaps they're just planning in advance; as DC moves to potentially decriminalize the sex trade, it may come up in the campaign.

Oppose the DC Decriminalization Bill - Shared Hope International
DC bill aims to decriminalize prostitution involving consenting adults | WTOP

Also, the Libertarian debate from the 2016 presidential election mentioned the legalization of prostitution (it's at the 1:10:00 mark):

May God bless us all & lead us to intelligent solutions to these issues!

 

[Arcangl86]

And DC would still outlaw coercion, which includes pimping.

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

And DC would still outlaw coercion, which includes pimping.

Technically, yes, but with the amount of control traffickers/pimps have over their victims, it's all too common for the non-consentual prostitutes to say that they're working on their own, because of any number of control tactics. For example, the pimp/trafficker may have access to the victim's family; Stockholm syndrome may have set in; in African and Creole cultures, superstition is used for control; they may be so far from home that they don't know where to go if they did escape; and so on. Death threats, heroin, anything that can control someone are used all the time, and these pimps are mobile enough that they can move across state lines once suspicion arises.

This is all information that I know from my friend who's attended human trafficking conferences & spent a summer in Thailand fighting trafficking, and from a police detective who talked about all the trafficking in Indiana he's attempted to work against (but they're gone so fast, as much as he wants to, there's barely anything he can do, even when he literally watched it right outside of the store he was in).

The Victims & Traffickers