Rhode Island Bans Indoor Prostitution

categories: Government & Legal Efforts on Human Trafficking, Human Trafficking in the US, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution

Published November 03, 2009 @ 02:36PM PT

The end has finally come to a long and often malicious battle in Rhode Island over a 30-year-old legal loophole which allowed indoor prostitution to legally occur. Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri signed the bill into law today, and it is effective immediately. The debate which took place around this bill and the Rhode Island prostitution law ended up being about far more than just legalese and statutory distinctions. It encompassed the growing debate about the relationship between human trafficking and prostitution.

To say the personal attacks that have been broadcast through the blogosphere during this debate escalated to vicious is like saying people had strong feelings about Obama's election. Both the pro-legalizing indoor prostitution camps and the pro-making indoor prostitution illegal camps did their fair share of demonizing the other side. Those who fought to keep the loophole in the law were accused of being unsympathetic to human trafficking victims, shells for the commercial sex industry, and anti-feminist. Those who fought to close the loophole were called autocratic moralists, Bush administration cronies, and anti-feminists. If you listen to the rhetoric that went on, is sounds like the biggest group of misogynists to ever fight for the rights and welfare of women. At one point I was called an "intellectual malcontent," which I believe was intended as an insult, but which I consider somewhat of a compliment (I strive to be intellectual and I'm am certainly not content with the prevalence of human trafficking and sexual violence against women in the world). But the mud-slinging was more than just meanness, it was symptomatic of how long before today, this debate stopped being about Rhode Island and its residents, and started being about polarizing and conflicted ideologies on how best to protect women.

I've made no secret that I believe that human trafficking thrives in areas with legal and heavily tolerated commercial sex markets, nor that many, many women enter into prostitution as children, due to coercion, or because of a lack of other options. So it won't come as a surprise that I support Gov. Carcieri's signing the bill into law, and that I anticipate it will help protect women and children from exploitation. But it would be naive to think the broader debate is over now that the Rhode Island question is settled. And it would be negligent to think that the next debate should also devolve into the level of petty name-calling and unreasonable accusations that this one did. These questions are not going away of their own accord, and all of us who care about women -- women in prostitution, women who are victims of trafficking, women in need of economic options -- owe it to them to not lose sight of our common goals in the darkness of our differences.

So please, see this message as an open invitation to anyone who was dissapointed by the Rhode Island decision and wants to have a respectful discussion about the relationship between human trafficking and prostitution and how that affects or should affect legislation. Let's do something truly radical to change the world together: let's listen to each other. Let's listen and learn how we can be better advocates, and how we can create better policies. We cannot hide from each other any more than the women we try and help can hide from violent pimps or violent police men or violent clients or the violence of poverty. And we cannot afford to lose ourselves in petty insults when there is so much work still to be done.

This blog will always be a space where people can respectfully discuss these important issues, even when we disagree. All I ask is a willingness to listen.

Photo credit: keepwaddling1

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Comments (5)

Yeah, well, an intellectual malcontent would say that, wouldnt she?

Kidding.

Listening is good. I used to lean fairly strongly toward legalized prostitution among consenting adults. Ive listened to both sides, including the posts on this blog, and now I see the wisdom in the better arguments of each side. I am not sure that I have a strong feeling in one direction now, but I know that I am smarter about the issue than I was before I started listening.

Remember, people: When you are talking, you are not learning anything.

Posted by Slim Chance on 11/03/2009 @ 04:50PM PT
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Thank you for this breath of fresh air!

What we need to do now is work on diversionary programs and social programs to help the women enter into, for lack of a better term, legitimate careers. We need to focus on figuring out how to better accomodate non-citizen women, trafficked or not, so they are not harmed more then we intend.

We need to try to implement procedures that encourage trafficked women to cooperate so they can get T-VISAs. And, of course, we should continue to follow-up on holding law enforcement responsible for prosecuting pimps and johns, especially now they have the legal framework to effectively do so (so far they have been very cooperative and responsible).

I would love to see "both" sides to this issue work together on what they can do for these women instead of sling arrows. It shouldn't be about the vanity of the feminists to the detriment of the victims.

Posted by Kris Fitz on 11/04/2009 @ 06:58AM PT
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Perhaps we should pay attention to what the faith-based organizations say about protecting women. Serve your fathers, stay in the home, be mothers and wives. Full Stop.

Posted by Fem Who on 11/04/2009 @ 04:19PM PT
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As a Christ follower I am deeply disturbed by your comment...obviously you are unaware of the International Justice Mission? Please do not speak for "faith-based organizations" unless you are speaking from experience. If that is the case, I would greatly encourage you to share your story. ~ Peace

Posted by Joanna Gill on 11/08/2009 @ 05:36PM PT
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You are right about one thing, there is a ton of bashing going back and forth. What is really sad, the only people who will be effected by this law will be the women. I have been attacked by both sides, more threats and demonizing by the pro-legislation side, because I pushed for the Swedish version of the law. That seemed to me to be an ok compromise.

I saw how crazy things are when people (Donna Hughes) who claim to want to help women will only fight for laws that put them in prison, and bash any woman who is against that. I have been called a prostitute by DH, among other things, and I can assure you I am not, I am just one woman who wanted to find out what was going on in the spas I drive by everyday.

What is really sad is when the Senate came up with a bill that did not have prison time for the women, Hughes started a compaign against them. I really thing the Senate changed their idea on punishment when they saw some of the women from the spas testify. These women do not deserve prison, they deserve compassion.

Posted by Tara Hurley on 11/04/2009 @ 06:07PM PT
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Amanda has been a full-time abolitionist for six years. During that time, she has created reports, documentaries and training materials on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.