Community
Dialogue on the Criminalization of Survival:
Poverty, Violence and Prostitution
June 9, 2005
People
from different communities came together to discuss the Criminalization
of Survival: Poverty, Violence and Prostitution on June 9, 2005 at St.
Boniface Church in San Francisco. This
Community Dialogue was called by the In Defense of Prostitute Women’s
Safety Project (IDPWS) and was attended by a multiracial crowd of sex
workers, church women, community activists, attorneys, neighborhood
residents, homeless people, trade unionists, anti-war activists and
others….
Much
of the event focused on bringing out the vulnerability of sex workers to
violence and other abuse as a result of criminalization and at building
public support for implementing the Mitigating Violence Against
Prostitutes Resolution in San Francisco. The Resolution, which grew
out of recommendations of the 1996 SF Task Force on Prostitution, was
passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2000.
It calls on the police and courts to protect prostitutes from
violence. It demands that the
$7.6 million dollars a year (1998 estimate, more by now) that is being
spent to arrest, investigate, prosecute and jail prostitutes, be spent
instead on protection and services to benefit sex workers and the entire
community. Given that
violence against sex workers is often not taken seriously by law
enforcement, the resolution also recommends vigorous enforcement of laws
against rape and other violent crimes against sex workers.
Central
to the resolution’s demands is decriminalization of prostitution in San
Francisco. According to
Rachel West of the US PROStitutes Collective (US PROS)
“Evidence
shows that criminalization makes sex workers more vulnerable to violence.
Prostitute women facing rape, sexual assault and murder are afraid
to report for fear of arrest – especially if they have outstanding
warrants – or deportation. Women
of color also face the racism of the criminal justice system, and
les-bi-gay-trans sex workers face homophobia.”
A
woman who spoke about her experience in prison
illustrated why many sex workers are deterred from reporting
violence to the police. Once while working, a man pulled a knife on her.
She reported the attack to some nearby police whilst the assailant was
still present and the knife he used was visible. The police failed to
write a report, saying that because of her history of prostitution, her
story may not be credible. One officer even suggested that she could have
initiated the assault.
Nell
Myhand from Women of Color in the Global Women’s Strike, initiated a humorous but deadly accurate skit that illustrated the
problem with Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution Orders (SOAPs) – orders banning people from particular areas under threat of
arrest and imprisonment. It
showed the true story of a woman with a SOAP imposed on her as a result of
a previous arrest for prostitution, who was picked up by the police whilst
waiting for a bus. Even
though she wasn’t working at the time, she was re-arrested and faced
either 30 days in jail or a 500-dollar fine.
Ms Myhand went on to say that SOAP
orders are not well known in San Francisco but are being widely used
around the country and are resulting in increased criminalization of prostitute women.
She concluded that SOAP orders are unconstitutional and could be
legally challenged.
Eric
Luce, a public defender in San Francisco gave his perspective on the
current laws against prostitution. He
said that most of the cases he’s been involved in resulted in those
arrested being diverted to either SAGE (Standing Against Global
Exploitation) or the John School (First Offender Program or FOPP),
diversion programs. FOPP
charges $1000 and both programs have a punitive approach to
prostitution.
According
to Mr Luce, there is no clear understanding on how this money is spent and
by some accounts, decoys are known to bust about 10 men a night.
“Its unconfirmed if the DA is getting part of this money,” said
Luce, “but if they are, it’s a conflict of interest. There is also
talk of it funding undercover operations.” He said that the Chronicle
reported that one decoy managed to supplement her $76,483 salary with
$103,257 in overtime pay.
Luce
described how the increase in internet busts meant that the vice squad
spent a lot of time surfing sex sites targeting certain women they wanted
to see naked in the atmosphere of a fraternity party.
He confirmed US PROS’s experience that anti-trafficking
legislation is primarily used to target and deport immigrant women.
He stated that there are some substantial grants for police to go
after traffickers but it is only immigrant women that are being busted,
not traffickers. This was
taken up later by Rachel West who explained that if law enforcement wanted
to protect women who might be exploited by so-called traffickers, there
were plenty of existing laws which could be used, such as anti-kidnapping
or child labor laws. Ms West
also reported that SAGE seems to work closely with Homeland Security,
Immigration and Customs and the FBI on the issue of trafficking.
She condemned attempts by the Bush government to use accusations of
lack of action against traffickers to destabilize countries like Venezuela
that are seen as a threat to US dominance.
As
the evening’s featured speaker, Margaret Prescod put the issue of
prostitution in a larger context.
She described the history of US PROS which began as a group of
women of color sex workers in New York City.
The women made clear that for sex workers of color, it was
difficult to get work inside houses, and were more often forced to work on
the street. “Women of color
faced discrimination in sex work as they didn’t often have the look,
wardrobe or color to get work in higher paid houses or fancy hotels.”
Ms
Prescod brought out the sex work that all women do whatever our job or
situation. “Women, because
of economic reasons, might have some ‘arrangement’ with the grocery
store or worked out some deal with a friend to pay off a note on a couch,
or to help pay the rent.” She
disputed the moralism of the feminist and left movements that single out
sex work as degrading. “Packing
boxes in Wal-Mart is degrading. In this society, a society that focuses on
killing people, poverty and greed, most of what they force us to do is
degrading.”
Ms
Prescod spoke forcefully against the devastating effect of imprisoning
women on families and communities. 80%
of women in prison are single mothers. “When women get out of prison
they have little money and nowhere to live, which makes it difficult if
not impossible for them to be reunited with their children.
They can’t even stay with relatives if the relatives live in
public housing.” She was
glad to report that AB855, a bill which was passed by the Assembly in
Sacramento (but still has to pass the Senate) would remove the ban on
welfare mothers getting services if they have a drug felony.
The
evening was concluded with a call for help with the Mitigating Violence
Against Prostitutes Resolution. Betty Traynor, a Mission
resident, explained that implementation of the resolution would benefit
residents too. “I have lived on Capp St near 16th Street for
ten years and I and my neighbors have seen women being physically and
verbally abused on the street on a regular basis.” Ms
Traynor explained that the Resolution would enable women to get the
protection they deserved. Implementation depended on it being
converted to an Ordinance. Considering the widespread support for the
Resolution from the public and among Supervisors, everyone present was
confident that this could be achieved and a number of people in the
audience came forward to help.
To
get a copy of the Stop Violence against Prostitutes. Implement the SF
Task Force Recommendations on Prostitution petition and/or to get more
information including what you can do to support this effort contact: US
PROS at (415) 626-4114; email sf@crossroadswomen.net;
P.O. Box 14512, San Francisco, CA 94114.
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