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[Mitigating
Violence Against Prostitutes] URGING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY, AND ASSOCIATED LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES TO RIGOROUSLY PROSECUTE LAWS AGAINST COERCION, EXTORTION,
BATTERY, RAPE AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMES, REGARDLESS OF THE VICTIM'S
STATUS AS A SEX WORKER; AND FURTHER URGING AFOREMENTIONED LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO REALLOCATE EXISTING RESOURCES FOR THE
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION 4F PROSTITUTES TOWARDS SERVICE
PROGRAMS TO ENABLE WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES TO LEAVE PROSTITUTION
AND BECOME INDEPENDENT, AS WELL AS TO CONSIDER THE ADOPTION AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 9996 SAN FRANCISCO TASK
FORCE ON PROSTITUTION REPORT, THE 199$ COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF
WOMEN REPORT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION IN SAN
FRANCISCO AS WELL AS THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS TO
ADDRESS AND REDUCE INSTITUTIONAL VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
PROSTITUTES.
WHEREAS,
Rejection by family, poverty and homelessness often force young
women and men to turn to prostitution to survival ; and
WHEREAS,
These young women and men, who have limited yr no employment history
and who are often under age, often temporarily turn to prostitution
to obtain a room for the night or meal for the day ; and
WHEREAS,
Without families, these young men and women fall prey to pimps and
become entrapped in a hellish cycle of poverty, drug addiction,
prostitution and violence; and
WHEREAS,
Many prostitute women have children and must rely on prostitution to
support their families; and
WHEREAS,
Once entrapped in a life of prostitution, prostitutes experience a
never ending cycle of violence including coercion, extortion, rape,
battery, robbery, attempted homicide perpetrated against them by
pimps, johns, and even law enforcement officials; and
WHEREAS,
The majority of prostitutes do not report these illegal and violent
acts because they are often dismissed, blamed for incurring such
violence because of their profession or in some cases, further
abused by law enforcement authorities knowing that the testimony of
prostitutes would not considered credible ; and
WHEREAS,
it is only in cases of extreme violence in which a prostitute feels
that her life is imminent danger that a prostitute will risk coming
forward and testifying against her perpetrator; and
WHEREAS,
Law enforcement officials should pursue and prosecute cases of rape,
battery, assault, extortion, robbery and attempted homicide against
prostitutes with the same rigor as any other citizen; and
WHEREAS,
Criminalization of prostitution only forces prostitution further
underground and increases incidents of violence against prostitutes;
and
WHEREAS,
The San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution was created by the
Board of Supervisors in 1996 ; and
WHEREAS,
According 1996 statistics compiled by the Task Force on
Prostitution, San Francisco allocates $7.6 million annually to law
enforcement officials to prosecute prostitution related cases; and
WHEREAS,
The San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution, the San Francisco
Commission on the Status of Women and the San Francisco Human Rights
Commission passed resolutions urging the Board of Supervisors to
redirect resources dedicated to prosecuting prostitution related
cases to social service programs for prostitutes and their families
; and
WHEREAS,
The aforementioned City agencies also recommended that law
enforcement agencies rigorously prosecute laws against coercion,
extortion, battery, rape and other violent crimes, regardless of
victim's status as a sex worker; now therefore be it
RESOLVED,
That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San
Francisco hereby urges the San Francisco Police Department, the
Office of the District Attorney and other associated law enforcement
agencies to rigorously prosecute laws against coercion, extortion,
battery, rape and other violent crimes, regardless of the victim's
status as a sex worker; and be it
FURTHER
RESOLVED, The Board of Supervisors urges the San Francisco Police
Department, the Office of the District Attorney and other associated
law enforcement agencies to reallocate resources for the
investigation and prosecution of prostitutes towards establishing
service programs to enable women and their families to leave
prostitutes and become independent; and be it
FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors urges the San Francisco
Police Department, the Office of the District Attorney, and
associated law enforcement agencies to consider adoption and
implementation of the recommendations of the 1986 San Francisco Task
Force On Prostitution Report, the 1998 Commission on the Status of
Women Report on Violence Against Women in Prostitution in San
Francisco as well as the Human Rights Commission recommendations to
address and reduce institutional violence and discrimination against
prostitutes.
SUPERVISOR
AMMlANO
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