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Improving Laws and Policies to Protect Sex Workers and Promote Health and Wellbeing Improving Laws and Policies to Protect Sex Workers and Promote Health and Wellbeing A REPORT ON CRIMINALIZATION OF SEX WORK IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA From the Whitman-Walker Institute, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, and HIPS Table of Contents Authors ii Acknowledgments ii Executive Summary iii Introduction 1 Overlapping Crises 1 Background 3 A Source of Vulnerability 3 Theories of Criminalization 4 Current Legal Landscape 4 Timeline of DC’s Prostitution Policies 5 Research on Protecting Sex Workers and Promoting Health and Wellbeing 10 Research Methods 10 Results from Community Focus Groups 11 Motivations and Reasons for Engaging in Sex Work 11 Experiences of Engaging in Sex Work 15 Encounters with Police and the Criminal Justice System 18 Consequences of Arrest And Incarceration 25 Views on Reforming Sex Work Criminal Laws 28 Results from Institutional Stakeholder Interviews 32 Motivations for Individuals Engaging in Sex Work 32 The Police and Criminal Justice System 34 Health 41 Online-Based Sex Work 45 Policy and Legal Reform 45 Comparing Perspectives 48 Motivations of Sex Workers 48 Sex Work versus Trafficking 49 Need for Social Services 49 Laws Create Barriers 49 Support for Legal Reforms 49 Concerns about Legalization 50 Limitations of Vacatur and Diversion 50 Distrust of the MPD 50 Cultural Competency Training 50 Recommendations 51 Reforms That We Recommend 51 Reforms That We Do Not Recommend 51 Research Limitations 52 Appendix A: Community Participant Survey Data 54 Appendix B: Institutional Stakeholder Interview Participants 56 Appendix C: DC’s History of Sex Work Policing 57 Endnotes 59 Improving Laws and Policies to Protect Sex Workers and Promote Health and Wellbeing | i Authors Thanks to Jeffrey Crowley from the O’Neill Institute. Thanks to staff across the Whitman- This report was authored by Sean Bland of the Walker Health System for their contributions O’Neill Institute of National and Global Health of time and expertise. Particular thanks are Law and Benjamin Brooks of the Whitman-Walker due to Jennafer Kwait and Guillaume Bagal who Institute. The research project was designed conducted focus group interviews and assisted by Sean Bland, with considerable input from with stakeholder interviews respectively; Daniel Jennafer Kwait at the Whitman-Walker Institute. Bruner who assisted with data analysis and structuring this report, Blaine Smith who provided Acknowledgments support in analyzing the demographic data from participants, and Bryan Blanchard who designed This report would not have been possible and formatted this report for publication. without the generous contributions of time made by our many community participants This work was supported by a generous grant and institutional stakeholders. A particular from the Elton John AIDS Foundation. note of thanks to Shareese Mone and the staff of HIPS who facilitated focus groups and the sex workers who participated in focus groups; Suggested Citation your vulnerability, and generosity made this Sean Bland & Benjamin Brooks, Improving Laws and Policies to Protect Sex Workers and Promote Health report happen. Special thanks to Alexander/a and Wellbeing: A Report on Criminalization of Sex Work in the District of Columbia, WHITMAN-WALKER Bradley and Tamika Spellmen of HIPS for their INSTITUTE, O’NEILL INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL AND GLOBAL HEALTH LAW, HIPS (2020), available at contributions to this report. bit.ly/DCSexWorkReforms. We would like to thank the organizations and individuals who were part of our institutional stakeholders: Denise Hunter of Whitman- Walker Health Legal Services, Brett Parson and Kelly O’Meara from the Metropolitan Police Department, Michael Kharfen from the DC Department of Health, Nassim Moshiree of the ACLU of Washington DC, David Grosso and Darby Hickey of the Council of the District of Columbia, Tina Frundt of Courtney’s House, Yasmin Vafa of Rights for Girls, Michael Tobin of the DC Government’s Office of Police Complaints, and Yvette Butler and Stacie Reimer of Amara Legal, and an anonymous activist and educator. Improving Laws and Policies to Protect Sex Workers and Promote Health and Wellbeing | ii Executive Summary with police and the criminal justice system, the consequences of arrest and incarceration in The District of Columbia has made significant connection with sex work, and needed legal and investments in reducing violence and improving policy reforms in DC. community health. DC implemented violence interruption programs and accountability This research found that mechanisms, reformed policing and trained in • Legal and policy reforms are needed to cultural competency, and increased access to improve the health and wellbeing for sex health insurance for vulnerable communities workers. of immigrants and homeless people. Despite • DC prostitution laws are not successful their continued prioritization, violence and at stopping sex work because people rely infectious disease continue to be major public on sex work for survival and for access to health challenges, especially for DC’s Black and money, housing, and other necessities. LGBTQ communities. There is considerable • Harassment, violence, and coercion by evidence from public health researchers the police and others in the community that criminalization of sex work contributes against sex workers are facilitated – indeed, to community violence, propagates crime, encouraged – because sex workers are blocks access to public health resources, is an criminalized. ineffective deterrent to participation in sex work, • Sex work is different from trafficking, but and is deeply harmful to sex workers. criminalization of sex work allows exploiters to use the threat of arrest to control and Whitman-Walker Institute, the O’Neill Institute traffic their victims. for National and Global Health Law, and HIPS collaborated on this research project and • DC laws stigmatize sex workers, and report to examine the impact of laws and stigma creates barriers to accessing HIV policies on sex workers in DC and identify care and prevention, regular medical care, recommendations for lawmakers and law community programs, and other services. enforcement. Three focus groups with 27 sex These barriers act to trap sex workers in workers and individual interviews with 13 DC cycles of poverty and homelessness. institutional stakeholders were conducted in 2017. Focus group participants were almost all Black transgender women and gay or bisexual men. Community focus group participants and individual institutional stakeholder interviewees discussed the motivations and reasons people have for engaging in sex work (including limited options for housing and employment), priorities for addressing the health needs of and violence against sex workers, sex workers’ experiences Improving Laws and Policies to Protect Sex Workers and Promote Health and Wellbeing | iii The quotes below are illustrative of the data captured from community focus groups and The findings point to four policy institutional stakeholder interviews: actions that can yield significant improvements in health and QUOTES FROM COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS: wellbeing: “It’s survival to me. That’s what 1. Reform the criminal code of the makes me want to do sex work District of Columbia to eliminate because I don’t like asking criminal consensual commercial people for money.” sexual exchange between adults. “The impact of arrests is 2. Increase access to affordable housing. you lose everything…. Like but when I came home I lost 3. Expand resources for job everything—family, money, training and employment programs. whatever clothes I had. I had to start all over.” 4. Strengthen efforts to address discrimination against lesbian, QUOTES FROM INSTITUTIONAL STAKEHOLDERS: gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. “You get caught in this cycle and it prevents you from being able to access health care. It prevents you from being able to access a job. And so, you are both stigmatized but you are also left in a position where you don’t have the tools to get yourself out” – Nassim Moshiree, Policy Director, ACLU of DC “It’s a real challenge, I think, for people in the sex trade to be able to report any instances of violence.” – Yasmin Vafa, Executive Director, Rights4Girls Improving Laws and Policies to Protect Sex Workers and Promote Health and Wellbeing | iv Introduction OVERLAPPING CRISES This report was prompted by a need to The District of Columbia is home to vibrant understand how Washington, DC’s laws and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer policies governing prostitution and solicitation (LGBTQ) and Black communities, containing impact the health of marginalized communities.1 disproportionate numbers of each due to This report is informed by the results of the the District’s history and reputation as a 6 community-based research conducted by the haven of civil rights for marginalized people. Alliance for a Safe and Diverse DC in 20082 and Unfortunately, LGBTQ and Black communities the DC Trans Coalition in 2015.3 The earlier in D.C. are experiencing twin crises of violence work addressed the lack of research on the and HIV, and Black LGBTQ people are most impact of policing and criminalization of sex impacted. Bias motivated crimes are on the rise work on sex workers and transgender women in DC, and most of these crimes are targeted stereotyped as sex workers.4 These community- at LGBTQ and Black people (see table on this 7 based research projects identified that the laws page). Young, Black gay and bisexual
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