PART 7 – Not all Sexual Exploitation is Equal and Black Girls Get the Worst of It

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell

Facts and reality establish that passing SB 357 and similar legislation harms Black communities which are some of the most vulnerable and traumatized people in America.

When the ACLU co-authored SB357 and claimed that full decriminalization of sex work would improve public health and safety, whose health and safety were they referring to?

Authors of this article are proponents of the equity model which would decriminalize exploitation for the exploited and provide exit services, while continuing to hold sex buyers and exploiters accountable.

The exploited, whether they identify as survivors of human trafficking or independent sex workers, should not be criminalized.  The problem is that the ACLU and social service agencies align with proponents of decriminalizing sex buying knowing that Black girls are the most impacted by an increase in demand.

There range of opinions about this topic is vast.  Some advocates are looking to cure human trafficking with criminal convictions and longer sentences, without simultaneously prioritizing investment in prevention and intervention care for BIPOC communities.

Others, such as those who support SB357, are advocating for full decriminalization despite the knowledge that demand for sex from marginalized and disempowered communities will increase.

Groups like Open Society Foundations, which is funded by George Soros, pushes for full decriminalization and states in their “Ten Reasons to Decriminalize Sex Work” white paper that decriminalizing the act of sex-buying will improve human trafficking response rates.

In their report, they note that New Zealand, which fully decriminalized sex work, was “doing great work on human trafficking.”

Melissa Farley of Prostitution Research had a completely different perspective on sex work decriminalization in New Zealand.  In her white paper, she noted that after New Zealand’s decriminalization of prostitution, “the violence and sexual abuse continued as before” and “sex workers felt that the law could do little about violence; that it was an inevitable element of the sex trade.”

The other unanswered question raised decriminalizing sex work is what happens to those who remain in the industry even though they want to get out. Reports in New Zealand say that sex workers no longer receive job training or housing advocacy.

Some of the loudest voices in support of SB 357 are those of privileged people who do not understand the implications of these policies that disproportionately harm Black women and girls.  They fail to understand that not all forms of sexual exploitation are equal.

Elizabeth Quiroz, a survivor who was sold at the age of 16 and trafficked throughout the Bay Area, has a strong reaction to full decriminalization.

“Fully decriminalizing the sex trade will promote human trafficking in our communities and expose our most vulnerable populations, such as people of color, to additional violence and trauma,” Quiroz said. “Without accountability for the buyers and exploiters, even those who enter the industry on their own free will can eventually become victims of human trafficking.”

The logic outlined in the ACLU decriminalization white paper and legislative position reveals the authors have not considered the health and safety of Black women and girls.

SB 357 has not provided alternatives to police intervention. Those interventions could include

• paid ubiquitous outreach
• survivor advocacy across the state
• exit services such as housing
• workforce development
• mental health services

The mental health service providers should be required to be familiar with the systemic oppression in Black communities and understand the dangers of the street trade, which is where Blacks women and girls are the most vulnerable and the most exploited.

Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH

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