B-2 21-2255 An Ordinance to Repeal and Replace Section 9:62 of Chapter 108 (Disorderly Conduct) of Title IX (Police Regulations) of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor (ORD-22-01)
I am writing in opposition to the passage of the ordinance criminalizing solicitation of prostitution. While the City rightly points out that prosecutor Savit has stated that Washtenaw County will not prosecute consensual sex work crimes, this does not mean that the next prosecutor will not decide to begin enforcing this code again. Criminalizing sex work does not reduce, but actually facilitates sex trafficking. Criminalized people don’t report harms and dangers they see for fear of police involvement with their consensual quality of life crimes. Moreover, a Sex Workers Project survey found that 14% of those who work indoors reported that police had been violent toward them, while 16% reported that police officers initiated a sexual interaction. It is vital for the safety of sex workers that we reduce police interaction with them, especially for victimless crimes like pandering. As expert Melissa Gira Grant writes: “Prostitution is, much of the time, a talking crime.”
I am writing in opposition to the passage of the ordinance criminalizing solicitation of prostitution. While the City rightly points out that prosecutor Savit has stated that Washtenaw County will not prosecute consensual sex work crimes, this does not mean that the next prosecutor will not decide to begin enforcing this code again. Criminalizing sex work does not reduce, but actually facilitates sex trafficking. Criminalized people don’t report harms and dangers they see for fear of police involvement with their consensual quality of life crimes. Moreover, a Sex Workers Project survey found that 14% of those who work indoors reported that police had been violent toward them, while 16% reported that police officers initiated a sexual interaction. It is vital for the safety of sex workers that we reduce police interaction with them, especially for victimless crimes like pandering. As expert Melissa Gira Grant writes: “Prostitution is, much of the time, a talking crime.”