Should Colorado become the first state to eliminate all criminal penalties for prostitution? That’s what Senate Bill 97 would do by removing legal barriers to prostitution, soliciting sex, and keeping a place of prostitution anywhere in the state. This goes beyond laws in Nevada, which limits the practice to certain counties, and Maine, which decriminalized selling sex but still penalizes purchasing it.
The governor’s spokeswoman Shelby Wieman said “Governor Polis will review this bill as it moves through the process but supports an adult’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies.”
That’s quite the libertarian sentiment. Such arguments for the legalization of drugs, unlimited gambling, sex work, and even assisted suicide often assert that human beings are self-directed decision makers who have an absolute right to self-determination and bodily autonomy. So long as individuals do not infringe on the rights of others, the government should not interfere. Prostitution is no less a valid occupation than any other. Legalization will improve the lives of those who engage in it without negatively impacting anyone else.
As with many arguments, when the premise is incorrect, what follows cannot be true. Individuals are not autonomous decision makers but are inexorably linked. Legalized prostitution does not merely substitute a legal activity for an illegal one but encourages a growth in the flesh market across the board. A study of laws in 150 countries found that legalized prostitution increases human trafficking.
No one being trafficked is operating of their own bodily autonomy.
It will be awkward this November for lawmakers to explain why they voted against a bill mandating life sentences for trafficking of minors for sex and for a bill legalizing prostitution which will ultimately increase incidents of trafficking.
Laws against buying sex protect both the “willing” and the “unwilling.” I put these words in quotes because there isn’t much of a distinction in real life. Prostitution is not just another job chosen freely. No young woman analyzes her college and career prospects and determines exploitation is her best bet.
One study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that “Overall, 73% of women entered the sex trade to get drugs, 36% of women entered to get basic necessities such as food or housing, and 17% of women entered to support their children or family. Of significance, 21% of those aged < 18 years at entry reported being either coerced, threatened, pressured, misled, tricked, or physically forced into trading sex compared to 5% in those who entered at an older age group.”
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3-D printed guns, decriminalizing prostitution and more from the Colorado legislature this week Denver sports bar accused of prostitution may lose its liquor, cabaret licenseLegalized prostitution enables the exploitation of vulnerable people and expands its reach. I have no doubt that the sponsors of this bill genuinely want to help prostitutes and believe their bill will reduce violence perpetrated by those buying sex against those selling it. Their compassion is not misplaced but their solution is.
Legalized prostitution enables and legitimizes the degradation of human beings, especially women who make up the majority of prostitutes. No one is an object for sale. Laws and equally important, organizations that assist people in getting out of prostitution, are what women and men in this situation need.
Krista Kafer is a Sunday Denver Post columnist.
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