A letter against full decriminalization from a survivor of the sex trade

Dear Reader,

When I was informed of the push for a full decriminalization of the sex trade, I was pretty upset. What this holds for me is the persistent frustration of being misunderstood and underserved. My exploitation lasted from approximately ages 3 through 13. That was not just almost my whole life, but my innocence, and dignity. This has left me to deal with extensive physical and emotional damage. I have been bounced around from placement to placement, professional to professional, and screwed over by both the system and society. I have been left to clean up the mess from my experience because at the end of the day, I still have to deal with myself and no one else is forced to deal with me the way that I am. 

I know you all are probably well educated and informed on the issue of trafficking and exploitation, but there is something important I think you are missing. In pushing for a full decrim, we would be pushing an agenda for the minority of people involved in what is being called “sex work”. I would argue that the sex industry is an undesirable place to end up but the unfortunate truth of the matter is: it is where the money is at. So even if the person is a competent adult “choosing” to be involved, it is still not typically an actual choice. As a survivor, I do not believe people would “choose” to be thrown out of cars, beaten, cheated, harassed, raped, etc (and many other things that typically come along with the industry), but rather are backed into a corner. Will they be able to feed their child? Will they be able to provide for their drug habit? Will they have somewhere to sleep at night? The sex industry largely preys on vulnerable populations; children, homeless, former or current foster youth who are easily forced or coerced to sell their bodies for profit. 

Systems continue to criminalize survivors and create a HUGE gap in services for us to be able to seek adequate help. I advocate for the Equality Model. Survivors should never be criminalized and there is a lot of work to be done there in regards to training, education, and more services (and competent adequate services at that). However, pimps, traffickers, sex buyers, and brothel owners need to be held accountable for the damage they do. The trauma they inflict is irreversible and very damaging. I am asking you to carefully reconsider your stance on this matter. Survivors are left even more vulnerable and at risk if we no longer hold pimps, sex buyers, and brothel owners accountable. The issue is already out of hand, and by removing the accountability from exploiters we would be simultaneously igniting a fire to skyrocket numbers. If we don't have adequate quantity or quality of services now, I can’t imagine the inflation of the crisis we would be asking for with a full decrim. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Youth Survivor from the Sex Trade