A Consideration for Proposition K Swing Voters

People with firm opinions about prostitution long ago have decided upon their vote on Proposition K, which would effectively decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco. The positions of the two camps are well established: Opponents see prostitution as inherently degrading, exploitative, and dangerous, and cite evidence that street prostitutes are often forced or coerced by pimps or traffickers. Proponents counter that prostitution between consenting adults is sexual behavior that the state has no business regulating, and contend that most prostitutes freely choose “sex work.”

Little is know about the remaining third of voters who are undecided. If the arguments of the opponents and proponents of Proposition K have not persuaded them by now, what will swing their vote? For those stymied by the conflicting accounts of “free choice” in prostitution, consider the following: It’s irrelevant.

Proponents of Proposition K argue that there are no victims when two consenting adults agree on a price for sex. The argument for decriminalization is essentially libertarian: People should have the right to do what they please provided they do not harm others. There lies the fatal flaw in the logic underlying Proposition K: Prostitution is not harmless - even assuming that all involved are consenting adults - and more importantly, poses undeniable risks to others.

Sex-for-pay poses grave risks, not only to the participants, but to others. The evidence is overwhelming. "Customers” or “johns" frequently seek and pay a premium for unprotected sex, which greatly increases the risks of contracting and spreading STDs, HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and more. If consenting adults want to put themselves at risk, so be it. But others pay the price -- particularly spouses and partners, whose health is also threatened. If a john doesn't disclose or treat his disease, his partner may unwittingly pass it on to their children.

Teens are particularly at risk. Most runaway and throwaway girls are approached for commercial sex within 48 hours of appearing on the streets. The average age at which girls are drawn into prostitution is between 12 and 16. Under other circumstances, California law would prosecute perpetrators for rape or statutory rape and protect the victims. Even when men do not intend to buy sex from minors (and often, they do), it happens. Looks can be deceiving, and San Francisco police have processed as adults, based upon their appearance, girls they have arrested who are under 14 years of age.

Homicide rates among prostituted women are the highest of any group ever studied. The majority are raped while “working.” Over three-quarters are assaulted or robbed by customers, traffickers, and/or pimps. Somewhat better conditions may exist in elite legal brothels or escort services, but research finds that crime and exploitation abound there as well.

The state doesn't even have to prove that harm actually occurred in any given case. It must only establish that the behavior places others at risk. For example, drunk driving is illegal because the risk to others is unacceptably high, and indoor smoking is regulated to prevent harm to non-smokers. U.S. courts have repeatedly upheld the government’s right and obligation to protect all citizens, even those who claim they don’t want or need protection.

Proponents of decriminalization argue that the irrefutable dangers of prostitution result from its illegal status, and not from the “business” itself. They claim that when prostitution is not driven underground, conditions for providers of commercial sex and others will improve. Proposing decriminalization as the way to improve health and safety tortures logic and defies common sense. Proposition K asks voters to believe that the pimps, traffickers, and johns who currently exploit and abuse providers of commercial sex with alarming frequency will somehow behave better with a complete lack of regulation and police oversight.

While people on both sides of the debate generally agree that more should be done to protect providers of commercial sex, Proposition K is not the answer. It will allow pimps and traffickers to operate unabated, will make police bystanders to the chaos and blight of street prostitution that they witness daily, and will offer nothing in the way of compensating outreach or programming for prostituted women and girls.


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Michael Shively and Kristen Wheeler coauthored the evaluation of San Francisco’s First Offender Prostitution Program for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mickey Goodman is a freelance journalist based in Atlanta who has written about prostitution and sex trafficking for Reuters and other news outlets.