Sex Worker Advocates Coalition (SWAC)

Sex Worker Advocates Coalition

The Sex Worker Advocates Coalition (“SWAC”) was formed in October 2016 as a small working working group discussing the current status of sex worker rights in the District. By January 2017, the coalition had established defined principles and guidelines. SWAC is a group of individuals and organizations promoting the human rights, civil rights and liberties, health, safety, and well-being of sex workers and people profiled as sex workers in Washington D.C. and advocating for legislation and other policy changes to challenge the system of criminalization of sex work. SWAC’s mission is to support and advocate for the decriminalization of consensual sexual exchange in the District.

In October 2017, SWAC supported the Reducing Criminalization to Promote Public Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2017 which was co-introduced by Councilmembers David Grosso (I-At Large) and Robert White (D-At Large). The bill moves to strike language from the DC Code which penalizes those engaged in consensual sexual exchanges. It would also establish a task force with DC government agencies and community groups to monitor and evaluate the impact of removing criminal penalties. The Council failed to bring this bill to a hearing and it ultimately died in committee at the closing of the legislative session.

In June 2019, SWAC supported the reintroduction of the Community Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2019, this time co-introduced by Councilmembers David Grosso (I-At Large), Robert White (D-At Large), Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), and Anita Bonds (D-At Large) and co-sponsored by Councilmember Allen (D-Ward 6). The reintroduced bill again moves to remove criminal penalties for engaging in consensual sexual exchange and creates a task force to monitor implementation and make additional recommendations. The 2019 legislation slightly differs from the previous version by leaving some language in the code making it crystal clear that coercion, exploitation, and human trafficking are not tolerated in D.C.

Criminal penalties for consensual sexual exchange often harm those most vulnerable while fostering violence and exploitation. Street-based sex workers who are engaged in survival sex work often bear the brunt of criminalization. Research shows that over 80% of street-based sex workers experience violence in the course of their work(1), and, in DC, one in five sex workers has been approached by police asking them for sex.(2) These individuals are often experiencing homelessness and are just trying to meet their basic needs (shelter, food, hygiene).(3) Criminalization of sex work has a greater negative impact on groups already facing discrimination, including communities of color, gay and trans people, people with disabilities, immigrants, and people with criminal convictions.

SWAC recognizes that removing criminal penalties is only one tool to help promote the safety, health, and well-being of sex workers. Housing and employment discrimination, racial profiling and police harassment, poverty and homelessness, are just a few issues that impact the lives of sex workers.

Criminalization of Sex Work is Ineffective and Harmful

Criminal penalties for consensual sexual exchange have been on the books in DC for a long time, and such an approach has never worked – instead, it only serves to harm those most vulnerable while fostering violence and exploitation. It is time for DC to take a different approach.

Street-based sex workers who are engaged in survival sex work often bear the brunt of criminalization. Research shows that over 80% of street-based sex workers experience violence in the course of their work (4), and in DC, one in five sex workers has been approached by police asking them for sex (5). These individuals are often experiencing homelessness and are just trying to meet their basic needs (shelter, food, hygiene).(6) Criminalization of sex work has a greater negative impact on groups already facing discrimination, including communities of color, gay and trans people, people with disabilities, immigrants, and people with criminal convictions.

As former Police Chief Peter Newsham has said, “we can’t arrest our way out of prostitution.”(7) Our response to poverty and lack of traditional employment must be based in supportive services and housing. The District will not solve anything by criminalizing people for doing what they need to survive.

Removing Criminal Penalties Will Help Improve Public Health and Safety

Removing criminal penalties for engaging in sexual exchange reduces public violence and protects sex workers. People in the sex trade are safest when their work is not criminalized, because they are able to screen clients, to negotiate safer sex practices, and to report incidents of client and police violence.(8) Criminalization of sex work only leads to a cycle of violence, poverty, and incarceration.

Reduces Vulnerability to Exploitation and Violence: A study in nearby Baltimore demonstrated an association between criminalization and client-perpetrated violence.(9) After criminal penalties were removed in New Zealand, sex workers were more likely to report instances of violence.(10)
Promotes Public Health: Addressing sexual exchange as a public health matter improves connection to services, increases the ability to negotiate safer sex practices, and reduces the transmission of infectious diseases (HIV, STIs).(11)

Decreases Human Trafficking: Most sex workers are not coerced or trafficked. However, sex workers are in the best position to identify who is being coerced or trafficked, and removing criminal penalties allows them to be full partners in efforts against exploitation.(12)
Enhances Human Rights and Agency: After removing criminal penalties, 61.9 % of New Zealand street-based sex workers reported they were more able to refuse a client since decriminalization.(14)

SWAC members:

HIPS
National Center for Transgender Equality
O'Neill Institute at Georgetown Law
URGE
SWOP USA
Whitman Walker
Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)
Amara Legal Center
Bread for the City
No Justice No Pride
Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC)
Collective Action for Safe Spaces DC
ACLU-DC
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
Casa Ruby
GLAA
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Positive Women's Network - USA
Lambda Legal
Reframe Health & Justice
Trans-Latinx DMV
Trans United
Advocates and Activists in their independent capacity

For more information about SWAC and our efforts, contact [email protected].

(1) Revolving Door: An Analysis of Street-Based Prostitution in New York City, report (New York City: Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, 2003).
(2) Move Along: Policing Sex Work in Washington, D.C., Different Avenues, 2008: 1-2.
(3) Sex Workers Need Housing, Not Handcuffs, The Sex Worker Advocates Coalition (March 6, 2019).
(4) Revolving Door: An Analysis of Street-Based Prostitution in New York City, report (New York City: Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, 2003).
(5) Move Along: Policing Sex Work in Washington, D.C., Different Avenues, 2008: 1-2.
(6) See, Sex Workers Need Housing, Not Handcuffs, The Sex Worker Advocates Coalition (March 6, 2019).
(7) MPD Chief Peter Newsham, 2012 City Council hearing on Prostitution Free Zones.
(8) Lucy Platt et al., Associations between sex work laws and sex workers’ health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies, 15 PLOS Med. (Dec. 11, 2018); Gilian Abel et al., The Impact of the Prostitution Reform Act On Health and Safety Practices of Sex Workers 15, 116 (Nov. 2007).
(9) Katherine Footer et al., Police-Related Correlates of Client-Perpetrated Violence Among Female Sex Workers in Baltimore City, Maryland, 109 Am. J. Pub. Health 289 (Feb. 2019).
(10) Gilian Abel et al., The Impact of the Prostitution Reform Act On Health and Safety Practices of Sex Workers 15, 116 (Nov. 2007).
(11) Lucy Platt et al., Associations between sex work laws and sex workers’ health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies, 15 PLOS Med. (Dec. 11, 2018); Shannon K. et al., Global epidemiology of HIV among female sex workers: influence of structural determinants, 385 The Lancet 55-71 (2015); Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations, World Health Organization 86 (2016).
(12) Erin Albright & Kate D'Adamo, Decreasing Human Trafficking through Sex Work Decriminalization, 19 AMA J. Ethics 122 (2017); Sex Work is Not Sexual Exploitation, Global Network of Sex Work Projects (2019).
(13) Christine Murray, Mexico City to Decriminalize Sex Work, Eyes Steps to Cut Trafficking, Reuters (June 2, 2019).
(14) Gilian Abel et al., The Impact of the Prostitution Reform Act On Health and Safety Practices of Sex Workers 15, 116 (Nov. 2007).