The State of New York will likely become the first in the nation to fully decriminalize certain prostitution offenses after several lawmakers introduce legislation to do so.
On Monday, state Senators Julia Salazar, Jessica Ramos and Assembly members Dan Quart, Dick Gottfried and Yuh-Line Niou introduced Stop Violence in Sex Trade Acts, a package of bill seeking to amend New York State’s penal code related to prostitution.
Currently, the state has dozens of anti-prostitution laws. Almost half of those laws pertains to sex work between consenting adults while the other statutes focus on trafficking, exploitation of minors, and coercion in the sex trades.
Key details about the Stop Violence in Sex Trade Acts
The Stop Violence in Sex Trade Acts upholds all of the anti-trafficking statutes designed to protect children from exploitation and to punish traffickers. The proposed legislation will decriminalizes sex work between consenting adults but forcing or intimidating someone to engage in prostitution remains a crime.
