This letter is a message for all Vermonters, no matter your party affiliation, faith, economic level, race, or gender. The proposed state legislation and actions by some local governments regarding decriminalization or legalization of prostitution will affect us all in some negative way.
Some people want us to believe that there is nothing wrong with this idea and that legalizing prostitution will empower women because it is an act of consent. However, the real data says something different: According to an abstract by Melissa Farley, Ph.D. and her colleagues, 89% of those involved in sex trade did not choose this lifestyle and were forced into it, starting with sex trafficking.
Some of you may think there is little or no sex trafficking in our state, which is also a myth. Check out this website (a regional organization exposing sex trafficking in New England) to hear the real stories and understand this is a region-wide problem.
Before the Vermont Legislature is H.268, which proposes a committee to develop legislation that will allow prostitution to become legal while — theoretically — keeping trafficking illegal. What this would do in reality is provide a wide swath of gray area that will allow sex traffickers to better hide their abuse behind their victims’ now-legal activities, and more effectively thwart law enforcement from intervening.
Prostitution is not a stand-alone crime. Drug addiction and abuse are typically used to entice young people to the sex trade, keep them performing, and keep them from leaving it. Additionally, there are cases of women prostituted by boyfriends or even husbands, which is inherently abusive.
Sex traffickers will not easily give up their profits or control, whether legal or not. We shouldn’t pass legislation that will empower traffickers of all types and foster expansion of sex trafficking in our state.
I urge you to take action. Stop this bill from passage. Contact your state representatives, as the new session begins this week, and tell them so.
Carol Gross
Jericho
