SEX WORK

Problem

Sex workers in the United States live in danger not because the work itself is inherently unsafe, but because the law makes it unsafe.

Criminalization forces workers underground, removes legal protections, empowers predators, and turns survival into a crime.

Key facts

Criminalization drives harm

• Between 1 and 2 million adults engage in consensual sex work.

• Over 90 percent of workers say criminalization increases danger.

• Enforcement disproportionately targets:

  • Black, Indigenous, Latina women

  • Trans and LGBTQ communities

  • Migrants and undocumented people

  • Poor women and survivors of violence

Violence thrives in the shadows

• Studies show sex workers are up to 45 times more likely to be murdered than other workers.

• Assault, rape, and extortion go unreported because police are seen as a threat.

• Predators deliberately target people they believe cannot access help.

Police abuse is frequent

• More than 30 percent of workers say police have coerced sexual acts in exchange for safety.

• Arrest threats are routinely used to control, intimidate, or exploit sex workers.

Economic survival is a primary driver

• Most workers cite:

  • Lack of living wage work

  • Housing insecurity

  • Medical or childcare costs

  • Employment discrimination, especially against trans people

• Criminalization traps workers in poverty and prevents them from transitioning into other jobs.

Trafficking is real — and criminalization makes it harder to stop

• Prosecutors often target consensual sex workers instead of actual traffickers.

• Trafficking victims fear arrest and avoid police contact.

• Traffickers gain power when workers have no legal protection.

Criminalization does not prevent exploitation — it creates the conditions for it.

Solutions

1. Decriminalize consensual adult sex work

• Remove criminal penalties for workers, clients, and non-coercive third parties.

• Expunge criminal records and seal past convictions

• Allow people to seek help without risk of arrest.

Impact: Violence drops immediately, reporting increases, and exploitation becomes harder.

2. Replace policing with protection

• Redirect vice and sting budgets toward:

  • Housing

  • Job assistance

  • Healthcare

  • Peer safety networks

• Protect workers through community-based systems instead of police crackdowns.

Impact: Workers gain safety and stability rather than fear and punishment.

3. Extend labor and economic rights

• Recognize sex work as work under federal labor laws.

• Guarantee:

  • Safe working conditions

  • Fair wages

  • Right to refuse unsafe clients.

  • Right to organize or join co-ops.

• Allow workers to legally hire security, drivers, or assistants.

Impact: Predatory intermediaries lose power; workers gain agency.

4. Guarantee healthcare and housing access

• Ensure access to:

  • STI and primary care

  • Reproductive care

  • Gender-affirming care

  • Mental health and substance use treatment

• Prohibit discrimination in shelters, vouchers, and rental markets.

Impact: Stability replaces crisis; survival choices become real choices.

5. Target trafficking precisely

• Prioritize investigations into force, coercion, and organized abuse networks.

• Provide trauma-informed services:

  • Housing

  • Legal status support

  • Income and job options

• Stop charging victims and witnesses with prostitution-related crimes.

Impact: Traffickers lose power while survivors gain protection.

6. Restore digital safety and autonomy

• Repeal or repair FOSTA-SESTA.

• Allow online screening and communication tools for work safety.

• Prevent banks and payment processors from cutting off lawful income streams.

Impact: Workers return to safer environments and avoid street-based risks.

7. Invest in research and worker-led policy

• Fund studies on violence, public health, and labor conditions

• Establish advisory councils of current and former workers for:

  • DOJ

  • HHS

  • CDC

• Center lived experience over moral panic.

Impact: Policy matches reality instead of prejudice.

Bottom Line

Sex work criminalization does not stop exploitation — it drives it, deepens it, and endangers lives.

Decriminalization paired with labor rights, healthcare, anti-trafficking enforcement, and economic support is the only evidence-based strategy that reduces violence, protects people, and strengthens communities.

Sex work is work.

Every worker deserves safety, dignity, and the protection of the law.