[From 3 News > Home > Story > San Francisco may become 1st major US city to decriminalise prostitution]
San Francisco may become the first major US city to decriminalise prostitution if voters next month approve Proposition K, a measure that forbids local authorities from investigating, arresting or prosecuting anyone for selling sex.
The ballot question technically would not legalise prostitution since state law still prohibits it, but the measure would eliminate the power of local law enforcement officials to go after prostitutes.
Proponents say the measure will free up US$11 million the police spend each year arresting prostitutes and allow them to form collectives.
Patricia West, a 22-year-old who has been selling sex for about a year by placing ads on the Internet, said Proposition K was about giving the community of sex workers in San Francisco a voice.
She said they wanted to be able to organise and work collectively for their rights and safety, and form labour unions.
Some sex workers handing out fliers in the city in support of Proposition K said they wanted to let the public know that every person deserved to be safe, protected and healthy whatever their legal status.
Even in tolerant San Francisco, where a sadomasochism fair draws more than 400-thousand tourists and a pornographic video company is housed in a former armoury, the measure faces an uphill battle, with much of the political establishment opposing it.
Some form of prostitution is already legal in two states and brothels are allowed in rural counties in Nevada.
Rhode Island permits the sale of sex behind closed doors between consulting adults, but it prohibits street prostitution and brothels.
In 2004, almost two-thirds of voters in nearby Berkeley rejected decriminalisation.
But proponents of Proposition K said their proposal has a better shot in San Francisco, which they believe is more sexually liberal than the city across the bay.
The world’s oldest profession has long been established there.
During the Gold Rush, the neighbourhood closest to the piers was a centre of sex, gambling and drinking known as the Barbary Coast.
These days, on certain corners, prostitutes sell their bodies day and night, ducking into doorways and alleys when police pass by.
Police made 1,583 prostitution arrests in 2007 and expect to make a similar number this year.
But the district attorney’s office said most defendants are fined, placed in diversion programmes or both.
Fewer than five percent get prosecuted for solicitation, which is a misdemeanour punishable by up to six months in jail.
Proposition K has been endorsed by the local Democratic Party.
But the mayor, district attorney, police department and much of the business community oppose the idea, contending it would increase street prostitution, allow pimps the run of neighbourhoods and hamper the fight against sex trafficking, which would remain illegal because it involves forcing people into the sex trade.
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris said the ballot question mistakenly assumes prostitution is a victimless crime.
“You’re going to basically give a green light to the sexual exploitation of women and girls,” Harris told AP Television.
The proposition would prohibit police from accepting federal or state funds for sex trafficking investigations that involve racial profiling.
APTN
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