To put it in standard public relations parlance, sex-work decriminalization is having something of a moment. New York lawmakers Julia Salazar and Jessica Ramos have announced plans to introduce a bill making New York the first state to decriminalize sex work, and last month a California senator introduced a bill making it easier for sex workers to report violent crimes. Kamala Harris D-CA , a former prosecutor who previously opposed a measure to decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco, also recently made headlines for seemingly reversing her stance on the decriminalization question.
So why is sex work decriminalization — a movement that activists have been working on for decades — finally gaining national attention now? And will Democratic candidates finally feel emboldened to take a public stance in favor of decriminalization? While the bill was ostensibly intended to protect women from being trafficked against their will, many sex workers have argued that it ultimately had the opposite effect.
As a result, major publications are now printing stories about the impact of harmful legislation on sex work communities, and are also publishing pieces by sex worker writers themselves. This will make it very difficult for candidates to ignore addressing sex worker issues as they campaign.
It is time for candidates to understand that avoiding communities to win over other communities is not gonna get them anywhere. But for former sex workers like Gentili, the mere fact that sex work is being openly discussed in public represents a huge shift in the national discourse.
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