Support DecrimNY

Donate Now: https://donorbox.org/decrim-ny-2023-victory-fund.

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those involved in the sex trade, ensuring their rights, safety, and dignity.

We are reaching out to you on behalf of a coalition of organizations dedicated to promoting the rights and safety of sex workers, massage workers, and survivors of human trafficking. Our alliance includes sex worker-led organizations, civil rights groups, Black, brown, and Asian empowerment organizations, LGBTQ+ equity advocates, harm reduction groups, immigrant rights advocates, and others committed to elevating the voices of historically excluded communities.

Why Support SVSTA?

We are advocating for the passage of the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act (SVSTA), S4396 (Salazar)/A7175 (Jackson). 

This crucial legislation seeks to amend statutes to ensure that consenting adults engaged in sex work, collaborating with or supporting peers, or patronizing adult sex workers are not criminalized. As proposed in the SVSTA, comprehensive decriminalization has gained support from renowned organizations such as Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, UN AIDS, and over 250 scientists.

Key Benefits of SVSTA

Reducing Coercion and Promoting Safety: Decriminalization empowers sex workers to screen clients, negotiate condom use, and work collaboratively without the fear of criminalization, thereby reducing coercion and promoting safety.

Addressing Racial Disparities: The current policing of sex work disproportionately affects Black, brown, and Asian communities. SVSTA aims to put an end to discriminatory, harmful, and violent policing that targets people of color. 

Protecting Workers: SVSTA does not repeal statutes targeting trafficking, the sexual exploitation of minors, or violence and coercion. It upholds the principle that all workers should be protected against force, fraud, or coercion, ensuring a safe workplace.

Post-Conviction Relief: SVSTA provides post-conviction relief through automatic sealing provisions, addressing the consequences of criminal convictions, such as economic insecurity, deportation, and housing instability.

Evidence-Based Approach: SVSTA is the only bill to reduce trafficking through an evidence-based human rights approach, aiming to restore dignity, agency, and bodily autonomy while preventing violence.

Why Decriminalization and Not Legalization or Prohibition/Asymmetrical Criminalization?

• Decriminalization removes criminal penalties for sex workers that don’t include trafficking. This includes things like selling or buying sex, living and associating with sex workers, which ultimately allows for better working conditions. It criminalizes those engaging in violence, exploitation, or trafficking or anyone who promotes, traffics, or buys sex from a minor. 

• Legalization includes strict regulations on what is “illegal” and “legal,” which fosters an underground illegal market of vulnerable sex workers. 

• Prohibition/asymmetrical criminalization removes criminal penalties for selling sex but maintains or increases those penalties for people buying sex and living with, working with, and associating with sex workers. This approach is reflected by S1352/A3386 (Krueger/Hunter).

Anything but decriminalization harms Black and Brown trans women, undocumented migrants, street-based workers, and low-income sex workers. 

Your Support Matters:

We invite you to contribute to our cause by donating today. Your donation will go directly to support sex workers and community members attending advocacy events. 

Donate Now: https://donorbox.org/decrim-ny-2023-victory-fund.

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those involved in the sex trade, ensuring their rights, safety, and dignity.

Thank you for standing with us!