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Book: Sex for Sale~Prostitution, Pornography and the Sex Industry by Ronald Weitzer
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Authors: Ronald Weitzer
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the option of legalizing small, nonresidential brothels, subject to appropriate controls. Government officials rejected the recommendations of all three commissions.
The state of Rhode Island is unique in its dual policy toward street and indoor prostitution. State law criminalizes loitering for the purpose of soliciting sex, but loitering occurs outdoors and indoor solicitation per se is not a crime. Police have busted massage parlors for employing workers lacking a massage license, but not for prostitution.143 Bills recently presented in the state legislature to criminalize all prostitution have failed, as a result of lobbying by the ACLU. Rhode Island thus stands alone in the United States in its formal adoption of the two-track policy. Some other nations also embrace the two-track approach—decriminalizing brothels or escort agencies and retaining enforcement against street prostitution. The legislature in Western Australia passed a bill of this nature in 2008.144
In 2007, the Hawaii State Legislature considered a bill that would decriminalize the indoor track and zone street prostitution. The bill stipulates the following:
A person commits the offense of prostitution if the person engages in, or agrees or offers to engage in, sexual conduct with another person for a fee in a public 29
RONALD WEITZER
place that is likely to be observed by others who would be affronted or alarmed. For purposes of this section, a “public place” means any street, sidewalk, bridge, alley or alleyway, plaza, driveway, parking lot, or transportation facility, or the doorways and entrance ways to any building that fronts on any of these places, or a motor vehicle in or on any such place except areas that are designated as exceptions to this section. . . . The legislature and counties shall designate areas within their jurisdiction as exempt from the penalty provisions. . . . Designated areas shall include portions of geographic areas that have a history of this offense. The designated areas may be described both by geographic boundaries and by time of day limitations.145
The first part of the bill decriminalizes indoor prostitution, and the second part limits street prostitution to certain areas. The latter therefore departs from the two-track policy because it does not provide resources to help street workers get off the streets. The bill was supported by the ACLU, but it failed to pass in the legislature. One of the sponsors of the bill, Rep. Bob Herkes, saw the bill as a strategic stepping stone: “It’s one of those bills you do it for public dialogue instead of trying to get it passed,” and the bill’s advocates hope to gain support for a similar bill in the future.146
Cracking Down on Clients
A major shift in enforcement policy over the past 15 years has been the targeting of prostitutes’ customers. Traditionally, the act of patronizing a prostitute was not a crime in the United States, but it is now criminalized in all 50 states. In most areas, however, law enforcement falls most heavily on the prostitute. In 2002, for example, only 9% of all prostitution-related arrests in Phoenix were of men, 12% in Boston, and 14% in Las Vegas.147 However, some cities specifically target the customers. In 2002, men accounted for 61%
of all prostitution-related arrests in Kansas City, 72% in Detroit, and 75% in San Francisco.148
Customers are targeted in different ways. Police decoys walk the streets and make arrests when they are solicited. Public humiliation is another common approach, and it can be used after an arrest, as an added sanction, or instead of an arrest. One common tactic is publishing the names of alleged clients in local newspapers or on television. Kansas City created “John TV”—
a weekly cable TV show displaying the names, addresses, and pictures of men arrested for attempting to solicit a prostitute.149 Kansas City activists also created a “hooker hotline,” a recorded list of the names of persons
The state of Rhode Island is unique in its dual policy toward street and indoor prostitution. State law criminalizes loitering for the purpose of soliciting sex, but loitering occurs outdoors and indoor solicitation per se is not a crime. Police have busted massage parlors for employing workers lacking a massage license, but not for prostitution.143 Bills recently presented in the state legislature to criminalize all prostitution have failed, as a result of lobbying by the ACLU. Rhode Island thus stands alone in the United States in its formal adoption of the two-track policy. Some other nations also embrace the two-track approach—decriminalizing brothels or escort agencies and retaining enforcement against street prostitution. The legislature in Western Australia passed a bill of this nature in 2008.144
In 2007, the Hawaii State Legislature considered a bill that would decriminalize the indoor track and zone street prostitution. The bill stipulates the following:
A person commits the offense of prostitution if the person engages in, or agrees or offers to engage in, sexual conduct with another person for a fee in a public 29
RONALD WEITZER
place that is likely to be observed by others who would be affronted or alarmed. For purposes of this section, a “public place” means any street, sidewalk, bridge, alley or alleyway, plaza, driveway, parking lot, or transportation facility, or the doorways and entrance ways to any building that fronts on any of these places, or a motor vehicle in or on any such place except areas that are designated as exceptions to this section. . . . The legislature and counties shall designate areas within their jurisdiction as exempt from the penalty provisions. . . . Designated areas shall include portions of geographic areas that have a history of this offense. The designated areas may be described both by geographic boundaries and by time of day limitations.145
The first part of the bill decriminalizes indoor prostitution, and the second part limits street prostitution to certain areas. The latter therefore departs from the two-track policy because it does not provide resources to help street workers get off the streets. The bill was supported by the ACLU, but it failed to pass in the legislature. One of the sponsors of the bill, Rep. Bob Herkes, saw the bill as a strategic stepping stone: “It’s one of those bills you do it for public dialogue instead of trying to get it passed,” and the bill’s advocates hope to gain support for a similar bill in the future.146
Cracking Down on Clients
A major shift in enforcement policy over the past 15 years has been the targeting of prostitutes’ customers. Traditionally, the act of patronizing a prostitute was not a crime in the United States, but it is now criminalized in all 50 states. In most areas, however, law enforcement falls most heavily on the prostitute. In 2002, for example, only 9% of all prostitution-related arrests in Phoenix were of men, 12% in Boston, and 14% in Las Vegas.147 However, some cities specifically target the customers. In 2002, men accounted for 61%
of all prostitution-related arrests in Kansas City, 72% in Detroit, and 75% in San Francisco.148
Customers are targeted in different ways. Police decoys walk the streets and make arrests when they are solicited. Public humiliation is another common approach, and it can be used after an arrest, as an added sanction, or instead of an arrest. One common tactic is publishing the names of alleged clients in local newspapers or on television. Kansas City created “John TV”—
a weekly cable TV show displaying the names, addresses, and pictures of men arrested for attempting to solicit a prostitute.149 Kansas City activists also created a “hooker hotline,” a recorded list of the names of persons
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