Rhode Island Bill on Criminalization of Prostitution
Summary
The Rhode Island legislature introduced a bill, HB5044A, to recriminalize indoor prostitution. The main justification offered for the bill was that it was absolutely necessary to prevent and address trafficking into prostitution. SWP's experience has been that arrests for prostitution related offenses are more likely to hurt rather than help victims of trafficking, and rarely lead to identification and assistance of victims.
Despite opposition from SWP and other groups, this bill passed and became law.
Links
- Text of Senate Bill 0596
- Full text of the bill, titled 'Relating To Criminal Offenses - Prostitution And Lewdness'.
- SWP Talking Points
- Reasons why the bill will not help trafficking victims.
- RI Senate Judiciary Committee
- Contact details for members of the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee.
Related Documents
09/02/2009
Article written for RH Reality Check on Rhode Island's proposed bill to criminalize indoor prostitution.
06/25/2009
PDF - 760K
Letter from Penelope Saunders to the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary committee, supporting the Memorandum in Opposition to HB5044 submitted by the Sex Workers Project.
06/18/2009
PDF - 320K
Text of the press release issued by the Sex Workers project about the proposed bill to criminalize prostitution in Rhode Island
06/18/2009
PDF - 452K
SWP statement to the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee on the proposed bill S.B. 0584 to define and criminalize prostitution in Rhode Island.
06/08/2009
PDF - 360K
A memorandum from SWP in opposition to the 'Criminalization of Prostitution' bill before the Rhode Island Senate.
06/05/2009
PDF - 3.51MB
Letter from Ann Jordan to the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary committee, opposing HB5044A on the criminalization of prostitution.