In a thoughtful and hilariously honest recent segment, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver echoed the calls of sex workers for decades -- to decriminalize sex work in the United States. Sex work is work, and our outdated policies only further endanger people who engage in this type of labor to make a living. A simple, effective policy solution could change that.
Sign now to demand Congress pass legislation which decriminalizes sex work in the United States!
If Congress is actually worried about the safety of sex workers, the best thing that they can do is make sure that people engaging in sex work are not criminalized for it. In fact, recent attempts to crack down on the practice have left sex workers less safe and more desperate – a recipe for increased violence and fatalities within the workforce. While sex workers and their allies have been arguing this for years, the reality is that current U.S. policy is not intended to protect sex workers at all.
Recently, Belgium became the first European nation to decriminalize sex work entirely -- a massive step forward for the country. This means sex work will be removed from Belgian penal code, and sex workers can no longer be criminalized or incarcerated for simply doing their jobs. Sex workers are just like any other type of worker -- they sell their labor to pay rent, help their children in school, and cover their medical bills. They should not be legally discriminated against for engaging in a form of labor that has existed for thousands of years.
John Oliver said it best: "Everything about the way we regulate sex work in this country is either confusing or counterproductive." But it doesn't have to be this way. We must tell Congress to use common sense to inform policy and decriminalize sex work altogether in the United States. Sign the petition now if you agree!
