By Michael Bielawski
A new poll suggests that Vermonters want legalized prostitution, according to the national organization known as Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW). The poll was of 539 voters.
Their press release states, “A recent statewide survey shows Vermonters strongly support the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work by more than 26% compared to those that think sex work should remain a crime; while 26% of those surveyed remain undecided.”
Other findings include that Democrats/Progressives “strongly support legalization” by 62%, with 14% opposed, and two-thirds of Republicans are against.
The report further states, “58% of voters said that the government should stop expending resources to arrest adults for consensual prostitution.”
It also suggests that the younger portion of Vermonters are largely supportive, stating “Decriminalization is strongly supported by voters ages 18-45” but the release do not offer a percentage.
Henri Bynx, the co-director of The Ishtar Collective which supports survivors of sexual exploitation and supports legalized prostitution, comments on the data. He says, “Half of voters support decriminalizing sex work, while one-quarter of voters are undecided and open-minded on the issue. Also, voters disapprove of the entrapment approach to sex work, and aren’t thrilled about spending taxpayer money to arrest consenting adults,”
A good idea?
Steve MacDonald, a writer/editor for Granite Grok, submitted a commentary to VDC in 2023 which examines Rhode Island where prostitution was decriminalized from 1980 to 2009. What he found was not great results.
“During the twenty-nine-year period from 1980 to 2009, sexual exploitation and violence against women and girls were integrated into the economic development of Rhode IslandÕs urban areas,” he wrote.
MacDonald notes that other parts of the world with legalized prostitution saw similar results.
“In a separate Study, another female researcher investigated Legalized Prostitution in New Zealand, the Netherlands, and elsewhere with similar results. Women are trafficked, poorly housed and treated, and moved around from brotherly to brothel. But the second study looks into the politics as well as the groups that advocate for ‘sex workers,’” he wrote.
What’s policy in Vermont?
The DSW report summarized recent Vermont policy changes that they consider favorable.
“Vermont has recently implemented several policy changes supporting the basic human rights of sex workers and survivors of trafficking at both the state and city levels,” it states.
“In 2023, a new law was enacted prohibiting law enforcement from engaging in investigatory sex, which along with the state’s prohibition on custodial sex, now comprises the country’s most comprehensive ban on police sexual violence,” the report states.
And the pro-prostitution group apparently claims that the 2022 ‘reproductive freedom’ constitutional amendment wipes out city bans on prostitution. In fact, two Vermont cities repealed city ordinances regarding prostitution.
“In 2022, Vermont passed a ballot referendum that removed a ban on prostitution from the city charter in Burlington, and a similar local ordinance also passed in Montpelier. Laws that allow sex workers and survivors of trafficking to seek justice or medical care when they are victimized or witness a crime were enacted in 2022,” it states.
Legal prostitution pushed in Montpelier
Also a VDC report from 2022 detailed how an expert on the sex trade warned the Montpelier City Council that legalized prostitution will bring undesirable elements to the state. The expert was Mitha Choudhury, Program Coordinator at Sanctuary for Families in Jamaica, a suburb of New York City.
“Sex buyers will flock from neighboring states, and sex trafficking will increase to meet the demand,” she said.
In another VDC story on the same Montpelier initiative, local residents share similar sentiment that this is not what they want.
“Montpelier, we don’t want consensual prostitution. We don’t want it. We don’t want what it brings in, which is sex trafficking and human trafficking,” said resident Aaron Clark of Montpelier.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle