The Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee has moved on a proposal to reinstate a law that makes prostitution loitering a misdemeanor as the city attempts to crack down on sex trafficking, violence and drug dealing despite strong opposition from the public.
Prostitution, violence and drug deals are common along Seattle’s Aurora Avenue, which has become the focal point in the metro’s ongoing debate over public safety.
FOX 13 in Seattle reported that one law that was removed in 2020 that makes prostitution loitering a misdemeanor is being considered by city leaders for reinstatement to help control the blighted spot.
In a video presented last month during a Public Safety Committee meeting, time-lapse footage showed several women being trafficked and sold on a street corner along Aurora Avenue from midnight to 1 a.m.
The video also showed multiple gunfights breaking out, sometimes with prostitutes standing on the corner while trying to drum up business.
Seattle City Councilmember Cathy Moore is proposing legislation to establish policies that govern arrests involving prostitution and loitering and to create “Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution” (SOAP) zones that, if violated, could result in charges.
Moore said the legislation intends to disrupt the violent criminal enterprise of the commercial sex trade by focusing enforcement efforts on buyers (johns) and promoters (pimps). The legislation also emphasizes diversion to social services, safe houses and treatment for sellers, mostly women and girls, Moore said at the time.
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Supporters, the station reported, have argued that Aurora has become an “open-air drug market” and a dangerous area where violence is a common occurrence.
“It’s like a war zone in your city,” one resident from 102nd Street testified during the City Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday. “When I go home, I’m in it, and it is just the most dehumanizing thing I’ve ever experienced.”
The resident was one of more than 100 speakers who signed up to speak at the beginning of the meeting.
But not everyone was in favor of the legislation. In fact, Moore’s proposal was met with strong opposition from critics who argued the ordinance unfairly targets sex workers and does not address the causes of gun violence and crime.
“There is broad vocal opposition to this bill,” one speaker said. “Yet, Councilmember Moore is still pushing it forward and defending racially profiling and arresting her most vulnerable constituents.”
A woman named Bingo, who spoke before the committee while wearing animal ears and a choker, said she is a sex worker and performer in one of the city’s districts. Bingo said she opposed the ordinance because she depends on clients and gig work to pay bills. She also said that passing the bill could kill her and her friends because it would take away money and services they rely on.
The issue centers around Moore’s proposed SOAP zones along Aurora Avenue. The zones would make loitering for the purpose of prostitution a misdemeanor.
“Stay Out of Drug Area” (SODA) zones would target areas identified as “open-air drug markets” in places like downtown Seattle and Chinatown, the station reported.
Bob Kettle, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said the neighborhoods are hurting, adding that drug dealers prey on those who are vulnerable during a crisis.
Several people told the committee they would rather see services provided than the reinstatement of SOAP zones.
The bill also offers diversion for the first time, meaning it gives officers the ability to approach sex workers and talk about getting them help and offering professional services.
In Seattle, prostitution is illegal, and according to Moore, many people do not understand that prostitution is illegal.
Promoting prostitution is a felony and requires testimony from the sex workers to establish a case. Testimony puts additional heightened risk on the sex workers, and it makes it difficult to prove the case.
Moore’s bill also directs the city’s Human Services Department and mayor’s office to create a work program that will provide advocates who work with individuals with prostitution-related convictions. The goal is to have the convictions scrubbed from their record so that when they apply for a job or housing, the convictions don’t exist.
