The Womxn Project is a statewide organization focused on leveraging the power of art, activism, advocacy and education to advance the principles of reproductive justice, which demands that we all have the right to determine when and how we build our relationships, families and futures and that we have the ability to live and raise our children with dignity.
We are proud to submit testimony in support of H. 5467, which ensures that people will not be prosecuted for commercial sex work if they are witnesses to crimes. While we have problems with many of the laws and approaches in a carceral approach to policing rather than restorative and community based alternatives and the way that policing is funded instead of helping to address the issues that contribute to criminal activity, the fact is if a person is able to help law enforcement and is willing to answer questions to support creating accountability or helping someone else in their community who may be trying to seek a form of justice then they should be able to do so.
A person who does sex work should not have to fear that if they talk with a police officer to try to assist them in addressing an issue or solving a crime that they will face arrest, interrogation or harm. We urge the General Assembly to reconsider the criminalization of sex work and harmful impacts of this approach overall, but in the meantime we urge you to vote yes on this legislation. It is an important first step of many that can be taken to ensure the health, rights and dignity of sex workers in our state. Thank you.
Contact: Jocelyn Foye, 401-400-0061, [email protected]