Social Work Commons^™

There is an organized effort in New Hampshire to fully decriminalize prostitution. What that means is that all laws controlling the buying and selling of sex will be removed from the law books, making prostitution legal. Law enforcement and public officials will then have no control over if, when, and where prostitution occurs, whether it’s in massage parlors (often called spas), hotels, apartments, residences, or strip clubs. Because commercial sex will be legal, pimps and “sex workers” will be able to freely advertise prostitution services. Pimps will be able to openly recruit women and girls into prostitution, without fear of …

This paper is a case study of decriminalized prostitution. For 29 years (1980 to 2009) prostitution was decriminalized in Rhode Island. Lack of laws or regulations created a permissive legal, economic and cultural environment for the growth of sex businesses. During this time, sexual exploitation and violence against women and girls were integrated into the economic development of urban areas. The number of sex businesses grew rapidly during this time period. Organized crime groups operated brothels and extorted money from adult entertainment businesses. Rhode Island became a destination for pimps, traffickers, and other violent criminals. The lack of laws impeded …