Organization hopes to improve Alaska sex workers’ safety, legal climate.
A local advocacy group is calling for the decriminalization of prostitution in Alaska, with a weekend candlelight vigil held on behalf of sex workers victimized while they worked.
Community United for Safety and Protection is also calling for a repeal of the 2012 anti-sex trafficking law passed by the Alaska Legislature, which it says declares all forms of prostitution to be sex trafficking.CUSP also says shelters often discriminate against those forced into prostitution, or those who entered and exited the profession voluntarily.A candlelight vigil was held Saturday night in Anchorage, recognizing International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.“The criminalization of prostitution laws violate several constitutional rights,” said CUSP board member Maxine Doogan.
“They violate the right to privacy, and they violate the right to equal protection under the law.”“I feel like prostitution, it’s your body,” said Paris Seminario, whose mother was a sex worker. “As long as you’re not being forced into it and you’re doing it by choice, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”CUSP says sex trafficking victims are often mistaken for prostitutes by police.
They say most prostitutes are afraid to report crimes they may have witnessed for fear of mistreatment by the police.
