Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a bill that partially decriminalizes prostitution, with supporters saying the measure protects the most vulnerable while still targeting those who exploit them.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a bill that partially decriminalizes prostitution, with supporters saying the measure protects the most vulnerable while still targeting those who exploit them.
This isn’t legalization.
There is no government regulation of sex work being done here, this is partial decriminalization, which in the context of sex work means eliminating the crime.
So far, the research suggests that decriminalization is the best model for sex workers and for communities. New Zealand’s model is better than what you see in Amsterdam. Making it legal and regulated just drives sex work “into more covert forms where working routines are negatively impacted” (Vanwesenbeeck, 2017, p. 1634). It’s why when France implemented a Nordic Model, they found that “not only had it failed to reduce demand for sex work, it also failed to impact the incidence of trafficking into prostitution, and it put sex workers at greater risk by increasing the stigma against them” (Östergren, Dodillet, 2011).