Lee, Khanna Introduce Bill, Send Letter Urging Study of Anti-Sex Trafficking Legislation's Impacts on Sex Worker Health, Safety

December 18, 2024

Lee, Khanna Introduce Bill, Send Letter Urging Study of Anti-Sex Trafficking Legislation's Impacts on Sex Worker Health, Safety

Bill to study impacts of SESTA/FOSTA on sex workers' health, safety and trafficking investigations; letter pushes agencies to undertake national study

Text of Bill (PDF) | Text of Letter (PDF) | One Pager (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) , led lawmakers in reintroducing the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act, legislation directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct the first federal study on the impact of a 2018 anti-sex trafficking bill known as SESTA/FOSTA on sex workers and trafficking investigations. The bill was reintroduced on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

Representatives Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) cosponsored the bill in the House. Senators Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) cosponsored the bill in the Senate.

The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to undertake the first-ever robust national study of the impacts of SESTA/FOSTA. The bill's landmark study would require consultation, as appropriate, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and report to Congress on the study within one year of the date of enactment. The bill also adds a new requirement that the Attorney General submit a report on SESTA/FOSTA's impact on human trafficking investigations and prosecutions.

Representatives Lee, Khanna, Holmes Norton, and Coleman, alongside Senators Warren and Wyden also sent a letter to HHS and the DOJ, pushing the agencies to undertake this study.

"While the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act would require your departments to complete these studies, we encourage HHS and DOJ to pursue this research voluntarily as part of your respective missions to protect the health and safety of all Americans, including sex workers, and to investigate human trafficking," wrote the lawmakers.

The bill reintroduction follows a 2021 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding that, as of March 2021, SESTA/FOSTA has never been used by federal prosecutors to seek criminal restitution for victims of sex trafficking. In fact, while Congress passed SESTA/FOSTA to crack down on sex trafficking by making websites legally liable for content that helps "facilitate prostitution," the GAO study confirmed that the law has only made it more difficult for officials to investigate and prosecute sex trafficking cases.

Anecdotal reporting suggests SESTA/FOSTA and the loss of certain web services have also had profound negative impacts on sex workers. Before SESTA/FOSTA, many sex workers used online platforms to screen clients. Negotiations could happen virtually, instead of on the street. Sex workers were able to share vetting tools, like blacklists of dangerous clients. After SESTA/FOSTA was enacted, these sites and the tools that came with them shuttered overnight.

The SAFE SEX Workers Study Act would study the impact of SESTA/FOSTA on the health and safety of sex workers, including disparities in these effects on LGBTQ+ individuals, people living in rural areas, racial and ethnic minorities, Tribal communities, people experiencing exploitation and trafficking, and undocumented and documented immigrant communities.

"For years, SESTA/FOSTA has demonized sex workers and subjected them to an increased risk of violence and abuse. Instead of preventing trafficking, it made it harder for sex workers to access critical health and safety resources. I'm proud to reintroduce this legislation with Rep. Khanna and Senators Warren and Wyden to study the unintended consequences of SESTA/FOSTA and enable Congress to make informed policy decisions to protect the health and safety of sex workers," said Rep. Barbara Lee.

"As the Government Accountability Office has highlighted, we know that SESTA/FOSTA has not been successfully used to prevent sex trafficking. Instead, since its enactment, workers are facing increased physical and sexual violence after being pushed off online platforms. Congress needs to listen to the stories of sex workers who are being put in harm's way. I'm proud to partner with Congresswoman Lee and Senators Warren and Wyden on this legislation," said Rep. Ro Khanna.

"If SESTA-FOSTA has negatively impacted sex workers' health and safety, it's our responsibility as lawmakers to take those unintended consequences seriously," said Senator Warren. "Our bill will shed much-needed light on those impacts so we can better understand how to address them."

"It is tragic that SESTA/FOSTA has done nothing to help victims of human trafficking, while by all accounts causing sex workers to suffer from increased violence and threats. As I feared, SESTA/FOSTA demonstrated that shutting down online speech inevitably hurts marginalized groups hardest. I applaud Senator Warren and Rep. Khanna for authoring this legislation to comprehensively study SESTA/FOSTA's impacts on sex workers," said Senator Wyden.

The bill was drafted in consultation with sex workers, advocates for LGBTQI+ and sex worker rights, HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy groups, and organizations that provide health, safety and legal services for sex workers and sex-trafficking victims. The bill has received the endorsement of more than 30 diverse national and regional organizations across the country: Reframe Health and Justice, Center for Democracy and Technology, Fight for the Future, Defending Rights & Dissent, Assembly Four, Black and Pink, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, Whitman-Walker Institute, The Center for HIV Law and Policy, The Moore-O'Neal Law Group, LLC, Counter Narrative Project, SWOP Behind Bars, Support Ho(s)e, Free Speech Coalition (FSC), Sex Workers Outreach Project - Sacramento, Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center, Decriminalize Sex Work, Decrim Sex Work California, Advocating Opportunity, Amara Legal Services, Freedom Network USA, New Frameworks, Center for Constitutional Rights, Womankind, Oasis Legal Services, Win Without War, 18 Million Rising, Public Citizen, Positive Women's Network-USA, DecrimIL, AIDS Foundation Chicago, and Woodhull Freedom Foundation.

"Congress must consider unintentional impacts while working to prevent online trafficking. Forcing sex workers into less safe working conditions and preventing community harm reduction increases vulnerabilities to trafficking, it does not deter trafficking. It is essential that Congress passes the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act so it can make more informed legislative decisions and fund solutions that work for everyone," said Jean Bruggeman, Executive Director of Freedom Network USA.

"Sex workers warned legislators of the potential harms of SESTA/FOSTA prior to its passage in 2018 and have been at the forefront of researching and documenting the consequences of this legislation over the past six years. Woodhull Freedom Foundation has supported this research including through a survey of 440 sex workers who reported SESTA/FOSTA has increased their exposure to violence, in part by limiting their access to online spaces impacting their ability to earn income, screen clients, and communicate with their peers. On this internationally recognized day to end violence against sex workers, we urge lawmakers to take this opportunity to pass the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act. This legislation is critically needed to supplement current research and provide a comprehensive understanding of SESTA/FOSTA's impacts to better ensure future legislation meant to address human trafficking does not inadvertently put sex workers and trafficking survivors at-risk," Mariah Grant, Sex Worker Rights Expert and Woodhull Freedom Foundation Advocacy Consultant.

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