Shame is a powerful toolâone that Oregon lawmakers are trying to leverage in their ongoing fight against sex traffickers and those who pay for sex.
The theory, according to two Oregon legislators, is simple: The more negative consequences for a crime, the less that crime will happen. So State Sen. Kathleeen Taylor and State Rep. John Huffman are pushing new laws that would suspend professional, recreational, and driverâs licenses of people busted for visiting a sex worker, purchasing sex with a minor, or âcompellingâ or âpromotingâ prostitution.
âThe idea is to hold the johnsâthe purchaserâa little bit more accountable,â said Taylor last month at a House Judiciary Committee hearing. âAnd yes, there is a shame component to it.â
Notably, the legislation the Milwaukie Democrat is helping push doesnât require additional penalties against sex workers themselves. Taylor and Huffman (R-The Dalles) introduced two bills in Januaryâone that would suspend driverâs licenses, the other that could suspend state professional and recreational licenses.
Though the bills were tabled last week âdue to various legal and stakeholder input,â Taylor tells the Mercury | âa new bill will be put forward which will combine elements of these two bills.â The new legislation could also mandate something known as âjohn school,â which aims to teach men about negative effects of paying for sex, both for themselves and the sellers.
The unified bill has yet to be drafted.
Proponents of this strategyâmore penalties leading to increased deterrenceâsay itâs necessary to combat child sex trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable people, usually women.
Detractors, like the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (OCDLA), say it will only hinder people from getting their lives back on track after a conviction, citing a 2016 state study that found âthe inability to obtain or reinstate a driverâs license is one of the single greatest barriers to obtain/maintain stable employment.â
One Portland-based organization, STROLL, is more worried about the billâs effect on sex workers. The advocacy group says that by ramping up penalties for johns, the legislation could force sex workers into more hidden or remote places that will make them increasingly susceptible to violence. Thatâs a similar position to those held by groups like Amnesty International and the World Health Organization, which have advocated for decriminalization of sex work.
Prosecutors, of course, donât buy it. JR Ujifusa, a state and federal prosecutor who handles most of Portlandâs sex trafficking cases, is one of the main advocates for the stricter strategy.
âWhen you reduce the demand, youâre reducing the entire crime in general,â he tells the Mercury. âThe best way to combat some of the demand side is to bring [convictions] out in the open.â
Under the proposal, a person charged with one of four prostitution-related crimes would be required to supply the court with a list of their professional and recreational licenses. That could rope in doctors, teachers, cosmetologists, contractors, liquor licensees, hunters, anglers, and so on.
The court would inform applicable state boards of a conviction, and licenses would be suspended.
Under one of the now-tabled bills floated in January, driverâs licenses would be suspended for six months. Itâs possible the specifics will change in the yet-to-be-introduced legislation.
Ujifusa believes people will be less likely to patronize sex workers âif you know the risk may be your livelihood or your hobby.â
But what about, for example, studies that show that capital punishment doesnât necessarily deter murder? Ujifusa cites research he says shows that concept doesnât apply here. Unlike many murders, âwhere things escalate quickly,â seeking a sex worker is usually more deliberate, he says.
âGetting on Backpage, logging on, searching around for someone to make an agreement for sex, then hopping in your car, going and getting money out of the ATM, meeting at a hotelâitâs a pretty calculated formula of steps,â Ujifusa says. âWhen buyers were asked âWhat would deter you the most from these things?â, out of their own mouths they talked about either their significant other, or family members, or employer knowing about it.â
OCDLA legislative representative Mary Sell criticized revoking driverâs licenses for a crime with a âlack of connection to road safety,â saying the average person will likely be unaware that would be a consequence for getting arrested for paying for sex. And âlosing a license makes it incredibly difficult for people to reintegrate into society,â Sell said.
Gail Meyer, an OCDLA lobbyist, criticized the bills because they go after those charged with common prostitution (one adult paying another adult for sex) the same as they do pimps and sex traffickers.
âOur legislative committee looked at thisâeverybody was a little puzzled, because weâd never seen anything like this before,â Meyer said at the judiciary committee hearing last month. âThis is pretty broad-reaching, because the whole issue of whether or not two consenting adults ought to be able to choose whether or not they want to engage in sex for a fee is sort of getting swept under the rug.â
State Rep. Jeff Barker, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a retired Portland police lieutenant, disagreed, saying: âIâm sure there are consenting adults having paid sex, but for the most part, prostitution isnât the pretty girl movie, itâs much different than that.â
Barker described an early morning breakfast heâd recently had on 82nd. âThe morning shift was coming out and they were a pretty bedraggled bunch of sorry-looking people,â he said. âWhereâs your life when youâre out on 82nd and Powell on a Saturday morning trying to buy meth and sell yourself? Itâs pretty horrendous stuff.â
After much debate about the original bills introduced earlier this year, a new unified bill should be coming soon.
âWe are in the waiting game,â Amanda Kraus, Taylorâs legislative assistant, told the Mercury on Monday. âWe had assistance from legal experts in framing our amendment language to Legislative Counsel and have not received the drafted amendment to share with stakeholders.â