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Ordinance supplementing the Pittsburgh Code, Title 6: Conduct, Article 1: Regulated Rights and Actions by adding a new section 629 providing for the assessment of a civil fine for engaging in sex work in the City of Pittsburgh.
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WHEREAS, between 2016 and 2022, only 3% of the City's arrests for prostitution concerned incidents of violence, sex trafficking, or the victimization of minors, suggesting that the majority of arrests are related to consensual exchanges between adults; and,
WHEREAS, during the same years, 67% of people arrested for prostitution were providers (sex workers) rather than third parties or clients; and,
WHEREAS, in Pittsburgh, clients ("Johns") routinely find their cases resolved with a summary offense at the preliminary hearing level, while providers routinely face penalties that include criminal conviction, incarceration, fines, parole, and probation; and,
WHEREAS, said penalties result in permanent criminal records for providers which hinder future opportunities for employment, housing, custody, and other necessities; and,
WHEREAS, a disproportionate amount of people arrested for prostitution are non-white and non-men, suggesting that those who are already most vulnerable to race and gender-based violence are most likely to be the ones most affected by criminal penalties for sex work and their related impacts; and,
WHEREAS, criminal penalties do not end or reduce sex work, but instead push providers into an illicit market where they are unprotected from exploitation and abuse; and,
WHEREAS, reducing penalties for sex work allows for improved health outcomes, as sex workers are more empowered to report crimes or seek social and medical services without fear of their own persecution; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh Police have limited resources which should be focused on violent crime, not arresting people for victimless crimes; and
WHEREAS, the additional expenditures of jail, prosecution, and probation after the arrest plac...
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