Guest column; Breaking grip on sex trafficking through new bill

Our country has a long history of buying and selling bodies, and while it may look different now, human trafficking happens in front of us every day. It is a criminal practice that occurs everywhere in Massachusetts and yes, in Worcester, in our poorest neighborhoods especially.

Trafficking often doesn’t occur as portrayed in the movies and media. It doesn’t need to involve violence or kidnapping of victims. Trafficking victims are our neighbors, they shop at the same grocery store as us, they go to religious services with us, they work with us and they go to the same college as our kids.

It doesn’t require victims to be moved geographically. Traffickers psychologically manipulate and coerce their victims, binding them to their traffickers through threats, abuse and debts, or lack of resources to leave.

To shine a light on the trafficking happening daily across our country, Congress designated Jan. 11 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Human trafficking occurs in two fashions: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. In sex trafficking, both the victims and the traffickers are currently criminalized.

However, it is almost exclusively the victim, the prostituted person, who faces the brunt of the consequences. Under current law, it is nearly impossible to hold sex traffickers and buyers accountable. It is the prostituted persons who find themselves with criminal records, substance use disorders, lack of education and housing, and other factors that prevent them from severing ties with their traffickers.

This uneven hand of justice is clearly shown in court data from July 2018 to June 2023, which show that people who sell sex are prosecuted at nearly twice the rate of people who are buying sex.

Unfortunately, data collection on the underground industry of sex trafficking is severely lacking. Our best source of information is through local law enforcement, service providers and those who are struggling to get out of the life. Together, they can paint a picture and shine the light on a growing problem that deserves the attention of state and local leaders.

Recently, the reporting this past November of a recent bust of a brothel system in Massachusetts exposed the deep reality of the trafficking and exploitation of individuals into the commercial sex trade. The brothel ring catered to likely hundreds of wealthy clientele who were purchasing the bodies of prostituted people brought into the sex trade through exploitative means.

This bust is one that made the news, but smaller rings cater to local clientele and those from surrounding areas. These rings are where sex trafficking gets personal: exploiting our neighbors and community members, who are primarily women and girls of color.

No one has the right to buy and sell human bodies.

As Massachusetts legislators, we are working with survivors on a solution created and led by them: the partial decriminalization of the sex trade. The Sex Trade Survivor’s Act (H.1597/S.983) decriminalizes the prostituted person while maintaining criminal accountability for the trafficker and the buyer. The bill calls for increased support for the prostituted person to find their path out of the commercial sex trade into a life that is not inhibited by their past experiences.

Criminal charges are part of the spider web of reasons survivors are unable to exit the commercial sex trade, but these barriers are solvable through legislative change. The Sex Trade Survivor's Act would expunge survivors' criminal records, releasing them from the unjust burdens that prevent them from accessing housing, employment and true freedom from their past, and still hold the traffickers and buyers accountable.

Grappling with the identity of “trafficking victim” or “trafficking survivor” takes time. We must meet trafficking victims and survivors where they are and ensure our laws fully support them when they are ready to reclaim their voice.

Mary Keefe is state representative for the 15th Worcester District and co-lead sponsor of the Sex Trade Survivors Act.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Mass. Rep. Mary Keefe on legislation to decriminalize sex workers