On December 17, 2013, CUSP held a press conference and candlelight vigil for the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.  We remembered Hansen’s victims and expressed our concern that, at that time, Alaska’s sex trafficking laws had only been used against people who were themselves alleged prostitutes charged with prostitution of themselves in the very same cases that they were charged with sex trafficking.  All alleged sex trafficking victims had been arrested and convicted of prostitution.

Our little gathering made a big difference!  Since that time the police seem not to have arrested alleged victims of sex trafficking (although the Department of Law has declined our public records requests about this, so they could be arresting victims we don’t know about).  The state troopers have adapted the language of their dispatches about sex trafficking to sort of match and distort our language.  Senator Berta Gardner introduced Senate Bill 170, which would have offered a defense against a charge of prostitution if, after being arrested and having their name already on courtview and in the paper forever, a victim could prove to a jury that they had been induced through force into prostitution by a person that they named to police.  Besides placing an incredible burden on the victim, this defense would not have been accessible to the majority of victims of sex trafficking.  Several members of CUSP and our allies called into legislative hearings and in the end the bill wasn’t passed!

In April Terra went to the Freedom Network’s annual trafficking conference and spoke about providing services to victims of trafficking into commercial sex work.  It went way better than I’d hoped, and hopefully CUSP members will be doing more of this kind of thing.

Currently CUSP is working on building alliances with other non-profits and planning for this year’s International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

(This information is entirely from trooper press releases, please let me know if I’ve missed anything.)

In February 2014 the troopers formed the Special Crimes Investigation Unit with the primary mission of investigating cases involving “commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking.”  That same month they arrested a man in Wasilla who is accused of threatening at least one woman who worked for him with force if she did not perform.  Good job, SCIU!

In April 2014, the SCIU, in an ongoing sex trafficking investigation, teamed up with the drug enforcement unit, to arrest a woman they accuse of “having sex for financial gain.”  The woman was charged with prostitution, solicitation for prostitution, and possessing drugs.  In an affidavit, the investigator explained that the SCIU investigates prostitution and sex trafficking.  What, specifically, made her guilty of prostitution?  She told the officer that she would not have anal sex with him and that condoms would be used for all sex acts.  What’s the difference between a rich woman having sex for financial gain and a working class woman having sex for financial gain?  One is a wife, the other is a criminal.  The bigger question, perhaps, is how targeting vulnerable people in the sex industry for arrest achieves the Department of Law’s stated priority of gaining the trust and cooperation of people who might be victimized in the sex industry.

In July 2014 the SCIU arrested a woman they claim was marketing sex workers online to “customers of the sex trafficking trade.”  She is not accused of threatening or harming anyone.  She is accused primarily of doing things that increase the safety of people in the sex trade: marketing online, checking customers against a blacklist, negotiating independent contractor agreements with workers, maintaining an indoor place of prostitution, and of course engaging in conduct that aided or facilitated prostitution.  When people in the sex trade associate with each other, advertise online, screen clients, and work indoors it increases their safety.  This should not be confused with kidnapping children and holding them in sexual bondage.

Yesterday a member of our community was arrested and charged with several counts of felony sex trafficking.  The troopers allege that she provided online marketing for “women in the commercial sex trafficking trade,” purposely conflating adult consensual activity with sex trafficking.

Community United for Safety and Protection supports people in the sex trade’s rights to be in association with each other – which is what she’s being charged with.  Being in association often brings a higher level of safety for people involved in the sex trade and should not be a criminal act (it’s currently 2^nd and 3^rd degree sex trafficking), nor should it be confused with kidnapping children and forcing them into sexual bondage.

Since Alaska’s sex trafficking law was passed in 2012 it has been used systematically in lieu of prostitution laws.

“Being charged with prostitution or sex trafficking comes with a significant amount of negative social stigma and the media ought to have refrained from using the names of anyone who is charged under these statutes.  They are innocent until proven guilty and they should not name because they risk becoming targets to be tried in the court of public opinion and face lifelong discrimination.”  Maxine of the Erotic Service Provider’s Legal Education and Research Project.

“The laws were put in place to protect a certain group, they were not meant to be used the way that they are.  I would like to see that changed.  I have a hard time charging these people with felonies and having that be a part of their record.  A felony is a huge issue,” said Nurse Francine, an ally.

“This is not a case of bondage or forced labor.  What happened to free agency in our society?”  said Kat McElroy, a founding member of CUSP.

Four members of the Community United for Safety and Protection, a group of sex trafficking victims, current and retired sex workers, and their allies, attended the Salvation Army’s Sex Trafficking Conference Saturday, Sept 28 2013.

Honestly we were afraid – it’s kind of traumatic to have people who make a living by locking people like you up explain what they think about people like you, and how they rescue you by locking you up. We were pretty sure that people involved in convicting one of our members would be there and perhaps try to harass or intimidate her. In fact, the cops politely stayed far away from us and wouldn’t even make eye contact, and the Attorney General made a quick exit at the end of his presentation.

Jenna Novak from the Polaris Project (an anti-trafficking, anti-prostitution lobbying group), had come from the lower 48 to do most of the presenting. She mostly offered the typicalinformation.

The Attorney General presented the recommendations of his Task Force on Human Trafficking. Their number one recommendation was to build trust between victims and law enforcement, so we asked him why they hadn’t recommended decriminalizing victims so that they could have the same access to protection by law enforcement as other Alaskans. He explained, “I’m not sure it should be decriminalized. I think there can be mature women who know, they’re of the age they should know better. They’re committing crimes.” He added that “if they are a victim we should try to do everything within reason to make it easier for them to re-enter society.”

Just a few short months ago he was quoted as saying that “Prostitutes are really not criminals. They’re really victims. We as a society and a government have to change the way we think about that.” Now victims are really criminals. How confusing.

Jolene from the FBI presented about the reality that she sees. Her views seemed very balanced for a person in her position. She explained that when she decides to prosecute a sex trafficking victim for sex trafficking it’s always a “very difficult decision” which she puts a lot of thought into. She went on to explain that she is for Safe Harbor laws which would allow victims of sex trafficking to have prostitution charges removed from their records and gave an example of a trafficking victim who was fired from a fast food job because of a prostitution charge still on her record years after Jolene had “rescued” her. However, Jolene said, she does find it necessary to arrest underage victims if they are “not identifying as a victim” for their own safety.

Other presenters from local agencies who work with victims of sex trafficking seemed caring and interested in our actual realities. An outreach worker from Covenant House described situations that we were all familiar with. It was heartwarming to see so many peoples’ passion for service, and we made some great connections.

Also, we made it on the news!!! I love the way KTUU handled the story.

Click here and go watch it!

I just got this and I’m sharing it even though it’s not local because it is such a perfect example of why sex workers need special protections from discrimination by law enforcement.  Criminals target us because they know that we’ll be afraid to go to law enforcement or law enforcement won’t investigate.  You might think that Alaskan law enforcement must be better, but my experience has been that detectives won’t investigate without a report from a victim (even if there are multiple online reports about the perpetrator), and they won’t take a report from a sex worker without arresting them.

SEX WORKER BAD DATE WARNING: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

!!! Please Forward to Fellow Workers and Allies !!!

A rape crisis line worker in the Newport, CA area has reported receiving calls from a man who claims he is raping and torturing sex workers. The information that follows is from an individual source, and is provided to the community as a safety precaution, not a claim of fact or an accusation against any particular individual. Please use your judgement and discretion when screening your clients.

HOW HE HAS IDENTIFIED HIMSELF TO THE COUNSELORS ON THE LINE:

Name: David/Alex/Thomas

Age: Mid to late 30s

Good looking, well kept. Owns a sedan and two dogs, a pit and a shitzu. Claims to have body modification, including a genital piercing and penis enlargement.

WHAT HE SAYS WHILE ON THE PHONE:

He moved from the New Jersey/New York Area to Southern California about 3 months ago. Claims to have targeted sex workers on the East coast as well, taking them to places in the Hamptons and on the Jersey Shore before he moved to SoCal. He calls the Newport, CA rape crisis line once he has a sex worker trapped. He says he cuts their breasts and rapes them. He says he wants to stop. He calls for an audience while he hurts people, and the crisis line counselor reports to have heard muffled/gagged crying and screaming in the background of the calls.

PHONE NUMBERS HE HAS USED WHEN CALLING THE RAPE CRISIS LINE:

*I’m deleting these numbers because so far they haven’t been posted anywhere google-able, and I don’t want be the one that lets him know he’s on the Internet.
WHAT ABOUT THE COPS?

The rape crisis center contacted both the Newport Police and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and they will not investigate based on the above information.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

Screen new clients carefully, keep an eye out for a date who matches any of the above description, have the phone number of a trusted friend or local rape crisis line that is sensitive to sex workers always on your person.

Some Los Angeles Resources:

East Los Angeles Women’s Center | 323-526-5819 Project Sister Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc. | 909-626-4357 YWCA of Greater LA Sexual Assault Crisis Program | 310-763-9995

Some Orange County Resources:

Sexual Assault Victim Service | 949-975-0244 Sexual Assault Victim Services | 714-834-4317

We are always at some risk, but we can look out for each other. If you have any other information about this bad date please post in public.