Woodhull Condemns Seattle City Council’s Passage of Disastrous Anti-Sex Work Policies
On September 17, 2024, the Seattle City Council passed CB 120835 (SODA) and CB 120836 (SOAP) in an 8-1 vote. The former will create “Stay Out of Drug Area” zones in five neighborhoods throughout the city, while the latter will reinstate the criminalization of “prostitution loitering” and create a “Stay Out of Area of Prostitution” zone along Aurora Avenue. Woodhull Freedom Foundation condemns this nearly unanimous decision by the City Council to pass these bills despite vocal opposition from most of the public testimony heard at Tuesday’s Council session. We are alarmed that the City Council is not heeding the warnings of its constituents and that Mayor Bruce Harrell is expected to sign these bills into law when brought to his desk.
These bills reflect a failed policy approach to address sex work and drug use, known as “Prostitution and Drug Free-Zones”. Woodhull previously called on the City Council to reject this regressive policy approach, citing evidence from other jurisdictions where it has been implemented and has been shown to cause significant harm to sex workers, especially those who are most frequently targets of violence, including Black, Trans and gender expansive sex workers.
Woodhull’s President and CEO Ricci Joy Levy expressed deep concerns over the passage of these bills, “We know prostitution free zones do not stop crime but they do put sex workers at significant risk for violence and human rights abuses.” She went on to explain how this punitive approach puts sex workers at risk, “For 20 years Woodhull has opposed these types of policies and documented the abuses they led to when attempted and ultimately repealed in Washington, DC. We have come to define these areas as what they really are, “rights free zones” based on how they impede sex workers’ enjoyment of freedom of movement and likely violate their fourth amendment constitutional right protecting them from unlawful search and seizure. We urge Seattle Mayor Harrell to consider the ample evidence against prostitution free zones and call on him to veto these bills.”
A statement from Seattle Councilmember Tammy J. Morales, who cast the one dissenting vote against these bills, referenced the urgent need for evidence-based policy. “We need real solutions to address the public health and safety crises on our streets. That’s why my office has been urging the Council to follow the recommendations detailed in our City Auditor’s report which provides a road map on how we can take an evidence-based approach to address where overdoses and crime are concentrated. Instead, this legislation will intentionally make it more difficult for people to access critical services across the City.” She further lamented that, “I am truly disheartened that we are having these conversations again as a city when there are documented solutions that we could be working toward implementing to address the root causes of violence.”
Woodhull will continue to track these bills and support local sex worker rights organizers, such as Strippers are Workers and Coalition for Rights and Safety, who fought against them and will be at the forefront of reducing harm and documenting their impact if they come into force.