[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3165 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3165
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study
to assess the unintended impacts on the health and safety of people
engaged in transactional sex, in connection with the enactment of the
Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017
(Public Law 115-164) and the loss of interactive computer services that
host information related to sexual exchange, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 8, 2020
Ms. Warren (for herself, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study
to assess the unintended impacts on the health and safety of people
engaged in transactional sex, in connection with the enactment of the
Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017
(Public Law 115-164) and the loss of interactive computer services that
host information related to sexual exchange, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``SESTA/FOSTA Examination of Secondary
Effects for Sex Workers Study Act'' or the ``SAFE SEX Workers Study
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) People who engage in consensual, transactional sex
utilize online platforms to protect their health, safety, and
independence. This use includes building community connections,
distribution of harm reduction information and techniques,
identification and screening of potential clients, and
negotiating the terms of consensual, transactional sex
services, including condom use and other harm reduction
strategies.
(2) Widespread discrimination against populations,
including LGBTQI+ individuals, particularly transgender women
of color, prevents many from accessing formal employment
resources and educational opportunities.
(3) In the 2015 United States Transgender Survey conducted
by the National Center for Transgender Equality, 19 percent of
respondents reported having exchanged sex for resources, such
as for money, food, or a place to sleep. Transgender women of
color, including Black (42 percent), American Indian (28
percent), multiracial (27 percent), Latina (23 percent), and
Asian (22 percent) respondents were more likely to have
participated in sex work than the overall sample.
(4) In the 2015 United States Transgender Survey,
respondents who experienced homelessness in the past year (17
percent) were more than three times as likely to have
participated in sex work during that year compared to the
overall sample.
(5) On a broader scale, internet platforms foster
connections between people and play an integral part in
American society. Meaningful regulation of internet platforms
must take into account the role they play in the health,
safety, and privacy of all people's lives.
(6) While policymakers, representatives of internet
platforms, and some advocates have discussed ways to mitigate
the use of internet platforms to decrease exploitation, people
who consensually trade sex are rarely involved in the drafting
of legislation or policies, or in assessing their impact,
despite being amongst the populations who are impacted by
legislation and policies related to the regulation of these
internet platforms.
(7) On February 27, 2018, the House of Representatives
passed the Allow States to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act,
known as SESTA/FOSTA. While SESTA/FOSTA holds websites liable
for user-generated content that facilitates sex trafficking, it
also impacts online platforms where users discuss consensual
sex work and related topics.
(8) Contemporaneously with the passage of SESTA/FOSTA in
the Senate on March 21, 2018, websites preemptively shut down,
some directly citing the law's passage as the rationale for
closure.
(9) One week before President Donald Trump signed SESTA/
FOSTA into law (Public Law 115-164), the Department of Justice
seized Backpage.com and arrested Backpage employees, citing
promotion of prostitution and money laundering charges, similar
to the Department of Homeland Security's seizure of Rentboy.com
only a few years prior.
(10) While these websites and individual accounts have been
closing down, there has been no national investigation
rigorously examining the impact of losing access to these
platforms on the health and safety of people in consensual,
transactional sex work. Regional and anecdotal information from
health and safety service providers and sex workers has pointed
to significant impacts on the health and safety of people who
engage in consensual, transactional sex.
(11) Community organizations have reported increased
homelessness of sex workers, including of sex workers who are
caretakers for their families and have lost the economic
stability provided by access to online platforms.
(12) Sex workers have reported a reduced ability to screen
potential clients for safety, and negotiate for boundaries such
as condom use, resulting in reports of physical and sexual
violence.
(13) Many sex workers have turned to street-based work,
which has historically involved higher rates of violence than
other forms of transactional sex. Street-based sex workers have
frequently noted practices which harm their health and safety,
such as the confiscation of condoms by police, or use of
condoms as evidence of arrest for prostitution.
(14) With this new level of precarity, isolation, and
vulnerability, there is substantial anecdotal evidence that
members of the sex work community are more frequently being
contacted by third parties seeking to engage in management
activities. This includes both sex workers who had always
worked independently, as well as those who have previously
experienced violence and exploitation by a third party.
(15) The United States Government has long discussed the
importance of assessing collateral consequences when looking at
other industries. A comprehensive study is essential to
evaluate the impact on the health and safety of those involved
in consensual, transactional sex, who are increasingly losing
access to digital platforms, which have been used for harm
reduction information and techniques, and to screen clients.
Informed government policies begin with seeking out relevant
information to better guide our actions moving forward.
SEC. 3. STUDY ON UNINTENDED IMPACTS ON HEALTH AND SAFETY OF PEOPLE
ENGAGED IN TRANSACTIONAL SEX AS A RESULT OF THE LOSS OF
CERTAIN ONLINE RESOURCES.
(a) Study.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this
section referred to as the ``Secretary'') in consultation as
appropriate with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and the
Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use shall study the
impacts on the health and safety of people engaged in transactional sex
resulting from the loss of access to interactive computer services (as
defined in section 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
230(f))) in connection with the closure of websites (including
Backpage.com) that host information related to sexual exchange, on or
after February 27, 2018, in anticipation of, or in response to, the
enactment of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex
Trafficking Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-164).
(b) Interviews and Surveys.--The study under subsection (a) shall
include interviews with, and surveys conducted by, nonprofit and
community-based organizations that provide direct services to people
engaged in transactional sex.
(c) Topics.--The study under subsection (a) shall include
assessment of the following impacts on people engaged in transactional
sex:
(1) Changes in access to technology-related harm reduction
services.
(2) Changes in ability to negotiate terms with potential
clients.
(3) Changes in experiences of violence from clients.
(4) Changes in interactions with law enforcement officials,
including changes in police surveillance, stops, and arrests.
(5) Changes in contact from third parties.
(6) Changes in relationship to and reliance on third
parties.
(7) Changes in experiences of exploitation.
(8) Impacts on access to economic resources.
(9) Impacts on homelessness and housing stability.
(10) Impacts on mental health.
(11) Impacts on vulnerability to the transmission of HIV
and other sexually transmitted infections.
(12) Changes in participation in other criminalized
behavior.
(13) Disparities in these effects on key populations
typically underserved by service providers, specifically
LGBTQI+ individuals, people living in rural areas, racial and
ethnic minorities, Tribal communities, individuals experiencing
exploitation and trafficking, and undocumented and documented
foreign nationals.
(14) Any other impacts on people engaged in consensual,
transactional sex, as determined appropriate by the Secretary
for inclusion in the study.
(d) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report on the
results of the study under subsection (a) and make such report
available to the public.
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