Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on Monday signed into law a invoice that partly decriminalizes prostitution, with supporters stating the evaluate guards the most vulnerable although however focusing on these who exploit them.
The invoice, sponsored by Rep. Lois Reckitt, D-South Portland, removes the criminal offense of participating in prostitution. It also elevates the criminal offense of solicitating a little one for professional sexual exploitation, lifting the criminal offense from a misdemeanor to a felony with a most punishment of five a long time in point out jail.
Reckitt, the longtime director of Relatives Disaster Companies in Portland and an advocate for women of all ages suffering from domestic abuse, explained the invoice will support folks pushed into intercourse trafficking by desperate circumstances.
Reckitt joined Mills for the invoice-signing ceremony two yrs immediately after the governor vetoed a similar monthly bill.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills is shown for the duration of a summit in National Harbor, Maryland, on Might 4, 2023. Mills not too long ago signed a invoice into law that partly decriminalizes prostitution. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Visuals)
“We are long overdue to better defend and decriminalize sellers engaged in prostitution devoid of legalizing pimping and sex acquiring,” Reckitt said in a statement.
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The majority of these offered in prostitution appear from marginalized communities and expertise lengthy-expression trauma, the proposal’s supporters explained. Lauren Hersh, national director of Planet Devoid of Exploitation, reported Maine is top the way to ending the criminalization of survivors whilst holding “perpetrators accountable for the devastating harm they result in.”
Tricia Grant, a survivor of sexual exploitation in Maine, claimed she was proud of the condition for adopting the legislation.
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“This legislation is firmly rooted in anti-trafficking and acknowledges that arresting and revictimizing people for their possess exploitation is not the alternative. Relatively, keeping the exploiters and abusers accountable is the remedy,” she claimed.
