Seattle City Council considers prostitution exclusion zone
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The Seattle City Council is considering a measure that shows the pendulum at City Hall swinging from limited oversight of so-called vice crimes to a more aggressive approach toward prostitution.
Why it matters: The bill would allow a judge to ban people convicted or charged with certain prostitution-related offenses from a miles-long strip of Aurora Avenue long known for the presence of sex workers.
- It also reinstates the charge of prostitution loitering as a misdemeanor, but targets buyers and promoters of commercial sex as opposed to sellers, for whom the preferred approach is "diversion" and not prosecution, according to the council.
Driving the news: The nine-member council is slated to vote on the proposed prostitution exclusion zone Tuesday, along with six similar drug exclusion zones, after they were passed unanimously last week by the Public Safety Committee.
- The amended drug exclusion zones include parts of Belltown, Capitol Hill, the Chinatown-International District, Downtown, Pioneer Square and the University District.
State of play: Councilmember Cathy Moore introduced the legislation in August in an effort to crack down on commercial sexual exploitation that she says is related to a rise in gun violence.
- The council unanimously repealed a similar prostitution loitering ordinance in June 2020, citing "the need to prevent disproportionate impacts of policing on communities of color."
What they're saying: "We need to be very clear we have juveniles out there and we have to disrupt the process," Kristine Moreland, the founder and director of The More We Love — a nonprofit that works with trafficked and unsheltered people — said in favor of the legislation.
The other side: One opponent of the bill who spoke virtually at the committee meeting said it would "allow people to be harassed by police for existing in a public space and, if arrested, block them from an entire area."
- "Make no mistake: these bills are harmful and will disproportionately target Black and Brown people," Councilmember Tammy Morales posted on Instagram over the weekend.
- She said there's also not evidence the zones will be effective. "It is astonishing to me that we have to have these conversations again and that we are going backward as a city."
Yes, but: Councilmembers acknowledged the prostitution and drug zone laws would not, on their own, dispatch the underlying causes of exploitation and addiction.
- But, said Council President Sara Nelson, "We cannot not do anything … we cannot let things continue the way they are."