Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office has responded lukewarmly to the protests as California’s local residents and elected officials sound the alarm on brazen prostitution in broad daylight as a controversial law takes effect. Announced.
Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital, “Prostitution is illegal and sex trafficking is a serious and abhorrent crime. “This is evidenced by the continued law enforcement efforts that are taking place.”
“As the Governor stated when he signed the Safe Streets for All Act, the administration is closely monitoring the implementation of this particular law and will respond if unintended consequences arise. “We are fully committed to doing so,” the office added.
Fox News Digital reported this week that one business said pimps are taking over San Diego neighborhoods, using fear of retribution in exchange for local residents’ silence over crowds of nearly naked women walking the streets. I contacted the governor’s office about the owner. Business owners and local district attorneys say it’s time to repeal the law and not just watch the situation in the rearview mirror.
Prostitutes control San Diego neighborhood as residents fear speaking out amid brazen prostitution: Business owner
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Sacramento, California. (AP Photo/Ricci Pedroncelli)
“The prostitutes will come into the premises and say, ‘What are you looking at?’ and ‘Stop staring.’ And they will either hurt or harm the prostitutes or ‘take care of them.’ “It goes into a little bit of detail about calling a prostitute to do something for you,” a San Diego business owner who spoke to FOX News Digital on condition of anonymity said about the state of the prostitutes. We spoke to managers and employees in San Diego, near the border with National City.
“They control the neighborhood,” the manager added about the pimps.
The business owner is one of a number of Californians, including mayors, city council members and police chiefs, who are calling on the governor to repeal the law, known as the Safe Streets for All Act. Critics claim the law facilitates brazen prostitution and sex trafficking on the streets of cities such as Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
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In July 2022, Newsom signed Senate Bill 357, which repeals the previous law banning loitering for the purpose of prostitution. The bill was supported as it would help protect transgender women from coverage. being targeted by the police. This law entered into force on January 1, 2023.
Late last month, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephens (R) also published an op-ed calling on the governor to repeal the law, saying it is causing a spiral of human trafficking and harming young women and girls. Contributed.
“Girls as young as 13 are openly trafficked for sex on the streets of San Diego County. In fact, women of all ages are openly trafficked for sex. They’re forced to walk the streets while their every body is watched.” One big reason is California. The loitering crime was recently abolished. on prostitution charges under Senate Bill 357,” Stephens wrote in an article published in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan participates in the 2021 Coronado Independence Day Parade on July 3, 2021 in Coronado, California. (Photo by Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)
Stephan’s office told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Stephan “remains a strong believer that this bill should be repealed.”
When Newsom signed the bill, he said his administration “must be cautious in its implementation” and would monitor any negative effects.
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“To be clear, this bill does not legalize prostitution; it merely revokes provisions in the law that have led to the unjustified harassment of women and transgender adults. “As I sign this bill, we must be cautious.” “My administration will continue to monitor criminal and prosecution trends for potential unintended consequences and “We will take action to mitigate this,” he said at the time.
One business owner says San Diego’s prostitution problem has increased since California’s controversial SB 357 started making headlines. (Fox News Digital)
In an opinion piece, Stephens argued that now is the time to repeal the law, calling it a “failed experiment”.
“It is time to repeal SB 357 and increase penalties for sex traffickers who line the pockets of their traffickers. Only by strengthening human trafficking laws can we protect the most vulnerable and save lives. “We can stop the destruction. The SB 357 experiment has failed,” she wrote.
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San Diego business owners added in comments to Fox News Digital earlier this week that the law is a “total failure” and urged the governor to listen to district attorneys and residents who are sounding the alarm on the issue. I asked him to tilt it.
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks in Sacramento, California on January 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Villegas, File)
In some parts of California, women roam the streets in broad daylight wearing only G-strings and fishnet stockings, trying to attract men, according to business owners and local reports. Children on their way to school are forced to walk on used “by-products” from prostitutes, and are even forced to watch prostitutes standing on the street as they pass by on school buses. the business owner said.
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Stephens claimed that prostitution is so easy in San Diego that it’s like waiting in a drive-through line at a fast-food restaurant.
A woman stands on a San Diego street wearing high heels and revealing clothing. (Fox News Digital)
“What I saw was an open sex market with young women barely wearing any clothes, and prostitutes waiting in their cars as casually as if they were ordering a hamburger at a drive-through. “Traffickers, prostitutes, and buyers were completely undaunted and carried out their business with impunity,” she wrote in an op-ed last month.
The owner added that as the sun goes down, the streets are sometimes clogged with young people in cars looking to hire prostitutes.
“When you try to pull out of the parking lot after 5 p.m., there are 15 to 20 cars going up and down the street, and you can’t even back up and go home. They’re pretty much where they are. . Just point to an empty parking lot, pick up a prostitute, get all the services and go,” the owner said.
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Police in San Diego and other prostitution hotspots across the state have conducted large-scale sting operations this year against some sex rings, including a San Diego massage parlor that operated a sex-for-money business for years. carried out.That’s all for last month 500 prostitutes, prostitutes and suspected prostitutes They were arrested during a state-wide anti-human trafficking operation in which dozens of adults and 11 children were rescued from human trafficking.
