Despite strong public opposition, the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee is moving forward with a proposal to reinstate a law making prostitution a misdemeanor as the city seeks to crack down on sex trafficking, violence and drug dealing.
Seattle's Aurora Boulevard is rife with prostitution, violence and drug dealing, and has become the focus of an ongoing debate over safety in the area.
FOX 13 in Seattle reported that a law that was repealed in 2020 that made prostitution loitering a misdemeanor is being considered by city leaders to reinstate the law in an effort to control the city's dilapidated streets.
In a video presented at a Public Safety Committee meeting last month, time-lapse footage showed several women being trafficked and sold on a street corner along Aurora Boulevard from midnight until 1 a.m.
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The hour-long time-lapse video showed several sex workers being sold and trafficked north of Seattle. (Seattle City)
The video also showed multiple gun battles breaking out and prostitutes standing on street corners trying to solicit clients.
Seattle City Council Member Cathy Moore has proposed a bill to create “Prostitution Area No-Go Zones” (SOAPs), which would establish policies governing arrests for prostitution and loitering and could result in prosecution for violations.
Moore said the bill aims to eradicate the violent criminal enterprise of commercial sex trafficking by focusing enforcement efforts on buyers and promoters. The bill also emphasizes channeling prostitutes — mostly women and girls — into social services, safe havens and treatment, he said at the time.
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The Seattle City Council viewed video of the multiple shootouts that occurred near Aurora Boulevard in the city's north side. (Seattle City)
Advocates say Aurora has become an “open-air drug market” and a dangerous area where violence is common, according to the station's report.
“It's like the city is a war zone,” one 102nd Street resident testified before the City Council's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. “When I come home it's like a war zone and it's the most dehumanizing experience I've ever experienced.”
The resident was one of more than 100 speakers who requested to speak at the start of the meeting.
But not everyone was in favor of the bill. In fact, Moore's proposal faced strong opposition from critics who argued that the ordinance unfairly targets sex workers and doesn't address the causes of gun violence and crime.
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Seattle City Council Member Cathy Moore has introduced a bill aimed at targeting pimps and sex traffickers. (Seattle City)
“There is widespread opposition to this bill,” one lawmaker said, “yet Rep. Moore continues to push it forward, defending racial profiling and arresting our most vulnerable voters.”
A woman named Bingo, who addressed the committee wearing animal ears and a choker, said she works as a sex worker and performer in one of the city's neighborhoods. Bingo said she opposes the ordinance because she relies on clients and gig work to pay her bills. She said if the bill passes, it could devastate her and her friends by taking away money and services they rely on.
The issue revolves around Moore's proposed SOAP Zone along Aurora Boulevard, where loitering with the intent to prostitute is a misdemeanor.
The “No Drug Areas” (SODA) zones will target areas identified as “open-air drug markets,” including downtown Seattle and Chinatown, the department reported.
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The Seattle City Council viewed video of the multiple shootouts that occurred near Aurora Boulevard in the city's north side. (Seattle City)
Public Safety Committee Chairman Bob Kettle said neighbors are being affected, adding that drug dealers prey on vulnerable people in times of crisis.
Several people told the committee they would rather see the service provided than see the SOAP zone reinstated.
The bill provides for gender reassignment for the first time and will allow police officers to approach sex workers to discuss providing support and specialised services.
Prostitution is illegal in Seattle, and Moore said many people don't realize that it's illegal.
Promoting prostitution is a felony and requires testimony from sex workers to prove a case, which puts sex workers at even higher risk and makes the case harder to prove.
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Moore's bill also directs the city's social services department and the mayor's office to create a work program to provide advocates to help individuals with prostitution-related convictions with the goal of expunging the convictions from their records so they appear conviction-free when applying for jobs or housing.
