Florida Approves Database to Publish Details of People Who Pay for Sex
he Florida legislature passed legislation within the past week, Senate Bill 540 and House Bill 851, to establish a public database that tracks people convicted of, or who have pleaded guilty to, soliciting paid sex.
While the legislation’s bipartisan authors consider it to be a step toward ending human trafficking, critics call it a means to publicly shame clients and others associated with people who do consensual sex work.
The Soliciting for Prostitution Public Database will include anyone convicted of or pleading guilty to “soliciting, inducing, enticing, or procuring another to commit prostitution, lewdness, or assignation,” according to the Senate version of the bill, drafted by Democratic Senator Lauren Book.
“This isn’t creating a list of bad or dangerous clients; it’s just a list of clients who got caught by the police,” Bailey told Filter. “It’s impossible to tell the good guys from the bad if you lump them all together. Men who pay for sex aren’t predators. Predators who pose as clients are. When you make potential clients scared of giving sex workers the information they need to screen, you make it impossible to tell the difference between men who are scared and men who are scary.”
And inclusion in the Database would have ripple effects across a client’s life. “Putting them on a registry and imposing a mandatory sentence of five days for a first offense could result in lost wages and lost jobs,” wrote Andrews. “Public shaming of a consensual act could result in the breaking up of a family. A lost job could result in losing health insurance benefits. A lost job might mean they can’t pay the rent or the mortgage or buy food. They may not be able to get another job because they are on this registry. It perpetuates poverty.”
“Research does not support punitive public shaming. Our legislators need to listen to sex workers and victims of trafficking.”
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It’s just a cover up to make it look like they are “combatting human trafficking”.
In West Texas, many people are very well aware about a sex ring that brings in prostitutes every year during the oil show, for wealthy men that attend that event. It’s been going on for many years. It has also been said that some oil companies even provide prostitutes for their employees (or at least they have in the past).
There is no way that law enforcement is not aware of this. If law enforcement were really interested in combatting human trafficking, that is the first place they would be looking. It all comes down to money and who is paying them off.
The dangerous people are the people who pay big bucks to keep things like this covered up and those who accept these payments.
This is where human trafficking victims are very likely to be found (women who are forced to serve as “high class” prostitutes and who have their entire lives controlled by these “high class” pimps). It’s real.
To make it look like they are combatting “human trafficking”, police have to arrest somebody. So, they focus on trapping vulnerable people on adult sites, who are looking for mutual agreements.
I’m sure Texas is not the only state where this is going on.
How about uncovering and exposing this reality (using good police work) and creating a registry for these truly dangerous people? (since they’re so “registry” happy)
How about really rescuing the victims who are being sex trafficked against their will?
How about putting integrity before money?
Integrity before money? With many politicians that just may be asking too much.
Prostitute Data Base?
If this follows suite they will make it retroactive meaning someone who in a moment of weakness, frustration etc. Years ago will now be shamed what a waste of tax dollars. With all the evidence that registries dont work they keep coming up with them. Why do we not have a registry for DUI, repeat drug offenders, armed robbery and the list goes on and on and on. The answer is sex sells headlines. Its all about the money. Remeber of the 70plus thousand on the registry only 24,000 approximately live in Florida communities. Surely that is a fraud being perpetuated against the federal government to secure more tax dollars.
Another “Scarlet Letter” attempt by Florida legislator ‘do-gooders’. It’s just a matter of time until Lauren Book gets caught in one of her ‘traps’ and that will be a day of celebration.
Sure – it’s “just a list now”, but soon thereafter they’ll start passing that information out to the IML and INTERPOL will start turning everyone away at their borders…
I doubt it. Prostitution is legal in almost all of Europe and in every nation on continental North and South America except the United States the the Guianas. I’m sure the rest of the Americas and Europe will look upon this law and think, “how twentieth century of them…”
Just another way for the state to shame people.
More like make money. For the most part people today are desensitized to anyone’s family and wellbeing. After a mass shooting you don’t even hear about it after a couple days. This is law and order which would go broke if petty shit wasn’t punishable. And really I don’t think most people give a crap who’s hired a hooker or a SO. Law Enforcement will always be the most hated in America they target the poor and down trodden and issue them a PD who isn’t gonna miss a good lunch with friends going against the grain. Private attorneys too. Not all but people’s not studied. Mom and pops that goto church and don’t cuss know who the bad guys is the ones saying they are the good ones and that’s that everyone knows this is common knowledge.