Rhode Island accidentally decriminalized prostitution, and good things happened

[SecularMotion]

In 2003, Rhode Island unintentionally decriminalized indoor prostitution.

The state's legislature amended a law in 1980, believing that the law inadvertently outlawed some forms of consensual sex between adults. That amendment created a legal loophole — one that sat unnoticed until 2003, when a District Court judge interpreted it to mean that paying for consensual sex was not a criminal offense in Rhode Island, not if it took place privately indoors. It took the state until 2009 to close the loophole.

The state's little legal accident was a bit embarrassing. But it did have a silver lining: it could serve as a "natural experiment," allowing researchers to estimate causal effects of decriminalizing sex work.

In a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, economists Scott Cunningham and Manisha Shah look at the six years when residents knew prostitution in Rhode Island wasn't a crime. And they show evidence that Rhode Island's decriminalization caused a steep decline in both forcible rape offenses and the incidence of gonorrhea.

http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5898187/prostitution-rhode-island-decriminalized

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Interesting, but I also wish they wouldn't use the term

'forcible' rape, as every rape is 'forcible', it's just a matter of what sort of force is being used. Sometimes physical, sometimes mental or emotional.

[Prophet 451]

8. I had that reaction too

I think they mean "forcible" in the sense of physical violence rather than some other form of coercion but yeah, wish they'd found a different way to say that.

[Lee-Lee]

23. It's actually a term used widely in the law

Even the FBI uses that term when gathering statistics- which is probably why it was used here in reference to statistics.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/violent-crime/forcible-rape

Forcible rape, as defined in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, is the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Attempts or assaults to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape (without force) and other sex offenses are excluded.

I do find it interesting that in the FBI definition only a female can be a victim of "forcible rape".

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

24. A lot of these LEO definitions

are decades old, or have only had minor changes made more recently. I think they're rather out of date, and reflect a time when 'marital rape' wasn't illegal, and 'rape' was generally considered to be 'guys jumping out of bushes and dragging women off', without much thought to women being coerced or drugged.

[LittleBlue]

2. Decriminalization and regulation is the progressive way forward

No other crimes — robbery, murder, assault, burglary, or motor vehicle theft — experienced a sharp decline after 2003 like rape did. This suggests that the decline was not associated with an increase in policing, because had that been the case, we would expect rates to fall for other types of criminal activity.

Using CDC data, the authors were able to determine that cases of female gonorrhea fell by 39 percent over the same time period. The sexually transmitted disease disproportionately affects prostitutes — 23% of women who engage in sex work report ever contracting gonorrhea, compared to 5% of the general female population.

And this is why.

Decriminalizing indoor prostitution could improve the bargaining position of female sex workers relative to clients, leading to lower rates of victimization. Research from the late 1990s found that indoor sex workers are victimized considerably less than outdoor street walkers. The legal quirk in Rhode Island only applied to indoor sex work, which could have resulted in some prostitutes abandoning outdoor business for its decriminalized — and safer — counterpart.

Bingo

[Blue_Adept]

3. Decriminalization and legalization of it is definitely needed

on a whole host of levels and impacts that it has on a number of lives. Unfortunately, I suspect it won't happen in my lifetime.

[Tetris_Iguana]

4. You're wrong

Because, misogyny.

[Blue_Adept]

5. I don't doubt it

I'm seemingly wrong about everything, and have been told that I'm not an ally of women either. Which would totally shock the women in my life. But I'm probably living in my mothers basement as a keyboard warrior, so who knows.

[Remmingway]

6. Nothing will be changed

Won't really change a thing, I mean take a look at that site Rub Maps and see how many of those Asian parlors there are. There are a ton chinese immigrant working in said parlor so who's to say that all's well ends well for RI?

[factsarenotfair]

7. Um, Rhode Island is not a typical state.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/providence_mob/2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Cianci

http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140718-cranston-city-council-learns-police-legal-costs-are-mounting.ece


And then there's this:
http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140718-feds-start-sexual-violence-investigation-at-brown.ece

http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140718-uconn-to-pay-1.3-million-to-settle-lawsuit-over-handling-of-sexual-assault.ece

I could go on and on....

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

10. What does the University of Connecticut have to do with RI?

I mean besides a bunch of phony bandwagon jumpers from RI who want to root for a winning, and very shady, basketball team?

By the way, you can go to any state and find plenty of corruption to cherry pick, if you're so inclined.

[factsarenotfair]

11. OOps!

[Prophet 451]

9. Legalisation and regulation seem to be the way forward

If it's legalised, it can then be regulated to ensure things like age limits, STD checks, etc.

[JI7]

12. "decline in both forcible rape offenses "

what does this mean ? when they say "forcible rape" ? as opposed to ............?

[DirkGently]

14. Statutory. n/t

[BainsBane]

18. raping children

[NaturalHigh]

13. If so many Americans didn't have a Puritan streak...

that caused terror at the thought of anyone having fun, this would have been legal a long time ago.

[JI7]

16. i oppose prostitution but i'm all for people having sex if they want , and i encourage people NOT

to wait until marriage either for those who are conservative.

in my opinion if one has to pay for it and another will only have sex with them for money it's not really about having fun at all.

[NaturalHigh]

17. That's fair enough. I respect your opinion...

just don't totally agree. I grew up in a very loving family that unfortunately harbored some very Puritan ideas about human sexuality. Having outgrown most of those notions, I'm all for any private and consenting acts between adults.

[SoCalDem]

26. In many relationships the only difference is the form of compensation

I have personally known a woman who stayed with a guy she did not love, because he was wealthy and bought her things. Their relationship was very much like prostitution.. she gave him sex and he gave her cars, jewelry, travel, a great place to live, and she was fully supported financially.. She did not have to hold down a job, and she knew that eventually they would split up and they did, after she had herself set up comfortably.. he found a new "girlfriend" within a month or so, who was also content with the arrangement.

There was no cash in an envelope, but they were being "paid" for sex, even though they presented themselves as a couple..

[JI7]

15. so if guys are allowed to pay for sex they wont rape ? and these guys are seen as victims ?

strange

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

20. Is the 'seen as victims' from the rest of the linked article?

Because the part quoted here on DU seems to be suggesting it's the sex workers who are victimized less when what they're doing isn't illegal. Which is pretty much in line with the way undocumented workers are abused as well, when they're forced to live in the shadows and can be exploited, abused, even raped, and can't go to the police without getting deported.

[JI7]

19. and yet there are 35 states which have lower rate of Rape than Nevada which is currently

the only state where it's legal. rhode island is also higher than many of the states close to it.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/03/opinion/sutter-alaska-rape-list/

[davidn3600]

21. It's only legal in Nevada in a few tiny areas

Do it in Reno or Vegas and you go to jail.

[JI7]

22. rape rates are higher in Nevada in areas where prostitution is legal

<Among the rural counties in the state, those with
legalized prostitution have rape rates in 2007 that
are over 5 times larger than rural counties without
legalized prostitution (Table 2). The average rape
rate in rural counties with legalized prostitution (46
per 100,000 population) is also higher than rape
rates in the urban counties within the state (42 per
100,000 population). >

http://cacs.unlv.edu/SDBs/Rape/Rape%20in%20Nevada%20v4.pdf

[Tom Rinaldo]

25. Relevant stats, but less so than the RI study I think

Nevada is, well Nevada. It is a tourist industry state where wild behavior is almost marketed in ad campaigns across the nation ("What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas&quot . The rural counties in Nevada without brothels probably have a very different visitor profile than those that have them BECAUSE those brothels actively court national and even international sex tourism. Rhode Island is different and more representative of life on ordinary terms.

An experiment where an entire state legalizes prostitution but restricts it to private homes is a much broader social experiment One could surmise that the Nevada legalized brothels model exists in a very specific social context of those counties having the only legal brothels in the entire nation - which could make those counties magnets for all kinds of "outlaw behavior" from people willing to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to be in that kind of "no holds barred" social environment.