FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3.1.2019
Contact: Maxine Doogan415-265-3302, info@esplerp.org
Sex Worker Say: Hands Off Our Clients; Robert Kraft Should Get His Money Back
Sex Workers Condemn Police Sting That Ensnared Robert Kraft; Call Out Police’s Inflammatory And Prejudicial Statements; Demand Police Stop Targeting Our Clients
San Francisco, CA – Sex worker activist group, the Erotic Service Providers Legal Education and Research Project (ESPLERP), today expressed deep concern about police conduct during and after the recent Florida prostitution sting that ensnared 165 men, including Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, several other prominent executives, and several owners of massage spas.
“The Martin County Sheriff has been all over TV and press since the sting happened, spouting inflammatory and prejudicial nonsense,” said Maxine Doogan of ESPLERP. “He claims they mounted a 6 month investigation, that the workers are coerced victims of sex trafficking, and that the clients are ‘monsters’ who knew the workers were trafficked. But if that was true, why did under cover police receive ‘hand jobs’ from the ‘victims’? Why did the police accumulate six months of evidence before ‘rescuing’ the workers? Why do the police admit the workers were free to come and go, and that some of them even picked up their kids from school? And why are no trafficking charges filed (https://tinyurl.com/yxg6trvk)? I really wonder where Martin County can find 12 jurors untainted by all this hysteria when cases come to trial.”
“Anti-prostitution groups are making even more fantastical claims (https://tinyurl.com/yygxl9f3),” said Claire Alwyne of ESPLERP. “They claim the women were all from China, were coerced into servicing up to 1,500 men a year, generating between $2 and $3 million for their traffickers. But there is no evidence of any of that. The workers and owners were all in the US legally, and all had licenses in good standing. And the police have not charged trafficking, only prostitution – a consensual act between adults.”
“These organizations are part of a richly funded network of anti-prostitution NGOs dedicated to taking away our livelihoods,” said Maxine Doogan. “They know that the public sees little wrong when two consenting adults negotiate to have sex for money. So they switch the conversation to ‘sex trafficking’, which everybody finds abhorrent, as a pretext to justify police harassment of us and our clients.”
“The irony is that Robert Kraft’s philanthropy may have ensnared him,” said Reada Wong of ESPLERP. “His foundation donated $100,000 to an organization ‘focused on ending commercial sexual exploitation’ (https://tinyurl.com/yy72apkw), which then probably diverted some of that money to US police departments – who were contractually required to mount prostitution stings targeted at clients – framing the consensual exchange of money for sexual services as sex trafficking. Robert Kraft should ask for his money back!”
ESPLERP is a diverse community-based coalition advancing sexual privacy rights through litigation, education, and research. Support us at www.litigatetoemancipate.com.
esplerp.org, decriminalizesexwork.com
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