You are reading

State Sen. Ramos Announces Her Support for Legislation That Would Decriminalize Sex Work

DecrimNYC Rally
(Binary Garcia Dlao Twitter)

Feb. 26, 2019, By Meghan Sackman

State Senator Jessica Ramos has co-sponsored a series of bills that would decriminalize sex work and vacate the records of people who have been arrested or charged with prostitution or related offenses.

Ramos, along with State Senators Brad Hoylman and Julia Salazar, aims to rewrite the state’s penal code to protect sex workers from prosecution.

The bills would block the police and district attorneys from arresting and prosecuting sex workers on charges such as “loitering for the purposes of prostitution,” and would vacate past offenses.

“We aim to repeal statutes that criminalize consensual sexual exchange between adults and create a system that erases prostitution records for sex workers and sex trafficking survivors so they can move on with their lives,” Ramos wrote in a Daily News op-ed on Monday, co-written with Salazar.

“Most people trade sex out of economic need: to pay bills, make rent, and put food on the table,” the op-ed says.

Ramos noted that many people who turn to sex work are vulnerable minorities.

“LQBTQ, black and brown, immigrant and disabled communities engage in sex work at higher rates because they are locked out of jobs in the formal economy,” Ramos wrote.

According to the piece, about 94 percent of the people arrested in Brooklyn and Queens for loitering in relation to prostitution are black women. Many are undocumented and are at risk of being deported.

Ramos joined members of DecrimNY, an organization of about 20 groups that seeks to decriminalize and destigmatize aspects of the sex trade, at a rally outside the Manhattan Supreme court Monday.

“We’re not going to keep sweeping it under the rug,” Ramos said at the rally. “We’re going to start giving visibility to communities that have been marginalized for too long.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com

31 Comments

Click for Comments 
Kevin

Tony, if you read most print stories today, the press refers to them as Migrants. Which by the nature of the word implies that they belong here and are simply moving within the boarder. This is a writing style promoted by the Washington Post and copied by many media outlets today.

3
20
Reply
grab your skatebored

very stable geniuses like yourself think they understand immigration policy but can’t spell “border”

16
2
Reply
JHeights my whole life

Open prostitition and their customers have been crusing this neighborhood for decades. Every customer all over the city knew if you want an attractive, young prostitute for a good price go to Jackson Hts. That’s how it has always been. At least as long as I’ve lived here and that’s over 4 decades.

2
16
Reply
charles castro

Hahahahahahahah, This is New Rat City at it best. Hopefully, she can get her relatives to work at a couple of these joints. Innovation at it’s best. Cross dressers reading to toddlers. What’s next? Pedophile baby sitter forgiveness program?

3
26
Reply
grandpa's off his meds again ^

How does “cross dressers reading to toddlers” qualify as SEX work?! You’re…not great at words.

Does the article EVER mention “cross dressers reading to toddlers”?

If you have such a thing against “cross dressers” you don’t support Giuliani right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8

18
1
Reply
charles castro

Cross dressers don’t qualify as sex workers while they are reading to toddlers, however, when the night comes upon us, they are selling their azzez on Roosevelt Avenue in droves. Additionally, I bring up the cross dressers reading to toddlers as further testament to the vile senselessness of the sick agenda being pushed by you vile individuals. Oh BTW, to hell with Giuliani, that idiot is a lowlife as well.

1
24
Reply
Tony

Dear “The truth hurts” :
94% !! wow! Where did you pull that number from? Living in JH I would guess that the majority would be Latinas (and often not women). Where did you get 94% are black women from? And, why do you post this statistic in “..”‘s? Who/what are you quoting?

I believe Y̲O̲U̲R̲ ̲t̲r̲u̲t̲h̲ ̲d̲o̲e̲s̲ ̲h̲u̲r̲t̲, mainly because it’s not accurate. Please verify.

7
14
Reply
Anonymous

She is wrong she needs to get her facts straight that’s y she looks like a fool to the republicans

3
1
Reply
JHeights my whole life

Read the whole article before writing a comment. The statistic said 94% of the women arrested for loitering in relation to prostitution in Brooklyn and Queens were Black women. That just refers to street walkers not the backpage ladies or the brothel workers that are still all over Jackson heights and Corona.

Reply
Ortega

Funny how they used to be called hookers and prostitutes. Now they are sex workers. Sure go ahead and secure these jobs for the illegals and bring slimy Jackson Heights to a new level.

14
27
Reply
Tony

Also funny: Illegal aliens used to be called “ILLEGAL ALIENS”. Then they were called “undocumented”, and now they’re simply “immigrants”. When did we start implying that all immigrants are the same? Those who come to America legally are welcome, the criminal illegals are not.

6
33
Reply
Concerned Queens Citizen

Wake up Jackson Heights. Is this what you really want? Prostitutes openly walking the streets while the degenerates who frequent them cruise through your neighborhood going to peep shows and soliciting hookers. Has everyone gone nuts here?

17
5
Reply
Kevin

Thank you Sen Ramos. Let’s deny your constituents high paying jobs at Amazon and focus on the only thing they are good for: Sex Workers! You are a disgrace.

27
15
Reply
Disgrace

AMEN. Fighting for all the wrong things. I am disgusted…absolutely disgusted. Does everyone REALLY want to see Roosevelt become a streetwalking Red Light District?

20
34
Reply
Rico

Exactly, Ramos rather see her people working in prostitution than in decent jobs like Target, Amazon, and Business Improvement Districts

23
18
Reply
Libertas

Society should not only decriminalize sex work but Society should also ensure that sex workers are truly working from their own Free Will. Ensure they’re entrepreneurs and not slaves.

7
20
Reply
Richard Vagge

Outraaaaaageous
Crime is Crime
Slippery Slope
Sin City continues
#Metoo ?
Ramos is Wrong !

23
54
Reply
The truth hurts .

“94% of the people arrested in Brooklyn and Queens for loitering in relations to prostitution are black women” . I’m sure that same percentage is White men , Just ask Mr Robert Kraft .

7
4
Reply
Tony

Dear “The truth hurts” :
94% !! wow! Where did you pull that number from? Living in JH I would guess that the majority would be Latinas (and often not women). Where did you get 94% are black women from? And, why do you post this statistic in “..”‘s? Who/what are you quoting?

I believe Y̲O̲U̲R̲ ̲t̲r̲u̲t̲h̲ ̲d̲o̲e̲s̲ ̲h̲u̲r̲t̲, mainly because it’s not accurate. Please verify.

1
15
Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Homeless men charged in deadly 7 train subway brawl in Woodside: DA

Three homeless men were arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Tuesday and variously charged with felony robbery, attempted gang assault, and assault for allegedly stealing the belongings of a 69-year-old homeless man who was asleep on a Manhattan-bound 7 train in Woodside early Sunday morning.

The victim woke up and tried to regain his property. During the ensuing brawl, the victim fatally stabbed a 37-year-old assailant and slashed a second man. The victim has not been charged in the fatal stabbing. The investigation by the NYPD’s Queens Homicide Squad and members of the 108th Precinct in Long Island City remains ongoing.