Gov. Phil Scott signed S. 33, an act relating to miscellaneous judicial procedures. The law prohibits a police officer from engaging in sexual contact with an individual who is in custody, being detained, or being arrested to also prohibiting law enforcement from engaging in a sexual act with a person who is the subject of an open investigation or a confidential informant or victim in an open investigation. With this legislation, policy makers reiterated that non-consensual sex is a crime, while consenting adults should be afforded the autonomy and dignity to make choices about their own bodies.
Consistent with this view, S.33’s ban on police sexual assaults will help prevent the second-most prevalent form of police violence behind excessive force, police sexual misconduct, which most commonly occurs between police and consensual adult sex workers. Due to their engagement in a criminalized activity, victims engaged in prostitution are targeted by officers who use their fear of arrest to exploit them. “The fear of arrest makes it impossible for a sex worker to give consent even if it appears that they may have made a choice. There is no choice to be made between violation and incarceration. Additionally, because consent was obtained by deception, it amounts to sexual assault,” said Henri Bynx, co-founder and co-director of The Ishtar Collective.
“Laws addressing police sexual violence codify the notion that consent, or lack thereof, is key when determining if a crime has occurred,” said Rep. Taylor Small, sponsor of the initial bill included in S.33. “By delineating when consent cannot be given, we acknowledge that it is possible for sex workers to consent to paid sex in other instances and that when consent is involved, it should not be a crime,” Small continued, referencing the companion bills introduced last legislative session that would decriminalize consensual adult sex work.
The majority of Vermonters agree that consensual adult sex work should be decriminalized. In a 2022 poll, when asked if they think “prostitution between consenting adults should be legal…or a crime,” 46% said it should be legal,while only 33% said it should be a crime. 21% were unsure. Sex workers, academics, human-rights activists, and public-health experts are increasingly calling on legislators to consider the evidence around decriminalization, which demonstrates increases in public health and safety and decreases in exploitation and trafficking.
