Community advocates from across Chicago gathered at Maggiano's Little Italy, 516 N. Clark St., on April 25 to discuss the safety of Illinois sex workers.
After a brief introduction, Equality Illinois CEO Brian C. Johnson and Sex Workers Advisory Group Chair Reyna Ortiz dove into stories and statistics around the criminalization of sex work. The event concluded with a Q&A moderated by Illinois state senator Celina Villanueva.
"This is a topic many people have preconceived notions about. Some people in this room might even be uncomfortable about that, and that's okay," Johnson said.
He then highlighted what "sex work" means in this context—adult, consensual sex—not any sort of trafficking or other nonconsensual acts.
Ortiz told her own story of working as a sex worker for 20 years, and how she wanted to take ownership of her own sexuality. As a young trans woman with expenses for her own transition, she was able to gain more financial stability through this line of work. Although she got into sex work of her own volition, it didn't mean it was all enjoyable—many times, she was afraid of clients potentially harming her or being arrested.
Criminalization of sex work, Ortiz said, makes it difficult to include safe practices in her work. There was no way for her to vet clients since oftentimes they would keep their identities secret, and she wouldn't always have control over where they would meet.
Ortiz highlighted how "partial" decriminalization measures don't really keep sex workers safe—they simply shortcut several issues and continues to perpetuate the same dangers they face.
"No matter what any one person's view on sex work are, most people believe sex workers deserve to be safe," Johnson said. "Seventy-five percent of sex workers will experience sexual violence in their career … These figures reflect the real experiences of people here in Illinois."
Multiple videos were shown from talk shows and court cases where sex workers talked about feeling unsafe reporting assault or rape on the job. Since this line of work is criminalized, many fear police action against them if they report mistreatment.
"Too many powerful forces are trying to take away people's bodily autonomy," Ortiz said. "We see this in the Dobbs decision [ending abortion access]. We see this in the time of criminalizing gender affirming care."
According to the FBI, the majority of arrests in 2019 for prostitution were women, with 42% being Black and 19% Latinx. This line of work disproportionately harms marginalized communities.
Johnson then dove into the benefits of decriminalizing sex work—noting for example that people would feel more comfortable sharing information about themselves, since they'd know they're not at risk of being set up by police. That in turn would allow workers to have more power over their encounters.
Johnson also said that, after decriminalization, sex workers would also feel more comfortable seeking help for themselves, especially after being assaulted on the job. They also would have an easier time alerting authorities about actual human trafficking situations. Taxpayer dollars and law enforcement efforts could then go towards tracking down and punishing those perpetuating human trafficking.
Johnson also discussed areas of Australia and New Zealand which were able to reduce trafficking by decriminalizing sex work. In 2023, the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls also called for the full decriminalization of sex work.
Public health and economic justice would also improve with the decriminalization, Ortiz said. She mentioned two separate studies highlighting how HIV and STD rates lowered within the population at large alongside decriminalization and also the way sex workers would be able to find more safe and stable sources of income.
The term "legalization" is also used when discussing sex work, and Johnson mentioned conversations with sex workers showing that legalization (as opposed to decriminalization) would cause a different set of logistical issues. With legalization, burdensome paperwork and troublesome fines could also be put into malicious effect against marginalized groups, such as Black and Brown women, and force sex work to continue dangerously in the shadows.
Ortiz wrapped up the speaker portion of the program with a discussion on what she hopes people take away from the event.
"I hope we can change your hearts and minds so we can eliminate the stigma," she said. "No matter how you feel about sex work, we hope you agree no worker should be assaulted or killed for participating in adult consensual sex work."
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