Introduced by Hawaii’s Speaker of the House Joseph Souki, proposal HB1533 legalizes “pimping” and buying sex and ends a law that prevents police officers from engaging with prostitutes as part of investigations.
Anti-sex trafficking advocate Kathryn Xian argues that the bill would make it even harder for police to monitor the unscrupulous industry.
“If this bill passes and everything was no crime whatsoever, then abuses against women and children would just shoot through the freaking roof,” says Xian. “It would be exponentially harder to prove violence in the industry. It would be almost impossible to prove any sort of labor abuse.”
Punching Bag agrees that the bill would make children more vulnerable. Think about it: it would be far easier to push a 14- or 15-year-old into the industry before he or she is old enough to make adult decisions.
Just like smoking cigarettes or using illegal drugs, prostitution is harder to escape when you start early. Making prostitution legal for anyone over the age of 18 does not prevent younger kids from getting involved before they are ready to make this very adult decision.
Speaker Souki says he has no stance on the bill and that he introduced it as a favor for transgender activist Tracy Ryan, who according to ABC News insists that “transgender women are overrepresented in the sex trade – and therefore disproportionately affected by criminalization laws.”
Michael Golojuch Jr. of the LGBT caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii explains that transgender women are drawn to prostitution because widespread discrimination prevents them from securing more traditional jobs.
“My dream job would be union organizer for consensual sex workers,” says Golojuch. “It would be great for people who want to do that work to unionize them and empower them so that they are taken care of.”
As American Thinker’s Thomas Lifson points out, “the statistically insignificant number of people who claim not to be the sex their chromosomes indicate are being used by the left as a driver of far-reaching social re-ordering…need I remind anyone that Hawaii’s legislature is dominated by Democrats?”
Author’s Note: HB1533 states that it “repeals the penalties for consensual adult prostitution.” I personally have no issue with consensual prostitution. Unfortunately, prostitution is rarely a choice, and the Hawaii bill stands to do far more harm than good.
Editor’s note: This certainly opens the door to abuse of children who will be sucked in by unscrupulous pimips. Does any parent look at their child and think “wow I would certainly love for you to grow up and be a prostitute”?