The state of Maine is embarking on a controversial experiment by partially decriminalizing prostitution in an attempt to eliminate exploitation of sex workers — adopting a model advocates say is a first in the country.
Maine becomes first state to decriminalize selling sex
Buying sex will remain illegal in the state, as communities nationally reconsider how best to legislate prostitution
A former prosecutor and attorney general, Mills vetoed a similar measure in 2021 but approved the bill this year after a conversation with the famed author and feminist Gloria Steinem.
The approach, versions of which have been adopted in Canada and several European countries, is championed by many feminists who see it as the best way to stamp out demand for paid sex while protecting those who sell it because of economic need or because they are victims of trafficking. Among its opponents are conservatives who say it could impede efforts to help trafficking victims; also opposed to the partial decriminalization are those who advocate the full decriminalization of consensual sex work.
Cities and states nationally have been reevaluating how commercial sex should be treated under the law. Last year, California followed New York state in repealing a ban on loitering with the intent to sell sex.
In 2021, then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced that his office no longer would prosecute other prostitution and unlicensed massage cases but would continue to pursue buyers and traffickers, joining Baltimore and Philadelphia.
But the exchange of sex for money remains illegal for sellers and buyers in the rest of the country, except Nevada, where some rural counties allow the operation of licensed brothels, according to the organization Decriminalize Sex Work, which seeks to change laws nationally.
“The point of this whole thing is to decrease the demand for commercial sex,” said Maine state Rep. Lois Reckitt (D), who sponsored the bill, adding that she wanted to do something to help women in the “revolving door” to get out of the sex industry.