CARNAL NATION

Rhode Island lawmakers may not be passing any new legislation until the end of the year, but that hasn't stopped Providence mayor David Cicilline from pre-emptively trying to ban indoor prostitution in the capital city.  In a letter sent to city council members yesterday, the mayor outlined a plan to end the city's Asian massage parlor business, which some feel has gotten out of control in recent years.  His ordinance would fine prostitutes up to $500 and possibly lead to thirty days in jail for each offence.

Cicilline's plan would fine prostitutes, their clients, and landlords of known brothels.  (Intriguingly, one of the city's most visible brothels, the Bali Spa, is located in a building owned by Joseph Paolino, himself a former mayor of the city.)

If you haven't been following what's happening in my home state, here's the basics: 

Indoor prostitution has been legal in Rhode Island since 1980, but it's only recently become a big media sensation and until about six months ago most people didn't even realize it was legal.  Since then, a number of very vocal individuals have been doing their best to equate prostitution with human trafficking, arguing that most prostitutes are being held in Asian spas against their will, though they have little evidence to suggest this.

Earlier this year the state Senate passed a bill that would fine prostitutes, their clients, landlords, and anyone else seen to be making a profit from commercial sex.  The House passed a different bill with no fines for landlords but much harsher penalties for prostitutes, though that bill did contain an "affirmative defense" clause which would eliminate fines and jail time for women who claim to have been trafficked.  The ACLU, the National Organization for Women spoke against it, and even the Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking did not openly support the House bill.  The sponsors of the two bills could not come to an agreement, and neither passed before the end of the legislative season.  In the meantime, the State Police are drafting a compromise bill which neither the House nor the Senate has seen.

While sex trafficking is obviously a horrible plague and should be effectively stopped, it's also not the only form of human trafficking, and there aren't enough statistics available to suggest that any of the women giving handjobs in the spas are doing so against their will.