The goal of shuttering U.S.-based commercial sex websites was both necessary and effective, but law enforcement is still struggling to adapt to FOSTA’s many unintended consequences in its broader fight against the commercial sex industry.
FOSTA conflates consensual sex workers with trafficking victims. As a result, it has made consensual sex markets more coercive and riskier, while hindering anti-trafficking efforts.
The sex trade is defined by exploitation. For survivors, FOSTA is a welcome step towards holding those who profit off of online exploitation accountable.
Stakeholders with authentic disagreements about and experiences in transactional sex can work together to reduce common harms in the sex trades through participatory policymaking that includes a wide range of people with lived experience, including people who identify as survivors of trafficking, sexual exploitation, and sex work.
Registries to track child maltreatment allegations are one of many state tools for surveilling low-income Black mothers, and they can lead to devastating consequences for family and youth.
Rather than continuing to put money, time, and effort into the criminal legal system which has failed to deter intimate partner violence, IPV policy should center economic, community, and public health solutions. Such solutions shift the focus of IPV policy from reaction to prevention and provide justice for people unwilling or unable to turn safely to state-based criminal punishment systems.
Social Media
