00:00With only a few weeks to go before November's election, mayoral frontrunner and democratic
00:05socialist Zoran Mamdani has been wishy-washy on what decriminalized prostitution could
00:10look like in the Big Apple.
00:12Mamdani has long called to decriminalize sex work and, as a state assemblyman, co-sponsored
00:17a bill to lift criminal penalties from some prostitution offenses.
00:22So if Mamdani were to become mayor in November and move forward with a decriminalization
00:26plan, what would that look like in NYC?
00:29The Post sat down with the Manhattan Institute's investigative reporter Adam Lahody to find
00:34out what kind of effects prostitution decriminalization would bring to the city.
00:38In recent weeks, the Mamdani campaign has been approached several times and asked whether
00:43they would support the decriminalization of prostitution.
00:47This is something that Mamdani actually supported previously when he was running for assemblyman
00:52in 2021.
00:53Today, he's distanced himself from those comments.
00:56He refuses to say either way whether he would or wouldn't support the decriminalization
01:01of prostitution.
01:02He knows that in order to win, he needs the support of broad types of communities, including
01:09religious communities who have historically shown opposition to this.
01:13On the other hand, he still wants to secure the vote of the Democratic Socialists of America
01:18in the city.
01:19This was in their national platform as of a couple of weeks ago.
01:23They've now pulled that from the website.
01:25And it very clearly states supporting full decriminalization of prostitution, which would
01:31mean decriminalizing both the selling and the buying.
01:34There are several different proposals which have been suggested, including partial decriminalization,
01:40which would decriminalizing the selling of sex, but not the buying of it.
01:45So the big concern here is that a lot of women and vulnerable people are being unfairly penalized
01:53and they're being trafficked into this, but then they're facing the consequences and they're
01:57not able to secure housing.
01:58So partial decriminalization would address some of those concerns.
02:02And then you have full decriminalization, which would also decriminalize or remove any criminal
02:07penalties for buying.
02:09Some of the victims of human trafficking that I spoke to said they were very concerned that
02:14this would increase total demand for the market.
02:17It would increase the total number of buyers and so it wouldn't do anything to address those
02:22concerns.
02:23Whether you're doing partial decriminalization or full decriminalization, there are broader
02:27concerns on the community.
02:28It does have knock-on effects on crime and on public safety.
02:32And then finally you have legalization, which would not only remove the legal penalties,
02:38it would remove criminal penalties, but it would make it a service like any other that
02:43you could buy and you could sell.
02:44Eric Adams stepped up enforcement on the infamous Roosevelt Boulevard in Queens, where you do have,
02:52it is a hotspot of public solicitation and sex workers who walk up and down the street.
02:59The city saw a significant, a double-digit decrease in crimes after it did start enforcing
03:08these rules.
03:09So you have knock-on, you have knock-on impacts.
03:11Prostitution also is pretty significantly correlated to increases in other forms of antisocial behavior,
03:18like robbery, like violent assault.
03:22And you saw a decrease in all these types of crimes.
03:24Besides the merit of decriminalizing or not decriminalizing sex work, it's super important
03:31to consider the broader community impact.
03:33We need to consider the communities.
03:35There's a risk that turning a blind eye to solicitation of sexual services, risk creating
03:43these kind of no-go zones where you can't bring your children there, you can't have families
03:48walking around because this type of antisocial behavior is rampant.
03:52I do think there is a future in which sensible reforms could be made, that try and get it
03:59off the street, that try and provide support and health services to the women working in
04:07this trade.
04:08At the same time, I think we need to be very careful.
04:09Part of the DSA literature suggests that full decriminalization would be a form of liberation
04:15for women.
04:16I think we need to recognize that a lot of people in this trade are not in it through
04:20their own volition.
04:21They're in it because they've been trafficked, because they were completely destitute.
04:25And rather than seeing this as a completely acceptable and viable alternative, we should
04:31try and help and provide as much support so that these women are able to access better opportunities.
04:36in order, even to navigate a lot of ourselves, we should divide them overthinking their self-있angen Constance,
04:52but it won't fall.
04:53And if we don't maintain attention, I mean, can we sort of play the job at that moment?
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