The public’s understanding of the criminalization and policing of prostitution related activities usually does not match reality. In a new report, COYOTE RI organized and analyzed misdemeanor prostitution related cases in Rhode Island going back to 2000, and state felony sex trafficking and pandering cases from 2016 to late 2022.

Real information about the policing of prostitution is difficult to obtain. There are five state laws pertaining to prostitution in the state, as well as federal trafficking laws. The enforcement of these laws brings vulnerable people, often defined as “victims” into contact with the criminal justice system – but these victims are very often prosecuted and fined as criminals, and receive little in the way of social assistance.

State Laws:

• 11-34.1-2. Prostitution
• 11-34.1-3. Procurement of sexual conduct for a fee.
• 11-34-11. Loitering for indecent purposes in or near schools
• 11-34.1-6. Soliciting from a vehicle
• 23-20.8-3. Practicing massage without a license

From the report:

“In 2021, thirteen out of the sixteen total prostitution related arrests in Rhode Island were of Asian spa workers. Among these 13 cases, two women (Ms. H and Ms. L) were arrested twice, even though one was listed as a victim.“

What the report found has implications for the way the state deals with poverty, homelessness, substance use, immigration, youth services, policing and more.

This report’s main findings are:

• After the re-criminalization of indoor prostitution, and again over the last six years, there has been a sharp increase in arrests of Asian spa workers. In 2021, Asian spa workers made up 13 of Rhode Island’s 16 total prostitution related arrests. Police target Asian spa workers for re-arrest, sometimes arresting them within a couple weeks of their previous arrest.
• The state financially benefits from the repeated fines levied in these arrests and police and prosecutors were awarded $650,000 in prostitution earnings in one spa case.
• Since 2000 there have been 11 federal sex trafficking cases with minor victims in Rhode Island.
• Since 2016 there have been 5 state sex trafficking cases with minor victims in Rhode Island’s commercial sex industry, and 2 additional cases with minor victims who were not involved in the commercial sex industry.
• Asian women, trafficking survivors, and drug users were overrepresented in cases involving law enforcement sexual contact.
• Of the 2,189 misdemeanor cases we were provided, 288 people had more than one arrest, 29 people had 10 or more arrests, and at least 123 had between 3 and 9 charges. Two women had 25 prostitution charges.

The report also makes some recommendations:

• The prostitution, procurement, loitering, soliciting from a motor vehicle, and massaging without a license laws should be removed entirely.
• Expand Rhode Island’s sexual assault statute to make it clear that sex or sexual contact as an investigative tactic is not okay and is criminal behavior. This can be accomplished by adding the following as (5) to § 11-37-2. First degree sexual assault and (4) to § 11-37-4. Second degree sexual assault: “The accused is or claims to be a peace officer in the state of Rhode Island and investigates, detains, or arrests the victim for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or stimulation.”
• Rhode Island’s police departments and state police should not work with ICE officials in prostitution enforcement as ICE involvement is highly correlated with an increase in the targeting and deportation of Asian workers.
• Rhode Island’s state trafficking of a minor law could be brought in line with federal law by adding a “reckless disregard” clause or be entirely eliminated as the federal law is sufficient and the state law is redundant.
• Rhode Island police and prosecutors should be instructed to prioritize cases where force, fraud, or coercion are used against minors, and to treat their non-abusive peers respectfully as valuable potential witnesses and reporters.
• Rhode Island police and prosecutors should be instructed to consistently monitor group home staff and prioritize the investigation and prosecution of abusive group home staff. Youth should find state care to be safer than, and preferable to, the sex industry.

Unequal application of the law

Prostitution is illegal for both the seller and the buyer, but sex workers bear the brunt of criminalization.

From the report:

“Out of 2,189 total cases, only 406 were for procurement or soliciting from a vehicle (ie, customers), indicating that despite the common rhetoric demonizing clients of sex workers, sex workers are arrested more than four times as often as clients. In more than one case, police describe “dispersing” customers from the scene. This again demonstrates the unequal application of prostitution-related laws: they are primarily used to hunt and prosecute women (including trans women) rather than men. In at least 3 of these cases, the customer was arrested with a sex worker, and they received different treatment.“

Profiting from vulnerable populations

Since indoor prostitution was re-criminalized by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 2009, Asian spa workers have been arrested and re-arrested on both misdemeanor and felony charges. During these cases, law enforcement works closely with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), putting sex workers at risk of deportation.

Going after these sex workers can be extremely profitable for law enforcement as well. In 2019 the Pawtucket Police Department and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office split $650,000 in prostitution earnings as a result of the arrest of 19 Asian spa workers. Far from helping sex workers exit the life, law enforcement, through frequent arrests and fines, essentially “tax” sex workers through court fines and property confiscation.

From the report:

“One worker, Ms. B, has survived 25 prostitution cases and one pandering case spread over 19 years and currently has an open disorderly conduct case. In just ten of those cases – the only ones in which the court portal shows financial information – Ms. B paid or was ordered to pay $2,639. She currently owes the courts $476.90.

“Another worker, Ms. T, also survived 25 prostitution arrests over 23 years. Over the years, in the 20 cases that show financial information, she has been charged $4,554. She currently owes the courts $2596.50 and, according to the court portal, in 2018 she was convicted of ‘Restitution Payments.’”

Sexual contact by law enforcement

While working to arrest sex workers, police officers sometimes engage in sexual contact with them.

From the report:

“Of the 1,716 misdemeanor charging documents for prostitution, loitering for the purpose of prostitution, massaging without a license, and pandering provided by police departments, fifty five included allegations, which were sometimes blacked out but still easily understood, that police engaged in sexual contact with the defendant before arresting them. In most of these cases, consent for the sexual contact was gained by the police officer fraudulently claiming that he was not a police officer and/or fraudulently agreeing to pay for the sexual contact.“

Further, the report maintains that “sexual contact and penetration by police officers is common, and most often coerced under threat of arrest.” The report quotes a social worker who wrote,

“One of the most appalling is the reports we hear about people being victimized by police officers. We have heard multiple people – primarily female identifying clients – describe being raped, having sexual favors demanded of them, and being otherwise coerced both in lieu of and prior to arrest. The individuals who have told us about these events have said that they did not report the police violence because they will face retribution or they will not be believed.”

There is much more in the report, including the startling information that in the cases where the addresses of minors trafficked in the sex industry can be known, most were runaways from DCYF group homes. You can read the report, Prostitution and Prostitution-Related Charges in Rhode Island 2000-Present, here.