National Organization for Women

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Policy Fact Sheet: Full Decriminalization of Consensual Sex Work

Fact Sheet Compiled by Debbie Deland

Full decriminalization removes criminal penalties for selling or buying consensual adult sexual services. It does not legalize trafficking, coercion, violence, exploitation, or underage involvement — those remain crimes. Sex work predators are criminals. Decriminalization means:

  • Adults can work without fear of arrest
  • Workers can report violence without risking prosecution
  • Police can focus on actual exploitation, not consensual activity
  • Public health agencies can reach people without criminal barriers
  • Provides for health services and community support
  • Treating consensual sex work as labor, focusing on protecting workers and prosecuting exploitation
  • Reduces stigmatization of consensual sex and sex worker.

Whether partial or full criminalization model, there is heightened risk around housing, children, detention, deportation, and banking. Those models are based on the assumption that all sex work involves victimhood. It criminalizes adult sexual freedom. They result in more policing.

Full decriminalization of Consensual Sex work is the model (not the Nordic model) supported by sex‑worker‑led organizations, major human rights groups, and global public health experts, including SWOP USA and its Chapters, Red Canary Song, Black Sex Worker Collective, Desiree Alliance, US PROS Collective, BIPOC-Swop Chapters, NSWP, Red Umbrella Fund, APNSW, ASWA, ICRS/ESWA, Scarlet Alliance, RedTraSex. Butterfly, Dream Defenders, FL Prisoner Solidarity, Equality FL, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, World Health Organization, UNAIDS, The Lancet, APHA, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, etc.

Young feminists and feminists of color show high support for the full decriminalization model (Data for Progress National Polling, Economist Polling). Published positions: Black Feminist Future, SisterSong, National Black Women’s Justice Institute, Mijente, Black Youth Project 100. Younger feminists are more aligned with intersectional, anti‑carceral, and bodily autonomy frameworks [Weitzer, Ronald. Sociology of Sex Work (Annual Review of Sociology, 2018). Wagenaar & Altink. Prostitution Policy in Europe(2012–2020)]. Applying certain moral compasses to fighting against the decriminalization of sex worker clients denies sex workers choice and bodily autonomy. Criminalizing clients has many negative consequences for the sex worker.

All exploitative labor is ILLEGAL under Full Decriminalization. And it’s called human trafficking when it’s illegal. Under Full Decriminalization less than 4 sex workers can work together in the same location without a brothel license. All sex workers can hire bookers, receptionists, drivers, and security with no penalties unless they don’t pay them. A “brothel” can operate as a licensed business (it turns into a legalized (regulated/taxed model) and has to pay for a license, inspections, health codes, safety codes, etc.). Most brothels in New Zealand are independent owners and sex worker co-ops. If you have an illegal brothel, a lapsed license, or an underage victim, it will be shut down and prosecuted.

Why Decriminalization Matters

1. It dramatically increases safety (New Zealand Government, Lancet Medical Journal, WHO. Human Rights Watch, etc.)

  • Criminalization of clients forces workers into isolated areas and rushed negotiations.
  • Decriminalization allows workers to screen clients, work together, and call police when needed.
  • o In New Zealand (decriminalized since 2003): 70% of sex workers report improved safety, No increase in trafficking,workers report greater ability to refuse clients

2. It improves public health

  • Criminalization increases HIV risk by disrupting condom negotiation & access to services.
  • Decriminalization is associated with lower HIV transmission, better testing, and stronger outreach. Per The Lancet, Decriminalization could reduce HIV infections among sex workers by 33-46% globally.

3. It reduces violence

  • Sex workers in criminalized systems experience 7–10× higher rates of violence than the general population. Decriminalization removes the fear of arrest that keeps victims from reporting assault.

4. It strengthens anti‑trafficking efforts

  • When workers aren’t criminalized, they can report coercion and exploitation without risking arrest. This improves identification of real trafficking cases.

5. It advances gender, racial, and economic justice

  • Criminalization disproportionately harms: Black women, Trans women, Migrant women, Low‑income women, LGBTQ+. Decriminalization reduces policing harm and supports bodily autonomy.

Key Statistics

  • 90%+ of sex‑worker‑led organizations worldwide support full decriminalization.
  • 7–10× higher violence rates under criminalization.
  • No increase in trafficking in countries that have decriminalized.
  • 70% of workers in New Zealand report improved safety post‑decriminalization.
  • Criminalization increases risk of: Police violence, Housing instability, HIV transmission, Barriers to reporting assault

What Decriminalization Is Not

  • It is not legalization (which adds heavy regulations that can still criminalize marginalized workers).
  • It is not the Nordic Model, which criminalizes clients and pushes sex work underground.
  • It is not deregulation — trafficking, coercion, violence, underage involvement, and exploitation remain fully illegal.

Stories

“I can refuse clients now — before, I couldn’t.” (New Zealand)

“I called the police for the first time in my life.” (New Zealand)

“We work together now — that keeps us safe.” (Abel, Fitzgerald, Brunton)

“Managers can’t threaten us anymore.” (NZ Government Review, Amnesty International)

“I can carry condoms without fear.” (Human Rights Watch, WHO)

“I feel safer working indoors.” (NSW Australia Government Review)

“I left an unsafe situation — and I could, because I wasn’t criminalized.” (NZ Prostitution Law Review)

What These Stories Have in Common: More control over their working conditions, Greater ability to refuse unsafe clients, improved relationships with police, less violence, better health access, more power to leave exploitative workplaces, safer indoor working environments, and stronger peer networks. Women are perfectly capable of deciding whether consensual sex work will be their work

Other Full Decriminalization of Consensual Adult Sex Work References