July 16, By Zijia Song. New York City has been a hotbed of debate about the policing of sex work. While a growing number of progressive politicians have embraced the movement to completely decriminalize it, City Council speaker Corey Johnson has broken from the trend, arguing that clients of sex workers should be prosecuted.
The group spearheaded the Occupy City Hall protest leading up to the city budget vote last Tuesday. GEMS, a non-profit organization that empowers young women subject to sexual exploitation and trafficking mainly through housing assistance, got a full renewal of the financial support it started receiving from the city last year. More than 98 percent of their clients are people of color, aged 12 to 24, according to founder and director Rachel Lloyd.
Thanks to the city funding, Lloyd said, GEMS was able to expand their client pool to include young women from the ages of 24 to GEMS has been providing cash, food packages, and other forms of assistance to them. Last year in May, following an event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Johnson noted that he was making progress with a proposal to fund a service center for sex workers.
The Center was launched earlier this year and provides holistic services to individuals in the sex trade. Regardless of how an individual self-identifies, they can drop in and receive physical and mental health services, legal counseling, and economic empowerment training with translation services. While a growing number of progressive politicians have embraced the movement to decriminalize sex work, Johnson has expressed support for the Nordic model, which does not prosecute sex workers but punishes those who procure sexual services.
Johnson explained in May of last year that he believed the city should provide support for individuals involved in the sex trade, but there should be penalties for those who are looking to purchase sex.
