The District, like most cities and states, has long had criminal penalties for consensual sexual exchange. Although widely used, such an approach has never worked – instead it only serves to harm those most vulnerable while fostering violence and exploitation. It is time for DC to take a different approach.

Trans Women engage in sex work at a rate ten times that of cisgender women and 37% of DC's trans sex workers are homeless. Street-based sex workers who are engaged in survival sex work often bear the brunt of criminalization.