Decriminalization of Prostitution:
Paid Sexual Exploitation for Poor Women?
Monday August 30, 2004
Julia Morgan Theater 2640 College Ave. (north of Ashby)
Berkeley, California

Preregistration is required because space is limited.
Call 415-922-4555 for information.
Email us at conference@prostitutionresearch.com

There is no charge to attend the conference. All are welcome, regardless of ability to pay. We request a $25.00 donation (more if you can) to cover conference costs from those who can afford to contribute. Donations are tax-deductible (Prostitution Research & Education).

Sponsors: Prostitution Research & Education, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Captive Daughters, SAGE, Breaking Free.

This conference will provide a context for understanding prostitution. Prostitution causes physical and psychological harm to those in it. There is massive social and economic inequality in prostitution, with race/ethnic marginalization further increasing the harm of prostitution.

While most people intuitively understand the harm of prostitution, they are confused about what to do about it. Would decriminalization decrease its harm, or would it actually be a pimp and john magnet, mainstreaming a practice that is a human rights violation, and creating a class of mostly poor girls and women who would be available for purchase?

This conference is open to Berkeley voters, and to advocates, public health personnel, attorneys, students, social workers, criminal justice personnel, substance abuse counselors, and the public.

8:30-9:00AM Registration (the following sequence of events may be changed)

9:00 AM Service Provider Panel:
Where prostitution has been decriminalized, funding for services to escape prostitution has decreased.
Confirmed: Alesia Adams, Center to End Adolescent Sexual Exploitation, Atlanta, Marisa Ugarte, Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition, San Diego, Norma Hotaling, SAGE Project, San Francisco, Vednita Carter, Breaking Free, Minneapolis.
Invited but not yet confirmed: Beckie Masaki, Asian Women’s Shelter, San Francisco;
Mama Tere Strickland, Maori community organizer, Auckland.

11:00 AM Break.

11:15AM Discussion groups #1

12:00-1:00 pm Lunch on your own

1:00 Documentary La Vitrine Hollandaise (The Dutch Showcase)
This film travels into the heart of the world of legal prostitution. Seen from a distance, the Dutch model may seem tempting. But from the inside, it’s a different reality entirely. The entrepreneurs prosper and invest, the clients consume in total impunity, the State collects the taxes. "The Dutch Showcase" takes a stand in a debate that rages throughout the European Union and that profoundly affects women everywhere.

2:00 pm. Melissa Farley will discuss health consequences of prostitution in 9 countries, in a variety of legal jurisdictions and in various physical locations. Regardless of its legal status, prostitution causes mental and physical harms to those in it.

2:40 pm speaker to be announced

3:00 pm Break

3:15 Discussion groups #2

4:15 Strategic Alternatives to Prostitution, Summary of Discussion Groups,
& Closing Comments

5:30 pm Conference ends

Fact Sheet: Myth vs. Fact, Decriminalization of Prostitution.