The Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA) were signed into law in 2018 with the stated intention of expanding criminal liability for online platforms that were used by third parties to engage with sex trafficking to protect and assist trafficking victims and sex workers. SESTA/FOSTA banned websites from knowingly hosting advertisements for sex trafficking or benefiting financially from acts that promote sex trafficking.

However, SESTA/FOSTA makes no distinction between illegal sex trafficking and consensual sex work. Sex workers expressed concern that these bills would negatively affect their safety by banning online tools that sex workers use to keep themselves safe. Websites such as Backpage.com were hubs for sex workers to find and vet clients before meeting, share blacklists, and have a community. They provided a safer work environment, allowing sex workers to be more selective of clients and discreet about their location and services, whereas previously sex workers were forced to seek out clients through street walking, in bars or other face to face client seeking locations, or by working through agencies or pimps who exploited the workers. Online listings allowed sex workers control over their own clientele, over their own safety risks and have control over their own earnings. SESTA/FOSTA removed this ability for sex workers, forcing them back into unsafe situations. “For years, SESTA/FOSTA has demonized sex workers and subjected them to an increased risk of violence and abuse. Instead of preventing trafficking, it made it harder for sex workers to access critical health and safety resources,” says Rep. Barbara Lee, a co-sponsor of the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act. Everyone has and deserves the fundamental human right to be free from discrimination, exploitation, and abuse at work and to have access to basic needs and services respected.

Since the implementation of SESTA/FOSTA, there has been no follow-up research to determine how this affected the health and safety of those groups or its effectiveness in stopping sex trafficking. The SAFE SEX Workers Study Act, sponsored by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), aims to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct the first federal study on the impact that SESTA/FOSTA has had on sex workers. The SAFE SEX Workers Study Act would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to work with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within a year of the bills passing.

The introduction of this bill comes after a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that federal prosecutors have never used SESTA/FOSTA to seek criminal restitution for victims of sex trafficking. “As lawmakers, we are responsible for examining unintended consequences of all legislation, and that includes any impact SESTA-FOSTA may have had on the ability of sex workers to protect themselves from physical or financial abuse,” said Senator Warren. If SESTA/FOSTA is not being used for its intended purpose of assisting in the reduction of trafficking, it is important to understand how it is being used, who it is affecting, and how it is affecting them.

We urge you to reintroduce the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act to understand the effect of the implementation of SESTA/FOSTA. Everyone deserves the fundamental human right to be free from discrimination, exploitation, and abuse, and sex workers need the tools to ensure they can remain so while working.