SAFE SEX Workers Study Act
Bill: H.R.6928 | Sponsor: Rep. Khanna, Ro (D-CA)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
SESTA/FOSTA Examination of Secondary Effects for Sex Workers Study Act or the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act  This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to study the impacts of the reduction in access to certain websites and other interactive computer services resulting from the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 on individuals engaged in adult, consensual sex work.
Specifically, HHS must study the impacts of the reduction on the health and safety of individuals engaged in transactional sex while DOJ must study the impacts of the reduction on human trafficking investigations and prosecutions.

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study 
  to assess the unintended impacts on the health and safety of people 
 engaged in transactional sex, in connection with the enactment of the 
 Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 
  and the loss of interactive computer services that host information 
related to sexual exchange, to direct the Attorney General to submit a 
    report on human trafficking investigations and prosecutions in 
           connection with the same, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``SESTA/FOSTA Examination of Secondary 
Effects for Sex Workers Study Act'' or the ``SAFE SEX Workers Study 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) People who engage in consensual, transactional sex 
        utilize online platforms to protect their health, safety, and 
        independence. This use includes building community connections, 
        distribution of harm reduction information and techniques, 
        identification and screening of potential clients, sale of 
        media and remote services and negotiating the terms of 
        consensual, transactional sex services, including condom use 
        and other harm reduction strategies.
            (2) Widespread discrimination against populations, 
        including LGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly transgender women 
        of color, prevents many from accessing formal employment 
        resources, traditional financial services, and educational 
        opportunities.
            (3) In the 2015 United States Transgender Survey conducted 
        by the National Center for Transgender Equality, 19 percent of 
        respondents reported having exchanged sex for resources, such 
        as for money, food, or a place to sleep. Transgender women of 
        color, including Black (42 percent), American Indian (28 
        percent), multiracial (27 percent), Latina (23 percent), and 
        Asian (22 percent) respondents were more likely to have 
        participated in sex work than the overall sample.
            (4) In the 2015 United States Transgender Survey, 
        respondents who experienced homelessness in the past year (17 
        percent) were more than 3 times as likely to have participated 
        in sex work during that year compared to the overall sample.
            (5) On a broader scale, internet platforms foster 
        connections between people and play an integral part in 
        American society. Access to digital platforms has been 
        essential for activists, distribution of harm reduction 
        information and reproductive and sexual health information, and 
        fostering connections between people who face geographic 
        barriers. Meaningful regulation of internet platforms must take 
        into account the role they play in the health, safety, and 
        privacy of all people's lives.
            (6) While policymakers, representatives of internet 
        platforms, and some advocates have discussed ways to mitigate 
        the use of internet platforms to decrease exploitation, people 
        who consensually trade sex are rarely involved in the drafting 
        of legislation or policies, or in assessing their impact, 
        despite being amongst the populations who are impacted by 
        legislation and policies related to the regulation of these 
        internet platforms.
            (7) On February 27, 2018, the House of Representatives 
        passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex 
        Trafficking Act of 2017 (commonly known as ``SESTA/FOSTA''). 
        While SESTA/FOSTA holds websites liable for user-generated 
        content that facilitates sex trafficking, it also impacts 
        online platforms where users discuss consensual sex work and 
        related topics.
            (8) Contemporaneously with the passage of SESTA/FOSTA in 
        the Senate on March 21, 2018, websites preemptively shut down, 
        some directly citing the law's passage as the rationale for 
        closure.
            (9) One week before President Donald Trump signed SESTA/
        FOSTA into law, the Department of Justice seized Backpage.com 
        and arrested Backpage employees, citing promotion of 
        prostitution and money laundering charges, similar to the 
        Department of Homeland Security's seizure of Rentboy.com only a 
        few years prior.
            (10) While these websites and individual accounts have been 
        closing down, there has been no national investigation 
        rigorously examining the impact of losing access to these 
        platforms on the health and safety of people in consensual, 
        transactional sex work. Regional and anecdotal information from 
        health and safety service providers and sex workers has pointed 
        to significant impacts on the health and safety of people who 
        engage in consensual, transactional sex.
            (11) Community organizations have reported increased 
        homelessness of sex workers, including of sex workers who are 
        caretakers for their families and have lost the economic 
        stability provided by access to online platforms.
            (12) Sex workers have reported a reduced ability to screen 
        potential clients for safety, and negotiate for boundaries such 
        as condom use, resulting in reports of physical and sexual 
        violence.
            (13) Many sex workers have turned to street-based work, 
        which has historically involved higher rates of violence than 
        other forms of transactional sex. Street-based sex workers have 
        frequently noted practices which harm their health and safety, 
        such as the confiscation of condoms by police, or use of 
        condoms as evidence of arrest for prostitution.
            (14) With this new level of precarity, isolation, and 
        vulnerability, there is substantial anecdotal evidence that 
        members of the sex work community are more frequently being 
        contacted by third parties seeking to engage in management 
        activities. This includes both sex workers who had always 
        worked independently, as well as those who have previously 
        experienced violence and exploitation by a third party.
            (15) The Federal Government has long discussed the 
        importance of assessing collateral consequences when looking at 
        other industries. Comprehensive studies are essential to 
        evaluate the impact on human trafficking investigations and 
        prosecutions, and the health and safety of those involved in 
        consensual, transactional sex, who are increasingly losing 
        access to digital platforms, which have been used for harm 
        reduction information and techniques, and to screen clients. 
        Informed government policies begin with seeking out relevant 
        information to better guide our actions moving forward.

SEC. 3. STUDY ON UNINTENDED IMPACTS ON HEALTH AND SAFETY OF PEOPLE 
              ENGAGED IN TRANSACTIONAL SEX AS A RESULT OF THE LOSS OF 
              CERTAIN ONLINE RESOURCES.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to 
in this section as the ``Secretary''), in consultation, as appropriate, 
with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and the Assistant 
Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall study the impacts 
on the health and safety of people engaged in transactional sex 
resulting from the loss of access to interactive computer services (as 
defined in section 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
230(f))) in connection with the closure of websites (including 
Backpage.com) that host information related to consensual sexual 
exchange, on or after February 27, 2018, in anticipation of, or in 
response to, the enactment of the Allow States and Victims to Fight 
Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-164).
    (b) Interviews and Surveys.--The study under subsection (a) shall 
include interviews with, and surveys conducted by, nonprofit and 
community-based organizations that provide direct services to people 
engaged in transactional sex.
    (c) Topics.--The study under subsection (a) shall include 
assessment of the following impacts on people engaged in transactional 
sex:
            (1) Changes in access to technology-related harm reduction 
        services, including social media services.
            (2) Changes in ability to negotiate terms with potential 
        clients.
            (3) Changes in experiences of violence from clients.
            (4) Changes in interactions with law enforcement officials, 
        including changes in police surveillance, stops, and arrests.
            (5) Changes in contact from third parties.
            (6) Changes in relationship to and reliance on third 
        parties.
            (7) Changes in experiences of exploitation and trafficking.
            (8) Impacts on access to economic resources.
            (9) Impacts on access to banking and financial technology 
        tools.
            (10) Impacts on homelessness and housing stability.
            (11) Impacts on mental health.
            (12) Impacts on vulnerability to the transmission of HIV 
        and other sexually transmitted infections.
            (13) Changes in participation in other criminalized 
        behavior.
            (14) Disparities in the effects described in paragraphs (1) 
        through (13) on key populations typically underserved by 
        service providers, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, people 
        living in rural areas, racial and ethnic minorities, Tribal 
        communities, people experiencing exploitation and trafficking, 
        and undocumented and documented foreign nationals.
            (15) Any other impacts on people engaged in transactional 
        sex, as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 
results of the study under subsection (a) and make such report 
available to the public.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPACTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING AS A RESULT OF THE LOSS 
              OF CERTAIN ONLINE RESOURCES.

    (a) Report.--The Attorney General shall report on the impacts on 
human trafficking investigations and prosecutions resulting from the 
loss of access to interactive computer services (as defined in section 
230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f))) in 
connection with the closure of websites (including Backpage.com) that 
host information related to consensual sexual exchange, on or after 
February 27, 2018, in anticipation of, or in response to, the enactment 
of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 
2017 (Public Law 115-164).
    (b) Interviews and Surveys.--The report under subsection (a) shall 
include interviews with nonprofit and community-based organizations 
that provide direct services to survivors of human trafficking or 
people engaged in transactional sex.
    (c) Topics.--The report under subsection (a) shall include an 
assessment of the following impacts of the closure of Backpage.com and 
other seized websites, the preemptive closure of other websites 
associated with commercial and non-commercial sex, the changes to civil 
liability for websites, and moderation or other operational changes in 
relation to the changes in liability pursuant to the Allow States and 
Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-
164) (or any amendments made by such Act):
            (1) Impact on access to online communication technologies, 
        including social media services.
            (2) Impact on investigations into trafficking in persons.
            (3) Impact on prosecution of individuals under section 
        1591(a) of title 18, United States Code.
            (4) Impact on the ability of law enforcement agencies to 
        find and prosecute individuals who violate section 1591(a) of 
        title 18, United States Code.
            (5) Impact of changes made by the Allow States and Victims 
        to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (Public Law) 
        (commonly known as ``SESTA/FOSTA'') to section 230 of the 
        Communications Decency Act on State law enforcement agencies 
        and victims of human trafficking seeking civil redress against 
        websites engaged in trafficking of children in violation of 
        section 1591(a) of title 18, United States Code.
            (6) Impact on other policies of the Department of Justice 
        with respect to the prosecution of websites under section 1591 
        or 2421A of title 18, United States Code.
            (7) Disparities in the impacts described in paragraphs (1) 
        through (6) on key populations typically underserved by service 
        providers, specifically LGBTQIA+ individuals, people living in 
        rural areas, racial and ethnic minorities, Tribal communities, 
        people experiencing exploitation and trafficking, and 
        undocumented and documented foreign nationals.
            (8) Any other impacts on people engaged in transactional 
        sex, as determined appropriate by the Attorney General.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress the report 
required under subsection (a) and make such report available to the 
public.
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