HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3359        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Meghan K. Kilcoyne

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to study the decriminalization of sex work.

_______________

PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3359        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act to study the decriminalization of sex work.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 19.   Chapter 272 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after section

53B the following section, which shall be titled “Interagency committee to study

decriminalizing sex work”:-

Section 53C. (a) There shall be an interagency committee to be convened by the Executive

Office of Health and Human Services within 90 days from the date of the enactment of this

provision to study decriminalizing sex work. The committee shall consist of: (i) the

secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services or the secretary’s

designee; (ii) a representative of the Department of Public Health; (iii) a representative of

the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development; (iv) a representative of the

Department of Housing and Community Development; (v) a representative of the

Department of Children and Families; (vii) a representative from an organization focused on

advocacy for sex workers; (viii) a representative from an organization focused on

advocating for transgender people and racial justice; (ix) a survivor or direct service

provider from an organization representing survivors of human trafficking in the

commercial sex sector; (x) representative from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center; (xi) a

representative from the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts; (xii) a

representative from an organization focused on harm reduction related to substance

use;(xiii) a representative from an organization focused on advocating for legal defense and

bonds for undocumented people; (xiv) a representative from the Committee for Public

Counsel Services; and (xv) at least three current or former sex workers. The members of the

committee shall be appointed by the secretary of the Executive Office of Health and

Human Services or the secretary’s designee unless otherwise stated. Two co-chairs shall

be appointed by majority vote of commission members. Adequate compensation for

services shall be determined by a schedule of fees adopted by the committee. 

The committee shall be responsible for studying and making recommendations towards

the following: (i) what criminal penalties and collateral consequences exist related to the

criminalization of sex work, (ii) what labor protections need to be in place under

decriminalization, (iii) what services need to be made available to people engaged in

commercial sex to improve health and safety outcomes, (iv) identify the methods of human

trafficking and exploitation in order to develop strategies to reduce these activities in

collaboration with sex workers, with a focus on prevention, (v) implementation models for

alternatives to policing to promote safety in the commercial sex sector, rooted in public

health, and (vi) the development of a fund to prevent, reduce, prevent, and eliminate

human trafficking that shall include ways to support the health, safety, and autonomy of

sex workers.