DENVER — A bill that would have decriminalized sex work among consenting adults in Colorado was abandoned just hours before it was set to come up for a first vote in the state Capitol this week.
State Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Democrat who represents Jefferson County and one of the bill’s co-sponsors, told Denver7 Tuesday Senate Bill 97 was being pulled from the Senate Judiciary Agenda scheduled for Wednesday because it failed to garner enough votes to make it out of committee.
Senate Bill 97 would have repealed the state's criminal offenses related to sex work, including soliciting, owning or controlling a place specifically for sex work, and patronizing a sex worker (the bill’s language refers to it as “prostitution,” but the word has lost favor over the years among sex workers, activists and some lawmakers due to the stigma it carries).
The bill would have also kept penalties for pandering that involves menacing or criminal intimidation and for pimping, but it would changed terminology in those offenses by replacing "prostitution" with "commercial sexual activity."
Bill faced an uphill battle in the legislature
In an interview last month with Denver7 anchor Shannon Ogden, Sen. Cutter acknowledged the uphill battle the bill would face in the legislature, but argued the measure was worth bringing up to the chamber for a potential vote because similar bills have proven beneficial for sex workers in other parts of the world where sex work is decriminalized.
“These people that are involved in sex work need to have some protections," Cutter told Denver7 last month. “Legalizing would require regulatory structure, and that's not what we're doing, and that's per the request of sex workers. "This is what they feel would be the best path for them, and it's what's proven in other countries to be effective."
Cutter added that the discussion surrounding the bill should not be about whether sex work is right or wrong, but instead about the reality of it happening now and ways to make everyone safer.
"People involved in sex work often have a difficult time leaving," Cutter said. "They get caught in that cycle because it's on their record and maybe they can't buy or rent a house. And maybe they can't get another job. It's definitely an impediment."
Cutter argued the bill would have been a first step to address sex trafficking and violence, common among sex works.
While there is strong evidence showing that decriminalization improves safety and reduces violence for sex workers, its effects on sex trafficking are mixed.
Opponents of the measure, however, feel the proposed measure puts a Band-Aid on a more complex issue.
Safe Places for Women, a faith-based nonprofit in Englewood that provides transitional housing for victims of sexual trafficking, said in a release last month that the proposed legislation "addresses the symptoms of exploitation rather than the root causes."
"Over the years, we’ve encountered hundreds of women whose participation in commercial sex was driven not by choice but by survival — trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their children’s heads," the organization's founder Ked Frank said in the release. "This is not about working conditions; it’s about the harm inherent in the industry itself.”
The Colorado District Attorney's Council has formally opposed the bill as well, while the ACLU of Colorado has formally supported it, according to Secretary of State filings.
It was not immediately clear if the bill would be reintroduced next year.
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