In Massachusetts, Sex Workers Get Charged and Clients Get Set Free
It’s fashionable for anti-prostitution activists to frame all sex workers as victims and to say it’s really the people—generally men—paying for sex who should be punished. But in practice, sex workers still bear the brunt of punishment, according to an analysis by WBUR.
The Boston public radio station analyzed Massachusetts court data on prostitution hearings from 2020 through 2022. It found “disparities are common in how courts handle prostitution cases in Massachusetts, with justice often meted out more harshly for sellers than buyers.”
Women Nearly Twice as Likely To Be Charged
In more than 200 closed-door hearings in Massachusetts criminal courts, men’s cases were nearly twice as likely as women’s cases to be dismissed, WBUR reports. Courts were also more likely to dismiss cases when those arrested had hired a lawyer. “People who hired a lawyer—mostly men—were also twice as likely to avoid charges,” WBUR reports.
The hearings were “show cause” hearings, in which a clerk or magistrate decides whether there’s sufficient evidence or need to bring charges against someone suspected of a minor crime. “Suspects are typically entitled to these hearings if they have been accused of a misdemeanor but were not arrested for the crime,” WBUR explains. “Clerks are supposed to dismiss cases if police cannot produce enough evidence to show there is probable cause to charge someone with violating the law. They also have discretion to dismiss a case if they can facilitate an alternative resolution.”
Of the 90 women on which WBUR found data, 63 were charged and just 27 escaped charges. Of the 129 men, 54 were charged and 75 saw their cases dismissed. In other words, just 30 percent of the women in question saw their charges dismissed, while around 58 percent of the men in question did.
The vast majority of the cases WBUR analyzed did not involve a lawyer. (The state is not obliged to provide counsel for show-cause hearings.) In the 213 cases with no lawyer, 121 led to charges and 92 did not.
In the cases where a lawyer was present, however, charges were more likely than not to be dismissed, with charges dismissed in 82 percent of such cases where a defendants’ lawyer was present.
The Bigger Picture
The data presents a strange picture of prostitution cases in Massachusetts, with men seemingly more likely to be the targets of enforcement but less likely to actually face charges. This is interesting because, in recent years, police have been much more likely to publicize high-profile “john stings” than
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