Just two years ago, we launched the NO Justice Project to challenge the use of Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature statute for prosecuting women engaged in sex work.Today, the Louisiana Senate voted UNANIMOUSLY in support of our bill to remove Solicitation of a Crime Against Nature (SCAN) from the sex offender registry and make the penalties the same as prostitution.
Next stop is the governor’s office! We will be leaning on all of our local and national allies to ensure that Governor Jindal follows the House and Senate’s lead in signing this important step towards healing and justice for the women of Louisiana into law.
For more information on the bill, please see this article in the Times-Picayune.
For more information on SCAN, please check out our policy brief at this link.
Stay tuned for information on how you can lend your support. For now, please help us spread the word - share this with your friend, re-post to your profile. This is an incredible day for the women of Louisiana and all who are joined in our collective struggles for reproductive and transformative justice!
Photo: Women With A Vision Director Deon Haywood at 2011 Press Conference convened by NO Justice Project at New Orleans Federal Building.
1 comment:
This is a victory for sure. But I question whether asking for such a reform instead of the complete de-criminalization of sex work, and winning, will not ultimately delay the abolition of sex worker crimes?
Does it weigh out in our favor in the end? If the SCAN law is abolished, but it means it takes 10 more years to abolish sex worker criminalization than it would have if the SCAN law was still in place (because of the SCAN law's power to show the egregiousness of the entire system of criminalization of sex workers), is it worth it?
Do others think it will now take longer to win complete de-criminalization because of this new normal that has been won, a new normal which defuses some of the tension that existed between sex workers and the criminal system? Was tension defused that could have led to a powerful movement that could have de-criminalized sex work in a shorter period of time than it will now take, now that the penalties are less severe?
I don't know how that equation works out, but I feel like it is worth asking.
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