Maine lawmakers are on track to partially decriminalize prostitution. A bill sponsored by state Rep. Lois Galgay Reckitt (D–South Portland) would remove criminal penalties for selling sex in some circumstances. The measure passed the state Senate on Wednesday after passing the House on May 30. But sex worker rights advocates say the bill doesn't go far enough.
The bill would not simply decriminalize consensual prostitution altogether. Rather, it would rechristen prostitution as commercial sexual exploitation, defined as "providing, agreeing to provide or offering to provide a pecuniary benefit to another
person to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact." That means anyone who pays or attempts to pay a sex worker would still be committing an illegal act.
