Although, bizarrely enough, this bill is surprisingly one sided. It redefine prostitution as “commercial sexual exploitation,” meaning, because a prostitute faced sexual exploitation, she’d be off the hook for any legal charges.
The john? Not so much.
But with that enforcement almost becomes non-existent.
It’s sort of a cop-out response to the feminism driven position on sex work.
They were successful in getting the feds to shut down Backpage.com, owned by the Village Voice.
Backpage.com was a website you could use for prostitution calls. Detractors claimed that the site encouraged illegal sex trafficking.
So with this new law, Mainers could have their cake and eat it too.
The bill has passed the state senate Thursday and will likely be signed by governor.
The progressive line on sex seems to be a delicate one. Men are no good for soliciting sex, as a woman is always the victim, but a woman should never be charged, or even blame, for allowing sex from her to be sold.
For feminists, there has to be a hero and a villain. Prostitution can’t be thought of as something completely immoral nor as just a transaction between two consenting adults.
It is still illegal under this bill for men to “publicly solicit patrons for commercial sexual exploitation.”
But, what that means, is that a woman offering sex can legally offer it for cash. But she has to be the instigator. If the man does it, its illegal.
However, this might just be a first step towards legalizing prostitution in Maine. They may provide the framework, ostensibly advocating for women first, but then slowly move to allow full legalization. We’ll keep you posted
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