Dickerson strategy to reduce child prostitution passes House unanimously

February 23

OLYMPIA—Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle), King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, and most experts on prostitution agree that treating child prostitutes as victims of sexual exploitation is far more likely to reduce prostitution than treating them as criminals.

Today, the Legislature also agreed, voting 97 to 0 to give prosecutors additional authority to divert prosecution of children involved in prostitution in order to steer the young offenders into safe housing and services that have proved successful in rescuing children from sexual exploitation by pimps and johns. The bill (House Bill 1505) also requires state officials to collect hard data on whether the proposed treatment strategy is effective in getting needed services to children and reducing subsequent offenses

"Children in Washington state-hundreds of children-are trafficked here each year for purposes of prostitution," Dickerson told the House during floor debate. "They are controlled by assault, kidnapping, and all kinds of horrible other things."

"We deal with them as criminals," Dickerson added. "We put them in detention, often over and over again. It's like a revolving door. They don't get the services that they need." Dickerson's measure won unanimous support from both Democrats and Republicans after having received powerful endorsements by Satterberg and other witnesses at a Feb. 4 public hearing.

"The justice system's hooks and hammers are insufficient to deal with these serious issues, and it's the wrong approach; because these are people we don't want to punish, these are children we want to help," Satterberg testified. Although prosecutors have long been able to divert prosecution for first offenses related to child prostitution, current law prohibits diversions if an offender has already had two or more diversion agreements.

"The reality today is that we have a revolving door of child prostitution where victims as young as age 11 are repeatedly sexually exploited and yet are ineligible for diverted prosecutions that could be used as tools to leverage consent to treatment," Dickerson said.

Dickerson's measure reflects the findings of a task force that she and others created to find a solution to the problem of child prostitution. The task force found that the punitive model is not working and that some American cities had achieved much greater success with treatment models that emphasize wraparound services and safe housing.

Dickerson pointed out that King County is already developing a system of wraparound services for child victims of sexual exploitation and that Pierce County has a set of services and a funding plan on the drawing board.

"The legislation before you dovetails perfectly with the system we're setting up," Satterberg testified. Washington's prosecutors gave the Dickerson bill crucial support at the public hearing.

"We're not just in support of this, we're pretty enthusiastic about this bill," said Tom McBride on behalf of the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. "This is exactly the way to do alternatives: You fund them, have standards, and make sure they work."

Child welfare advocates also embraced Dickerson's legislation, arguing that the punitive model is doomed to failure because it ignores the realities facing children involved in prostitution.

Dr. Melinda Giovengo of YouthCare, an organization serving homeless and at-risk children in Seattle, put it this way at the public hearing: "Let us never forget that these are children. Most have been sexually abused in their homes by family members. Children don't wake up one day and say 'I am going to be a juvenile prostitute today.' They have no intent in these acts. They are mainly coerced participants in something that is far bigger than themselves. They are child victims of one of the darkest crimes in our society; victims of predators who are using them for financial gain and for sex." Dickerson's legislation now moves to the Senate for further consideration.

Hear Mary Lou's floor speech on sexually-exploited children (February 23, 2009)