On January 13, 2025, survivor leader and CATW’s Outreach and Advocacy Coordinator, Melanie Thompson, Kaytlin Bailey, the founder of Old Pros, on the question: Should Prostitution in the United States be Decriminalized?

“No law is able to differentiate who is selling sex by choice, and who has been trafficked or coerced. No law can make the sex trade safe, and no law can remove the stigma. The system of prostitution is one built on patriarchy, colonialism, racism. You have to wonder – why are we wasting our energy defending it, instead of pouring our energy and ideas into creating affordable housing or employment that offers liveable wages?

As long as there is a marketplace where women, where human beings, are up for sale – whether they “choose” to be there or not – we will be a fundamentally unequal society. And the fact that most of these women look like me – shows that prostitution is an outgrowth of not only a patriarchal society, but also a racist one,” Melanie said in her closing remarks.

 Listen as Melanie unpacks the history and dynamics of the system of the prostitution, and why a policy of decriminalization would primarily harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and girls.

Watch the full debate here.