Picture taken from Creative Commons courtesy Flickr user rprata.

“35 in the affirmative, 2 in the negative and the act passes.”

Street-walkers are banned under current law, but not indoor hookers. It’s the result of a legislative goof made about 30 years ago. The Rhode Island General Assembly in 1980, trying to crack down on outdoor solicitations, passed a law that was silent on paid sex indoors. As a result, Rhode Island was the only state that allowed prostitution in private, along with certain counties in Nevada.

But all of that changed as state legislators passed the indoor prostitution bill last Thursday night after a 30-minute debate in the senate. The bill closes a loophole in the state’s prostitution law that outlawed soliciting for prostitution but had no prohibition against prostitution that occurred indoors. That law prohibited the police in the past from investigating and prosecuting prostitutes who work out of brothels or strip clubs or their homes.

However, opponents of the prostitution bill, including The Rhode Island coalition against human trafficking, argue against any criminal penalties for prostitutes, who they see as victims.

“We are the Rhode Island coalition against human trafficking. While we support the prostitution bill, we were against the provision that would criminalize those working in prostitution. We believe it is effective to prosecute the Johns and the pimps. While we are for that, we were against the actual people that were exploited by that crime to be criminalized.”

The bill first passed in the House on Wednesday with a thumping majority. Despite that, House representatives Ajello and Williams made their opposition known to the rest of the house. Representative Ajello voted against this bill, as she believes that it would ultimately hurt those it attempted to help.

“We have heard a lot about outlawing prostitution [in order to] to save the prostitutes because they are victims. But . . . the law provides for a $250 fine, [for the] first-time [offence], and up to six months in jail. That’s a pretty strong penalty for a victim.”

Even in the senate, two dissenting voices of Senator Perry and Senator Levesque were heard distinctly. According to Senator Perry, the bill was an unworthy compromise.

“This bill is not as much of a compromise, as a prosecutorial prescription.”

She also added that she would rather have accepted the first version of the bill, which after months of debate and discussion now has provisions harsher than those actually needed.

“Revert back to Senator Jabour’s first provision where prostitutes are given a citation rather than a criminal record.”

In response, Senator Paul V. Jabour, D-Providence, the Senate bill’s sponsor, described the bill as necessary, and the right thing to do, as the Senate was responsible to the people of Rhode Island.

“I was not in this for any type of gain. I was in this legislation signed on for a simple reason. I believe it was the right thing to do. I think the state needed a law. It needed people with courage and some leadership who say that they would pass a bill such as the prostitution bill and say that we will close the loophole.”

He admitted that the bill was not perfect, and that it needed to be worked up even more, however it was more important to actually have some sort of law in place at the moment.

“Its not perfect, but we will finally have a law that will allow some form of penalization of the acts that are set forth in the legislation. “It is not perfect, but at this point we have no other measure before us.”

The bill is the culmination of lengthy negotiating sessions in recent months between representatives from the state police, the state attorney general’s office, the governor’s office and the House and Senate. Governor Carcieri, who has been outspoken in his support for strengthening the laws against prostitution, is expected to sign the bill on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the State House. The legislation will become effective immediately upon signing.

For WBRU News, I am Vasundhara Prasad.

The BRU Brief airs weekly on 95.5 FM, recapping the week’s top local, national, and international stories, and taking a closer look at the issues of the day in Southern New England. Tune in on Monday nights at 11:00, or stream live at news.wbru.com.