Urgent Call To Action

Dear Friends,

There's an urgent issue coming before Seattle City Council tomorrow, Tuesday, 9/17, and our neighbors need your help.

We are deeply frustrated and disturbed by the escalation in violent crime along Aurora in recent months. City Council is working to address this crime and commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) along Aurora Ave. But despite improvements made to the original bill, we are also deeply concerned that the city's approach will cause more harm to our neighbors at Aurora Commons without addressing the real problems.

City Council is taking up Council Member Moore's revised Stay Out of Area Prostitution (SOAP) bill on Tuesday, September 17, and it's critical that your city council members hear from you before they move forward with this legislation.

We urge you to contact your council members right away. We are including a draft email you can copy and paste below. We strongly encourage you to add a personal appeal based on your own experience, values and perspective. You can look up your council members and find their contact information here.

Here's more background on what's happening, and why we're asking you to act.

Over the past 18 months, there has been a sharp rise in violent crime along Aurora, which some believe to be associated with CSE and the traffickers who exploit vulnerable populations for profit. To tackle this problem, Councilmember Moore proposed legislation re-instating loitering laws and instituting a SOAP Zone along seven miles of Aurora.

Aurora Commons, along with our referral partners, CSE survivors, and allies of survivors in the gender-based violence community, worked together to submit suggested revisions to Councilmember Moore's proposed legislation. We appreciate Councilmember Moore's willingness to meet with us and incorporate some of these revisions into a package of amendments to address commercial sexual exploitation.

These revisions include:

  • limiting potential SOAP orders to buyers and promoters (by removing sellers)

  • requiring the development of training and protocols for Seattle Police Department officers working with individuals experiencing CSE based on trauma-informed best practices in consultation with the Adult Survivors Collaborative Task Force whose members will include CSE service providers and survivors

  • creating arrest policies that explicitly state diversion and referral to services are the preferred approach for prostitution loitering

While the original intent of this bill was to address the escalating violence on Aurora, there is significant uncertainty about how this legislation will impact our neighbors at Aurora Commons, particularly the reinstatement of prostitution loitering laws. Many of the individuals accessing support at the Commons were victims of sex trafficking as minors and are still experiencing CSE as adults or are at high risk of becoming CSE victims.

Although the bill indicates an intention to improve services, including a new emergency shelter, there is no guarantee that these improvements will be made before SPD can arrest "sellers" (individuals experiencing CSE). Additionally, there has been no assessment of the current continuum of CSE services to identify existing gaps, no plan for expanding the capacity of existing services or developing new services, and no allocated financial investment. With the City of Seattle facing a projected $260 million deficit in 2025, without knowing the costs of improved services and no plan for development and implementation, there will be immediate impacts on our neighbors in interim period while these details are worked out.

We support the development of comprehensive, wraparound services for individuals experiencing CSE and victims of sex trafficking and a corresponding network of care, as well as legislation that facilitates connections to this network. However, as currently drafted, the bill before the Council tomorrow lacks the specificity to ensure the City effectively offers intervention to CSE victims and survivors without causing further harm.

Additionally, the proposed legislation and the debate around it has overlooked the role of SPD's staffing shortage in this escalation. According to our sources, the North Precinct, which covers more zip codes than any other precinct in Seattle, previously had 8 detectives and its own vice unit before COVID. Currently, it has neither detectives nor a vice unit. At a recent North Precinct Advisory Council meeting, a sergeant from SPD's Gun Violence Reduction Unit reported that the unit has 10 detectives for all of Seattle, while it should have 18 for full staffing.

On Tuesday, 9/10, Seattle Council's Public Safety Committee voted to pass the legislation through for a full Council vote on Tuesday, 9/17. We urge you to contact your councilmembers using the draft email below, and to make it even more powerful by adding your own perspective and experiences.

Please be sure to include your name and address in your email so that your councilmembers will know you are a constituent. Thank you for lending your voice to support our advocacy for and with our neighbors.

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DRAFT EMAIL TO COUNCIL

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Dear Councilmembers,

I am writing to urge you to amend or reject Councilmember Moore's Stay Out of Area Prostitution (SOAP) bill that Council is considering on September 17.

While I strongly support the bill's intent to reduce gun violence and sex trafficking along Aurora Ave, I am deeply concerned that the bill as written will have unintended consequences for the people it aims to help, while failing to address the issues of gun violence and trafficking.

Specifically, this bill does not provide resources for increased diversion and support services that victims of trafficking and others involved in the commercial sex trade will need. As written, I am concerned that too many victims of sex trafficking will end up in the criminal justice system — including many who live along Aurora if they were engaged by law enforcement but are unable or unwilling to enter diversion.

In addition to the lack of dedicated resources, it's important to recognize that many of those in the sex trade have had negative experiences with law enforcement or social services and may view diversion with deep suspicion. It is very likely that many of those engaged by officers will be unwilling to enter diversion unless they have seen or heard from trusted sources that the diversion programs offer a real way out, which simply is not possible unless the council invests in diversion with proven harm-reduction practices from the outset.

Further, I understand that Seattle's North Precinct is already understaffed and overworked. The precinct doesn't even have a dedicated vice squad, and is often unable to respond in a timely fashion or investigate crimes thoroughly. Without additional resources dedicated to enforcement of a proposed SOAP zone, I don't understand how a force that's already stretched thin can possibly add this new enforcement responsibility or do it in a way that's consistent with the council's intent.

I understand that Councilmember Moore has engaged advocates and amended the bill, and I appreciate her willingness to engage with the community. I'm particularly grateful that she's focused the bill to target buyers and sellers, added training for officers as a requirement, and prioritized diversion and referral to services. However, as I've stated above, without additional committed resources to improve and expand services and law enforcement capacity, I'm deeply concerned that this bill will do more harm than good.

I urge you to either amend the bill to commit meaningful resources so it can succeed, or to reject it at this time.

Sincerely,
{YOUR NAME}
{Constituent in District X}

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Thank you for joining us in advocating for our neighbors at Aurora Commons.

Elizabeth Dahl Helendi
Executive Director