“If we don’t reduce the demand for [commercial] sex, we’re never going to get on top of this issue [sex trafficking].” These are the words of Boston’s Police Commissioner William Evans, and they are being echoed in ten other cities across the nation: Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Oakland, Portland, and San Diego.
In collaboration with the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based organization, Demand Abolition, Boston became the eleventh city to join the CEASE Network (Cities Empowered Against Exploitation) in a national initiative to combat commercial sexual exploitation.
Earlier this month, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the launch of the program, which targets buyers of commercial sex and aims to reduce demand by 20% in two years. “Human beings, particularly women and children, are being bought for sex in our own neighborhoods, Mayor Walsh observed, condemning the commercial sex trade as an “exploitative industry that deprives vulnerable people of their basic human rights.”
“The mission behind [the CEASE network] is simple: cutting off demand and limiting opportunity for exploitation,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. The burgeoning movement across the U.S. to target and reduce the market demand that drives sex trafficking parallels a global shift toward “abolitionist” approaches to the commercial sex industry. These reforms have proven successful in reducing commercial sexual exploitation, while preventing an increase in sex trafficking.