Sex Workers

The new law guarantees fundamental rights for sex workers, including the ability to refuse clients, set the conditions of an act, and stop an act at any moment.

At the end of the 2023 legislative session, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek used her veto power to nix state funding for two studies, totaling $600,000, intended to research the impact of Oregon’s laws prohibiting prostitution. In doing so, she stepped into a centuries-old debate about whether or not the world’s oldest profession can ever be entered into voluntarily — or if it is a legitimate form of work and should instead be decriminalized.

The first public hearing of the Oregon Sex Workers Commission on Human Rights saw testimony from dozens of current and former sex workers, as well as advocates and allies, pushing for the decriminalization of commercial in-person sex acts in Oregon. The organizers said their efforts are not intended to diminish the horrors of sex trafficking.

We talk to Oregon Lottery director Jack Roberts about his sudden termination. Then the author of a guide for cities wanting to build tiny house communities joins us, and we talk to a formerly trafficked sex worker about what she’s now doing to help other girls and women get out of the industry.