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Bill H.2467
SECTION 19.
Chapter 272 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after section
53B the following section, which shall be titled “Interagency committee to study
decriminalizing sex work”:-
Section 53C. (a) There shall be an interagency committee to be convened by the Executive
Office of Health and Human Services within 90 days from the date of the enactment of this
provision to study decriminalizing sex work. The committee shall consist of: (i) the
secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services or the secretary’s
designee; (ii) a representative of the Department of Public Health; (iii) a representative of
the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development; (iv) a representative of the
Department of Housing and Community Development; (v) a representative of the
Department of Children and Families; (vii) a representative from an organization focused on
advocacy for sex workers; (viii) a representative from an organization focused on
advocating for transgender people and racial justice; (ix) a survivor or direct service
provider from an organization representing survivors of human trafficking in the
commercial sex sector; (x) representative from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center; (xi) a
representative from the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts; (xii) a
representative from an organization focused on harm reduction related to substance
use;(xiii) a representative from an organization focused on advocating for legal defense and
bonds for undocumented people; (xiv) a representative from the Committee for Public
Counsel Services; and (xv) at least three current or former sex workers. The members of the
committee shall be appointed by the secretary of the Executive Office of Health and
Human Services or the secretary’s designee unless otherwise stated. Two co-chairs shall
be appointed by majority vote of commission members. Adequate compensation for
services shall be determined by a schedule of fees adopted by the committee.
The committee shall be responsible for studying and making recommendations towards
the following: (i) what criminal penalties and collateral consequences exist related to the
criminalization of sex work, (ii) what labor protections need to be in place under
decriminalization, (iii) what services need to be made available to people engaged in
commercial sex to improve health and safety outcomes, (iv) identify the methods of human
trafficking and exploitation in order to develop strategies to reduce these activities in
collaboration with sex workers, with a focus on prevention, (v) implementation models for
alternatives to policing to promote safety in the commercial sex sector, rooted in public
health, and (vi) the development of a fund to prevent, reduce, prevent, and eliminate
human trafficking that shall include ways to support the health, safety, and autonomy of
sex workers.
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