Why Is SFPD Trying To Barricade A Street In The Mission District?
Photo credit: rulenumberone2
Sex work is the quite literally the oldest profession in the World, and yet it’s continually criminalized. No matter how many negatives come from prohibition, we continually try to legislate our way out of everything we consider to be unsightly.
The Mission District along with a few other neighborhoods in San Francisco have historically had a reputation as a safe haven for sex workers and “Johns” to congregate, have sex, exchange money and go on with their lives. The center for this activity in the Mission has always been Capp Street.
Police barricading residential streets is not the answer.
This isn’t a new development. Capp Street has been like this for as long as I can remember. So why all the outrage now?
If the people who are complaining want to see things change for the better, they’d be advocating for the legalization or at the very least decriminalization of sex work. The reason why sex workers are naked outside or having sex in cars on residential streets is because the activity is outside of the law. If there was some kind of legal brothel or private practice where licensed sex workers could freely practice and advertise it without any harassment from law enforcement, do you really think these girls would be outside with their bare asses shivering in the wind? Probably not.
It’s kind of like when SFPD sweeps a homeless encampment.
After numerous complaints about an alleged uptick in sex workers on Capp Street, SFPD has announced that they’re going to barricade Capp Street. I honestly don’t understand what the fuck that will do. It’s kind of like when SFPD sweeps a homeless encampment and the homeless move a block or so over. Nothing is solved. And all the police did was make the lives of people harder. And police have a long history of harassing sex workers.
This move is political theater. Brooke, along with any police officer in San Francisco who has worked in the City for more than five minutes knows that sex work has always been prevalent on Capp. Consensual sex work isn’t hurting anyone That’s not to say there aren’t troubling issues likely taking place on Capp Street. Underaged girls are often exploited and made to “stand on the track.” There is a high likelihood that this type of activity is occurring and should be addressed.
However, I do want to address one thing: violence. Pimps and the brutality they on inflict women is horrible. I understand why residents wouldn’t want to deal with being intimidated by sex traffickers. This article isn’t an excuse for the explicit exploitation of women. That aspect of sex work does need to be dealt with, but police barricading residential streets is not the answer.
We have a lot of problems in San Francisco. Housing costs are sky high, there’s more homeless people now than I’ve ever seen before and fentanyl is leaving bodies to rot on the street. Sex work is nowhere near as big of a problem as San Francisco’s more pressing issues.
I think housing and mental health services are better investments of taxpayer money, but Brooke Jenkins is pursuing a tough on crime image, so I guess these kinds of stunts are to be expected.
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