How a controversial Ariz. program tries to keep sex workers out of jail

Project ROSE offers sex workers a way out of criminal charges and jail time, but not without controversy. The program has its supporters, but it has also drawn protesters. America Tonight

PHOENIX — Last month, almost 60 women were arrested for prostitution during a two-day undercover sting here. Among them was Cacee -- whose name has been changed to protect her identity -- a 26-year-old single mother who has been exchanging sex for money for five years. Instead of going to jail, Cacee was taken to Project ROSE, an arrest alternative program for those accused of prostitution set up inside a central Phoenix church that donated space. Although Arizona has one of the nation’s highest incarceration rates and is among the handful of states with mandatory minimum sentences for prostitution, Project ROSE, short for Reaching Out on Sexual Exploitation, is designed to keep people out of jail.

How it works

During this latest sting, police brought 54 women ranging in age from 18 to 58 to Project ROSE, bringing the total to more than 350 since its start in September 2011. America Tonight The project is the brainchild of Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, an associate professor of social work at Arizona State University, and Phoenix Police Lieutenant Jim Gallagher, who co-founded Project ROSE in 2011 to help curtail prostitution in the Valley of the Sun. Behind the wheel of his unmarked police car, Gallagher explains how he was once part of the "hook ‘em and book ‘em" school of thought when it came to prostitutes. But over the course of his 18-year career, including four years with the department's vice unit, Gallagher ended up arresting the same woman nine times for prostitution, which changed his views on sex workers. He no longer believes just locking them up is the solution. “I've done all the really cool jobs in police work that there are,” he said, driving along one of the city’s main tracks for prostitution. “The most important job that I've done is this, because it has given me the opportunity to really, really help an underserved population. These are discarded women: people that have been completely forgotten, people that make people uncomfortable.” The underlying theme of Project ROSE is to not criminalize an individual’s victimization, he said, adding that the majority of women who enter the life of prostitution are compelled based on need. “People that enter into a life of prostitution typically don't do it because they want to. There are circumstances in their life that lead them to what is typically a really bad circumstance,” he said. “Everybody's trafficked by something. And there's always somebody there willing to exploit that need.”

Everybody's trafficked by something. And there's always somebody there willing to exploit that need. Jim Gallagher Phoenix Police Lieutenant

Twice a year for two days, anyone arrested on prostitution-related charges -- whether off the streets or in an online sting -- is brought to Project ROSE and offered a range of social services, versus jail time. Those with outstanding warrants, certain felony convictions, or those who’ve already been through the city’s prosecution diversion program aren’t eligible for diversion again. (If taken to Project ROSE they are still eligible for the social services.) For those who are accepted, the arrest stays off the books as long as they finish the program. During this latest sting, police brought 54 women ranging in age from 18 to 58 to Project ROSE, bringing the total to more than 350 since the project’s start in September 2011. Once inside, volunteers lead the women to meetings with police officers, city prosecutors and social service agencies. The program’s co-founder says Project ROSE provides help with everything from housing, employment and health care, to help those who want out of the life of prostitution. On average, 30 percent of Project ROSE clients complete the city’s prostitution diversion program requirements, of which 9 percent are re-arrested in the first year. Police ramp up arrests during the two days Project ROSE is in operation in an effort to get more prostitutes into the program. For Project ROSE founders, this is part of the strength of the program. For opponents, this is the problem.

The opposition

Project ROSE has brought opposition from local activists such as the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), a grassroots organization that’s part of a national network dedicated to improving the lives of current and former sex workers. The week leading up to Project ROSE, members made the rounds across the city passing out condoms and water, while spreading the word about the upcoming sting. They also held a small protest in front of the project’s site.

Advocate Penelope Saunders said the best way to help sex workers is to decriminalize their work. “Project ROSE seems to be blurring the lines between linking people to social services and arresting them,” said Saunders, the coordinator of the sex worker advocacy group Best Practices Policy Project. “People engage in sexual exchanges for the things they need to survive, to live, to support their families, and the laws against sex work and the policies against prostitution impact them directly by arresting them, by leading to incarceration.” She added: “It's not dissimilar from legislation and approaches against drugs. There's a war on drugs. There is also a war on people who engage in sex work.” And not everyone is interested in the help offered at Project ROSE. One woman who was arrested for placing an escort ad without a license declined to participate in the diversion program after a lengthy discussion with John Tutelman of the Phoenix Prosecutor's Office.

There's a war on drugs. There is also a war on people who engage in sex work. Penelope Saunders Sex worker rights advocate

“What makes you think that being in the law industry you have the right to tell me how to operate my industry, my business, my trade?” she quipped. She was told her belongings would be returned and to expect a summons and a complaint. Despite the criticisms, Roe-Sepowitz defended the program. "It is illegal behavior and there's nothing that we can do to say to the police, ‘Don't arrest them. Don't press those charges,’ except by saying, ‘Perhaps if we can negotiate with the prosecutor's office and law enforcement, that that arrest can kinda lay low,’” she said. "We're just trying to work within the system that we have, within the context of our laws, to be as helpful as possible."

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