13 July 13th–July 19th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | include information on whether a person cited was transgender. And while manifestation charges are harmful for people who might get caught up in the system despite not being involved in sex work, they also can be harmful for sex workers, activists argued. The first time someone is charged with manifestation of prostitution, they are eligible to have the charge dismissed after they attend the city’s diversion program. But if they don’t make it through the program, the city ordinance mandates a 15-day jail sentence. A second conviction requires 30 days in jail. A third conviction carries 60 days, and any conviction beyond that is a mandatory 180-day sentence. One woman who has been cited in Phoenix said that the penalties — and lasting record — from such charges made it difficult to build a life outside sex work. She was convicted of the crime of prostitu- tion — a different charge than manifesta- tion of prostitution under city code, but one that carries the same penalties. She spoke on the condition that New Times withhold her name to protect her privacy. “I’ve struggled with housing,” she said. “Places wouldn’t rent to me because of my background.” While she has a degree and has started to build a successful career, she has encountered roadblocks at work due to the past charges, she said. The mandatory jail time was harmful, she said, and hardly a good way to help people move on from sex work. “That’s the thing — you’re just putting me back 15 days,” she said. “And when I get out, I’ve got to do it again because it’s the quickest way to make money.” A jail sentence won’t help move people away from sex work, according to Arlene Mahoney, executive director of the Southwest Recovery Alliance, an organization that advocates for the rights of sex workers. “If you have to step away from your life for 15 days, it’s going to have a harmful impact. Arresting people for sex work is not going to get them out of sex work,” Mahoney explained. In February, Mahoney was among a coalition of activists who took to the streets in downtown Phoenix to protest police raids of sex workers ahead of the Super Bowl. Dubious claims about a rise in human trafficking before large sporting events spread by law enforcement often lead to increased arrests of sex workers for low-level prostitution crimes involving consenting adults, the activists argued. “Sex workers don’t need rescue. We need rights,” Mahoney said. Manifestation arrests did increase in January and February ahead of the Super Bowl in the Valley on Feb. 12. In the two weeks leading up to the big game, 16 cita- tions were issued for manifesting prosti- tution, compared with an average of about eight citations per month in the 12 months prior. Officers issued 180 misdemeanor cita- tions to sex workers as part of “Blue Wave 23,” according to a Phoenix police presen- tation. The sting ahead of the Super Bowl involved 11 local law enforcement agencies. Another 120 citations were issued to “sex buyers,” according to the presentation. The command post for the operation was located at the Helen Drake Senior Center at 27th and Glendale avenues, Patton said. She emphasized that law enforcement did outreach in the area in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. “More than 50 individuals were connected to services as a precursor to enforcement operations in that area,” Patton added. Faith-based diversion program There is a long history in Phoenix of raids on sex workers. In 2014, the city faced national attention for prostitution stings in which hundreds of sex workers were rounded up and brought to Bethany Bible Church in Uptown to — as one investi- gation put it at the time — “save their souls.” The raids occurred under Project ROSE (Reaching Out to the Sexually Exploited), a collaboration between Arizona State University social workers and Phoenix police. It was the brainchild of ASU professor Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, who argued the program provided resources and support to sex workers. Critics raised serious concerns about the program, which appeared to bring people to the church without access to lawyers and pressured them into diversion programs before their first court hearing. Around the time of Jones’ arrest, Project ROSE was under public scrutiny. The ACLU demanded a trove of records about the program. By the end of 2014, Project ROSE had been quietly retired — in name, at least. “Phoenix police has not partici- pated in Project Rose for nearly a decade,” Patton said in response to questions about the operation. But people who are convicted of mani- festation of prostitution in Phoenix often are forced into a diversion program with a similar ethos as Project ROSE. The city’s current prostitution Katya Schwenk “Sex workers don’t need rescue. We need rights,” said Arlene Mahoney during a protest in downtown Phoenix. >> p 14
