Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signs law partially decriminalizing prostitution

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Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on Monday signed into law a bill that partially decriminalizes prostitution, with supporters saying the measure protects the most vulnerable while still targeting those who exploit them.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lois Reckitt, D-South Portland, eliminates the crime of engaging in prostitution. It also elevates the crime of solicitating a child for commercial sexual exploitation, lifting the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony with a maximum punishment of five years in state prison.

Reckitt, the longtime director of Family Crisis Services in Portland and an advocate for women suffering from domestic abuse, said the bill will help people pushed into sex trafficking by desperate circumstances.

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Reckitt joined Mills for the bill-signing ceremony two years after the governor vetoed a similar bill.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills is shown during a summit in National Harbor, Maryland, on May 4, 2023. Mills recently signed a bill into law that partially decriminalizes prostitution. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"We are long overdue to better protect and decriminalize sellers engaged in prostitution without legalizing pimping and sex buying," Reckitt said in a statement.

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The majority of those sold in prostitution come from marginalized communities and experience long-term trauma, the proposal’s supporters said. Lauren Hersh, national director of World Without Exploitation, said Maine is leading the way to ending the criminalization of survivors while holding "perpetrators accountable for the devastating harm they cause."

Tricia Grant, a survivor of sexual exploitation in Maine, said she was proud of the state for adopting the law.

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"This legislation is firmly rooted in anti-trafficking and acknowledges that arresting and revictimizing people for their own exploitation is not the solution. Rather, holding the exploiters and abusers accountable is the answer," she said.