,,ii  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cgeh  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,march #c1     
#bjbb,ms4 ,warren 7for herself1 ,mr4    
,wyden1 ,mr4 ,sanders1 and ,mr4 ,booker7
 introduced the following bill2 which   
was read twice and referred to the      
,committee on the ,judiciary  ,a ,,bill 
,to direct the ,secretary of ,health and
 ,human ,services to conduct a study to 
assess the unintended impacts on the    
health and safety of people engaged in  
transactional sex1 in connection with   
the enactment of the ,allow ,states and 
,victims to ,fight ,online ,sex         
,trafficking ,act of #bjag and the loss 
of interactive computer services that   
host information related to sexual      
exchange1 to direct the ,attorney       
,general to submit a report on human    
trafficking investigations and          
prosecutions in connection with the     
same1 and for other purposes4  #a4      
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,,sesta_/,,fosta ,examination of    

,secondary ,effects for ,sex ,workers   
,study ,act or the ,,safe ,,sex ,workers
 ,study ,act4  #b4 ,findings ,the       
,congress finds the following3 7#a7     
,people who engage in consensual1       
transactional sex utilize online        
platforms to protect their health1      
safety1 and independence4 ,this use     
includes building community connections1
 distribution of harm reduction         
information and techniques1             
identification and screening of         
potential clients1 sale of media and    
remote services and negotiating the     
terms of consensual1 transactional sex  
services1 including condom use and other
 harm reduction strategies4  7#b7       
,widespread discrimination against      
populations1 including ,,lgbtqia        
individuals1 particularly transgender   
women of color1 prevents many from      
accessing formal employment resources1  
traditional financial services1 and     
educational opportunities4  7#c7 ,in the
 #bjae ,united ,states ,transgender     

,survey conducted by the ,national      
,center for ,transgender ,equality1 #ai 
percent of respondents reported having  
exchanged sex for resources1 such as for
 money1 food1 or a place to sleep4      
,transgender women of color1 including  
,black 7#db percent71 ,american ,indian 
7#bh percent71 multiracial 7#bg         
percent71 ,latina 7#bc percent71 and    
,asian 7#bb percent7 respondents were   
more likely to have participated in sex 
work than the overall sample4  7#d7 ,in 
the #bjae ,united ,states ,transgender  
,survey1 respondents who experienced    
homelessness in the past year 7#ag      
percent7 were more than #c times as     
likely to have participated in sex work 
during that year compared to the overall
 sample4  7#e7 ,on a broader scale1     
internet platforms foster connections   
between people and play an integral part
 in ,american society4 ,access to       
digital platforms has been essential for
 activists1 distribution of harm        
reduction information and reproductive  

and sexual health information1 and      
fostering connections between people who
 face geographic barriers4 ,meaningful  
regulation of internet platforms must   
take into account the role they play in 
the health1 safety1 and privacy of all  
people's lives4  7#f7 ,while            
policymakers1 representatives of        
internet platforms1 and some advocates  
have discussed ways to mitigate the use 
of internet platforms to decrease       
exploitation1 people who consensually   
trade sex are rarely involved in the    
drafting of legislation or policies1 or 
in assessing their impact1 despite being
 amongst the populations who are        
impacted by legislation and policies    
related to the regulation of these      
internet platforms4  7#g7 ,on ,february 
#bg1 #bjah1 the ,house of               
,representatives passed the ,allow      
,states and ,victims to ,fight ,online  
,sex ,trafficking ,act of #bjag         
7commonly known as ,,sesta_/,,fosta74   
,while ,,sesta_/,,fosta holds websites  

liable for user-generated content that  
facilitates sex trafficking1 it also    
impacts online platforms where users    
discuss consensual sex work and related 
topics4  7#h7 ,contemporaneously with   
the passage of ,,sesta_/,,fosta in the  
,senate on ,march #ba1 #bjah1 websites  
preemptively shut down1 some directly   
citing the law's passage as the         
rationale for closure4  7#i7 ,one week  
before ,president ,donald ,trump signed 
,,sesta_/,,fosta into law1 the          
,department of ,justice seized          
,backpage4com and arrested ,backpage    
employees1 citing promotion of          
prostitution and money laundering       
charges1 similar to the ,department of  
,homeland ,security's seizure of        
,rentboy4com only a few years prior4    
7#aj7 ,while these websites and         
individual accounts have been closing   
down1 there has been no national        
investigation rigorously examining the  
impact of losing access to these        
platforms on the health and safety of   

people in consensual1 transactional sex 
work4 ,regional and anecdotal           
information from health and safety      
service providers and sex workers has   
pointed to significant impacts on the   
health and safety of people who engage  
in consensual1 transactional sex4  7#aa7
 ,community organizations have reported 
increased homelessness of sex workers1  
including of sex workers who are        
caretakers for their families and have  
lost the economic stability provided by 
access to online platforms4  7#ab7 ,sex 
workers have reported a reduced ability 
to screen potential clients for safety1 
and negotiate for boundaries such as    
condom use1 resulting in reports of     
physical and sexual violence4  7#ac7    
,many sex workers have turned to        
street-based work1 which has            
historically involved higher rates of   
violence than other forms of            
transactional sex4 ,street-based sex    
workers have frequently noted practices 
which harm their health and safety1 such

 as the confiscation of condoms by      
police1 or use of condoms as evidence of
 arrest for prostitution4  7#ad7 ,with  
this new level of precarity1 isolation1 
and vulnerability1 there is substantial 
anecdotal evidence that members of the  
sex work community are more frequently  
being contacted by third parties seeking
 to engage in management activities4    
,this includes both sex workers who had 
always worked independently1 as well as 
those who have previously experienced   
violence and exploitation by a third    
party4  7#ae7 ,the ,federal ,government 
has long discussed the importance of    
assessing collateral consequences when  
looking at other industries4            
,comprehensive studies are essential to 
evaluate the impact on human trafficking
 investigations and prosecutions1 and   
the health and safety of those involved 
in consensual1 transactional sex1 who   
are increasingly losing access to       
digital platforms1 which have been used 
for harm reduction information and      

techniques1 and to screen clients4      
,informed government policies begin with
 seeking out relevant information to    
better guide our actions moving forward4
  #c4 ,study on unintended impacts on   
health and safety of people engaged in  
transactional sex as a result of the    
loss of certain online resources  7a7   
,study ,the ,secretary of ,health and   
,human ,services 7referred to in this   
section as the ,secretary71 in          
consultation1 as appropriate1 with the  
,director of the ,centers for ,disease  
,control and ,prevention1 the ,director 
of the ,national ,institutes of ,health1
 and the ,assistant ,secretary for      
,mental ,health and ,substance ,use1    
shall study the impacts on the health   
and safety of people engaged in         
transactional sex resulting from the    
loss of access to interactive computer  
services 7as defined in section #bcj7;f7
 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd   
7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bcj7;f777 in connection 
with the closure of websites 7including 

,backpage4com7 that host information    
related to consensual sexual exchange1  
on or after ,february #bg1 #bjah1 in    
anticipation of1 or in response to1 the 
enactment of the ,allow ,states and     
,victims to ,fight ,online ,sex         
,trafficking ,act of #bjag 7,public ,law
 #aae-afd74  7b7 ,interviews and surveys
 ,the study under subsection 7a7 shall  
include interviews with1 and surveys    
conducted by1 nonprofit and             
community-based organizations that      
provide direct services to people       
engaged in transactional sex4  7c7      
,topics ,the study under subsection 7a7 
shall include assessment of the         
following impacts on people engaged in  
transactional sex3 7#a7 ,changes in     
access to technology-related harm       
reduction services1 including social    
media services4  7#b7 ,changes in       
ability to negotiate terms with         
potential clients4  7#c7 ,changes in    
experiences of violence from clients4   
7#d7 ,changes in interactions with law  

enforcement officials1 including changes
 in police surveillance1 stops1 and     
arrests4  7#e7 ,changes in contact from 
third parties4  7#f7 ,changes in        
relationship to and reliance on third   
parties4  7#g7 ,changes in experiences  
of exploitation and trafficking4  7#h7  
,impacts on access to economic          
resources4  7#i7 ,impacts on access to  
banking and financial technology tools4 
7#aj7 ,impacts on homelessness and      
housing stability4  7#aa7 ,impacts on   
mental health4  7#ab7 ,impacts on       
vulnerability to the transmission of    
,,hiv and other sexually transmitted    
infections4  7#ac7 ,changes in          
participation in other criminalized     
behavior4  7#ad7 ,disparities in the    
effects described in paragraphs 7#a7    
through 7#ac7 on key populations        
typically underserved by service        
providers1 including ,,lgbtqia          
individuals1 people living in rural     
areas1 racial and ethnic minorities1    
,tribal communities1 people experiencing

 exploitation and trafficking1 and      
undocumented and documented foreign     
nationals4  7#ae7 ,any other impacts on 
people engaged in transactional sex1 as 
determined appropriate by the           
,secretary4  7d7 ,report ,not later than
 #a year after the date of enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary shall submit  
to ,congress a report on the results of 
the study under subsection 7a7 and make 
such report available to the public4    
#d4 ,report on impacts on human         
trafficking as a result of the loss of  
certain online resources  7a7 ,report   
,the ,attorney ,general shall report on 
the impacts on human trafficking        
investigations and prosecutions         
resulting from the loss of access to    
interactive computer services 7as       
defined in section #bcj7;f7 of the      
,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg      
,u4,s4,c4 #bcj7;f777 in connection with 
the closure of websites 7including      
,backpage4com7 that host information    
related to consensual sexual exchange1  

on or after ,february #bg1 #bjah1 in    
anticipation of1 or in response to1 the 
enactment of the ,allow ,states and     
,victims to ,fight ,online ,sex         
,trafficking ,act of #bjag 7,public ,law
 #aae-afd74  7b7 ,interviews and surveys
 ,the report under subsection 7a7 shall 
include interviews with nonprofit and   
community-based organizations that      
provide direct services to survivors of 
human trafficking or people engaged in  
transactional sex4  7c7 ,topics ,the    
report under subsection 7a7 shall       
include an assessment of the following  
impacts of the closure of ,backpage4com 
and other seized websites1 the          
preemptive closure of other websites    
associated with commercial and          
non-commercial sex1 the changes to civil
 liability for websites1 and moderation 
or other operational changes in relation
 to the changes in liability pursuant to
 the ,allow ,states and ,victims to     
,fight ,online ,sex ,trafficking ,act of
 #bjag 7,public ,law #aae-afd7 7or any  

amendments made by such ,act73 7#a7     
,impact on access to online             
communication technologies1 including   
social media services4  7#b7 ,impact on 
investigations into trafficking in      
persons4  7#c7 ,impact on prosecution of
 individuals under section #aeia7;a7 of 
title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code4  7#d7 
,impact on the ability of law           
enforcement agencies to find and        
prosecute individuals who violate       
section #aeia7;a7 of title #ah1 ,united 
,states ,code4  7#e7 ,impact of changes 
made by the ,allow ,states and ,victims 
to ,fight ,online ,sex ,trafficking ,act
 of #bjag 7,public ,law7 7commonly known
 as ,,sesta_/,,fosta7 to section #bcj of
 the ,communications ,decency ,act on   
,state law enforcement agencies and     
victims of human trafficking seeking    
civil redress against websites engaged  
in trafficking of children in violation 
of section #aeia7;a7 of title #ah1      
,united ,states ,code4  7#f7 ,impact on 
other policies of the ,department of    

,justice with respect to the prosecution
 of websites under section #aeia or     
#bdba;,a of title #ah1 ,united ,states  
,code4  7#g7 ,disparities in the impacts
 described in paragraphs 7#a7 through   
7#f7 on key populations typically       
underserved by service providers1       
specifically ,,lgbtqia individuals1     
people living in rural areas1 racial and
 ethnic minorities1 ,tribal communities1
 people experiencing exploitation and   
trafficking1 and undocumented and       
documented foreign nationals4  7#h7 ,any
 other impacts on people engaged in     
transactional sex1 as determined        
appropriate by the ,attorney ,general4  
7d7 ,report ,not later than #a year     
after the date of enactment of this     
,act1 the ,attorney ,general shall      
submit to ,congress the report required 
under subsection 7a7 and make such      
report available to the public4