Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA)/Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA)

Gender and Sexuality – WINTER 20– STOP ENABLING SEX TRAFFICKING ACT (SESTA)/FIGHT ONLINE SEX
TRAFFICKING ACT (FOSTA) IMPACT PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE FRIDAY JAN 17, 2020 4 – 6 pages; Double-spaced;12 pt. font 15% (15
points) of your final grade.
This paper will focus on understanding a set of bills that were placed into law in 2018 to control and stop sex trafficking online. Please follow the guidelines below and ensure that you respond to each prompt in your paper. Most of the answers to these questions are located in the links that I provided in the “SESTA/FOSTA Paper” content folder in the Content section of our Blackboard site.
Part I: SESTA/FOSTA Origins (2 pages)

1.) Read the text of the SESTA/FOSTA law. You can find it here:
https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ164/PLAW-115publ164.pdf. What is the stated purpose of this law (hint – read the small print at the top of the first page of the law).

2.) What has SESTA/FOSTA criminalized?

3.) Beyond limiting sex work, what other rights does this law infringe upon? (hint – think about freedom of speech and concerns related to mass surveillance)
Part II: Impact of SESTA/FOSTA on Sex Worker Community (1 page)
4.) After reading through all the resources in the folder, what do you think are the three most primary or direct ways that this law impacts sex work?

5.) How does this law impact efforts to decriminalize sex work? Why is decriminalization important?

6.) How does this law impact: a. access to sex work and other sex workers, b. access to support resources, c. the safety of sex work and d. community building? (hint – think about how making the distinction between those in coercive sex work vs. those who work by choice may undermine ability to organize)

7.)
Google search the phrase: “How FOSTA has affected me” (You can come up with any search term you want; you may also want to do this
search on YouTube) and find the voices of actual sex worker and report back (include the weblink) on how this person reports the impact of the law on their lives and livelihood. You can of course include the voices of sex workers who think this law is good and important