Vice President Kamala Harris previously advocated for the decriminalization of prostitution during her 2020 presidential campaign, The New York Post reported.
When asked if she thought “sex work” for consenting adults should be a legal practice, Harris said, “I think so, I do.”
“I think that we have to understand, though, that it is not as simple as that,” she explained in a 2019 interview. “There’s an ecosystem around that, that includes crimes that harm people. And for those issues, I do not believe that anybody who hurts another human being or profits off of their exploitation should be … free of criminal prosecution.”
“We should really consider that we can’t criminalize consensual behavior as long as no one is being harmed,” Harris added.
The Post noted that Harris made similar remarks during her campaign for San Francisco District Attorney in 2003.
“Consensual sex between consenting adults should not be a subject of prosecution,” she said at the time.
In 2008, however, Harris opposed Proposition K, a measure that would have decriminalized prostitution in San Francisco by prohibition police from using public resources for investigations. She stated that the measure would “put a welcome mat out for pimps and prostitutes to come on into San Francisco.”
