Converging on Empathy: Perspectives on Baltimore City's Specialized Prostitution Diversion Program

Project ROSE: An Arrest Alternative for Victims of Sex Trafficking and Prostitution

“…Individuals become involved with court-affiliated prostitution diversion programs via court orders resulting from arrests for prostitution-related crimes. One format involved courtroom case management monitoring of assigned interventions (Shdaimeh & Weichelt, 2012). A second format involved case management and interventions provided at one location; this service delivery functions similarly to an outpatient treatment program .…”

Policing roulette: Sex workers’ perception of encounters with police officers in the indoor and outdoor sector in England

“…Participants seemed to differentiate between the restrictive legislative framework and law in action, and judged their interactions with police officers based on how respected and valued as human beings they felt (cf. Shdaimah and Wiechelt, 2012). Sex workers' consciousness of stigmatization creates barriers to reporting crimes only legal reform and increased awareness and sensitivity among police officers can ameliorate.…”

Ethical and Human Rights Issues in Coercive Interventions With Sex Workers

“…Shdaimah and Wiechelt (2012) point out that, while diversion programs are often hailed as progressive alternatives to traditional criminal justice approaches to certain crimes, many legal scholars have questioned and critiqued diversion programs on the basis of equity and procedural concern (Orr et al, 2009), efficacy (Bolt, 2010), and constitutional concerns such as double jeopardy (i.e., when prosecution on the original prostitution charge is enacted and a conviction with punishment occurs as a result of an individual being unable to meet the program requirements) and lack of authority (Brown vs. State of Maryland, 2009). Specific critiques and problems with prostitution diversion programs argue that they tend to ''encourage special interest control of criminal courts, foster undesirable police and judicial practices, and fail to meaningfully address societal problems, specifically the criminalization or prostitution'' (Quinn, 2006, p. 145).…”