Opinion: Prosecuting Victims of Sex Trafficking Doesn’t Make Baltimore Safer

On March 1, Ivan Bates, a Democratic primary candidate for Baltimore City state’s attorney, released his plan for decreasing violent crime in Baltimore City. One change that Bates would make: to resume prosecution of prostitution, something Marilyn Mosby has discontinued as state’s attorney. Bates contends that such prosecutions would allow for positive intervention in the lives of victims of sex trafficking. He could not be more wrong.