Shoreline is a city in Washington state of approximately 57,000 residents located in King County, WA, nine miles north of Downtown Seattle bordering the northern Seattle city limits. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented problems in the city, particularly along the portions of Aurora Avenue that run from southern Shoreline to northern Seattle. The stretch of Aurora Avenue between Fremont and Shoreline has long been notorious for prostitution activity (and also many miles further south of Seattle). Aurora Avenue began attracting transients, sex traffickers/pimps, and prostituted people in the 1960s, after motels along the road began losing business as the region expanded and most of the vehicle traffic shifted to the new Interstate 5.

Among the tactics used in an effort to minimize commercial sex activity along this corridor have been those targeting consumer level demand. For example, in 2017, Seattle police arrested 139 men – including a convicted child molester – in a reverse sting targeting sex-buyers along Aurora Avenue North. Police established a decoy brothel out of a storefront along Aurora to lure sex buyers. The sting took place between June 24, 2017 and July 1, 2017. Among those arrested were a juvenile; a convicted child molester and registered sex offender; a formerly registered sex offender; and a man carrying methamphetamine. Of the 2017 operation, a police spokesman said,

“In the past, like most jurisdictions, Seattle law enforcement efforts were largely focused on prostituted women and girls – the true victims of prostitution. This was neither a just nor effective approach; prostitution and trafficking continued to grow in our area. We changed our policy to reverse the trend and reduce the crime of commercial sexual exploitation and related crimes in Seattle using a two-prong approach: reducing sexual exploitation through strong prosecution standards, and reducing prostitution by facilitating exit.”

A similar police operation in 2016, resulted in the arrest of 204 male sex buyers. Amongst the arrested sex buyers were two bus drivers, six architects, dozens of technology employees, construction workers, two surgeons, a dentist, a nurse, a journalist, multiple attorneys, an executive with a sports-management company, a law- enforcement officer, a registered sex offender and a man carrying a large stash of drugs. One detective recognized men who had previously attended the class he teaches as part of the Seattle’s “john school,” which is offered through a diversion program for men after their first sex-buying offense. In addition to being charged, police impounded the vehicles of arrested sex buyers, in which offenders must pay the tow fee and a $1,000 fee to reclaim their vehicles.

John School Programs

Additionally, there have been at least four known john school programs in King County. The first known john school in the county operated from 2006 to 2007, whereby sex buyers could avoid significant criminal charges if they paid a substantial enrollment fee, attended educational classes, and avoided re-arrest. The course, which included lectures from health professionals and formerly prostituted women, also addressed the growing presence of trafficking networks in the region. By discussing the long-term impacts of sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation on victims and their families, the program hoped to educate sex buyers about the potential consequences of purchasing commercial sex. The program was a one-day classroom experience modeled after the San Francisco First Offender Prostitution Program (FOPP). Although the program was not renewed beyond its pilot period, in 2015, a similar john school was launched in Seattle. In 2019, the program was transferred from the Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS) to the Lantern Project, and modified. Its description may be found here.

Buyer Beware Program

In 2014, the King County Prosecutor’s Office launched a new initiative designed to reduce the demand for prostitution, change the attitudes and behaviors of men arrested for patronization, and eliminate cultural acceptance of the purchase of sex. The Buyer Beware initiative is a partnership with eight police departments and city attorneys’ offices across King County that are shifting their emphasis to pursue sex buyers. The initiative is led by the Organization for Prostitution Survivors and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Participating community organizations include Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST), Stolen Youth, and Seattle Against Slavery. Participating law enforcement agencies include the King County Sheriff’s Office and the police departments of Seattle, Des Moines, Kent, Federal Way, Bellevue, and Renton.

Buyer Beware brings together local prosecuting authorities, community service organizations, and survivors to implement a comprehensive strategy to reduce demand for commercial sex and facilitate exit from prostitution. The Buyer Beware program model emphasizes prosecuting sex buyers and connecting prostituted people to services. The original goal in 2014 was to reduce demand for commercial sex by 20% in two years.

The program’s approach is essentially the “Nordic Model” or “Equality Model” which decriminalizes selling sex and criminalizes the actions of pimps and buyers, rather than the actions of prostituted persons. This model can be accomplished without changing prostitution law by making discretionary decisions not to arrest and prosecute prostituted or trafficked persons, even if selling sex remains illegal in state law and local ordinances. Additionally, the Buyer Beware program includes John Schools, neighborhood action, and public education. The key elements of the program are:

• Referring sex buyers to “Stopping Sexual Exploitation,” a comprehensive intervention program.
• Collecting fines from arrested sex buyers to fund services for prostituted people.
• Reducing arrests and prosecutions of prostituted persons in favor of referral to services.
• Expanding effective services to assist prostituted people in leaving the life.
• Forming an alliance of public and private employers committed to implementing policies and practices against sex buying.
• Educating high school and college students on the harms of commercial sexual exploitation.
• Conducting social media campaigns to educate young men on the harms of sex buying.
• Changing cultural norms surrounding the purchase of sex by involving a variety of community sectors, such as public health, education, business, media, and criminal justice.

The program planned to launch an online public education tool where advertisements “pop up” when sex buyers input certain terms into search engines. Although the mechanism for deploying these advertisements was not disclosed, when implemented the advertisements would “link to information about prostitution-related penalties and services for men who need help to stop buying sex.”