Gilgo Beach arrest anniversary: We're still not moving fast enough to protect sex workers

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Rex Heuermann’s stunning arrest for the Gilgo Beach murders — a series of vicious killings spanning more than two decades. Prior to his capture, Heuermann was a middle-class architect, living out on Long Island and seen as a typical “family man”. However, while the world was astonished to learn this seemingly normal guy was a serial killer — for survivors of the sex trade and their allies, this was no shock. 

Heuermann’s alleged victims found themselves in an industry where people, mostly women and girls, are sold for sex. Women in prostitution have always been seen as disposable — easy targets for predators. In fact, those in the sex trade are 18 times more likely to be murdered than other women. And there’s overwhelming evidence Heuermann specifically targeted his victims for this reason. Heuermann is alleged to have had sex with them, torture and then kill them. The links between men who buy sex, pornography addiction and the likelihood to be violent towards women and girls is high. It's no surprise police discovered Heuermann’s significant collection of brutal bondage and torture pornography.

Just last month, Heuermann pleaded not guilty to two additional murders. Jessica Taylor is one of those women. Like the other victims, she was sold for sex in New York City. Taylor was found decapitated, with her hands and arms severed and her tattoo obliterated with a sharp object.

Why did police fail to investigate the men who bought sex?

Incredulously, for 20 years, when it was clear that the commonality between the murdered and missing Gilgo victims was their experiences in prostitution, the police still failed to thoroughly investigate the men who'd been buying them. This was ignored — even though survivors consistently say violence from sex buyers is the norm, not the exception. A whopping 92.2% of women in the sex trade report being subjected to physical violence, such as being raped, shot, burned, beaten strangled, stabbed or punched. A 2018 study of 65 prostituted women found 61% suffered traumatic brain injuries. 

The sex trade is a system predicated on an obvious power imbalance. Those bought and sold are overwhelmingly among society’s most vulnerabilities. This includes women and girls of color, LBTQ+ youth and those in foster care or who survived sexual abuse. While the gruesome violence committed by serial killers — like the one on Gilgo Beach — is extreme it is extraordinarily rare that someone in prostitution has never experienced some form of violence inflicted by a buyer.

On the flip side of the equation, sex buyers are often men just like Heuermann, with families and disposable income. Regularly, they hold down good jobs, where they spend their lunch hour or train commute buying people for sex online. When money changes hands, many buyers often believe this affords them immunity to do whatever they desire — violating, abusing or even torturing their victims. They bank on the fact that law enforcement — and society — erroneously views sex buying as harmless and low-level. This couldn’t be further from reality.

As advocates for survivors of prostitution and sex trafficking - we focus on providing support to those who’ve been exploited, while also holding bad actors to account. Unfortunately, when people think of these bad actors, they most often solely think of the trafficker or pimp. However the commercial sex buyer flying under the radar is the one actually driving the market for trafficking.

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NY, NJ and others must decriminalize the sex trade

We must take action, because disrupting that market is the way to make a tangible difference. And it is possible. For example, state legislatures in both Texas and North Carolina recently made sex buying a felony offense. And there are additional innovative solutions out there that take into account the nuances of the sex trade.

Last year, Maine made huge headway, becoming the first state to partially decriminalize the sex trade. This groundbreaking legislation maintains criminal penalties for commercial sex demand and those profiting off others' pain, while putting survivors at the center of the solution. Often called the Equality Model or Survivor Model, this is a proven way to make a real difference. This path continues holding the abusers and exploiters accountable, namely the pimps, traffickers, brothel owners and, yes, buyers. However, rather than forcing arrests and criminal penalties on those selling sex, this survivor-centered approach offers legal protection, exit services and record-sealing for survivors. 

This proven model has found success in such enlightened nations as Sweden, France, Israel, Ireland, Canada and Norway. In 2016, this legislation was adopted in France and resulted in approximately 1,250 prostituted women receiving services. In the first three years of implementation, it also brought about a 54% increase of criminal investigations into pimps and traffickers. Enforcement operations have confiscated almost 2.35 million euros from exploiters, which is being reinvested in protection and rehabilitation of survivors.  Moreover, Sweden passed a similar law in 1999 that dramatically decreased sex trafficking and exploitation by making the purchase of women outside the cultural norm in their nation. Across the globe, such efforts have proven to make a true difference in the lives of survivors. Research shows it reduces the size of the sex trade and accompanying violence, abuse and trafficking.

Maine should be just the beginning. There are efforts underway in states throughout the country, In fact, similar bills are actually pending in New York. These laws will send a clear signal that people sold in the sex trade deserve exit services, not arrest, and that sex buying is anything but harmless. This thoughtful, survivor-led approach focuses on what’s best for the most at-risk people in the sex trade. It’s time for other states to listen to survivors and bring about meaningful change by follow suit. 

Here in the tri-state New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region, we’ve seen coverage of the grotesque and upsetting Gilgo Beach murders in our local news. There are so many lessons to be learned on this one-year anniversary of Heuermann’s arrest. Among the most important and long-lasting is to target the people perpetuating the harm, rather than an archaic focus on those being harmed. 

Rebecca Zipkin is policy director for World Without Exploitation, an advocacy organization.