SB2391, titled the Keeping Sex Workers Safe Act and captioned as prostitution decriminalization, would substantially rewrite Illinois law governing consensual adult sex work. It creates a new Sex Workers’ Bill of Rights Act that states sex workers may not be criminally prosecuted for consensual sex work and bars law enforcement from arresting, charging, or prosecuting people solely for engaging in sex work. The bill also extends labor-style protections to sex workers, including minimum wage and hour protections, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment protections, workplace safety requirements, access to workers’ compensation and health benefits where applicable, privacy protections, and treatment of independent contractors as legitimate businesses or sole proprietors.
The bill further provides that sex workers may not be denied housing, public services, financial services, or health care because of their occupation, and it directs that existing anti-discrimination laws apply equally to sex workers. It defines “sex work” and “sex worker,” and it expressly excludes coerced or non-consensual conduct, which remains criminal. The measure also includes provisions aimed at safety and exploitation prevention, requiring employers, clients, or beneficiaries of sex workers’ services to ensure safe working conditions and protection from violence, exploitation, and human trafficking.
In addition to creating the new rights framework, SB2391 makes major conforming changes across the Criminal Code and related statutes. Most notably, it repeals the offenses of prostitution and patronizing a prostitute, and it amends related provisions on solicitation, promoting prostitution, eavesdropping, venue, sentencing, sex offender registration, juvenile neglect/abuse, public nuisance, liquor licensing, massage therapy licensure, and record-sealing/expungement rules. The bill also adds automatic or expanded expungement and sealing pathways for prior prostitution- and solicitation-related records, and it preserves criminal penalties for trafficking, coercion, child exploitation, and other non-consensual conduct.
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text is strongly supportive of decriminalization and worker protections. The findings section frames criminalization as a driver of violence, stigma, and racial and gender disparities, and it argues that full decriminalization is necessary for safety and bodily autonomy. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no direct evidence of legislative debate or formal support/opposition in the available context; however, the bill’s structure and findings indicate an affirmative policy stance toward sex-worker rights and harm reduction.
The main points of contention are likely to center on public safety, trafficking, and the scope of decriminalization. The bill attempts to address those concerns by preserving criminal penalties for coercion, trafficking, and offenses involving minors, and by retaining law-enforcement tools for those crimes. Even so, the repeal of prostitution and patronizing offenses, the removal of criminal penalties for consensual adult sex work, and the broad occupational protections for sex workers would likely be the most controversial elements for opponents who view prostitution laws as necessary for deterrence, enforcement, or public morality.
SB2391 would repeal Illinois’ prostitution and patronizing-a-prostitute offenses and replace them with a statutory framework that treats consensual adult sex work as lawful and protected work. It would amend the Criminal Code of 2012 and multiple related acts to remove or conform references to prostitution-based offenses, while preserving and in some cases strengthening provisions targeting trafficking, coercion, child exploitation, and non-consensual conduct. The bill would also expand expungement and sealing opportunities for people with prior prostitution- and solicitation-related records, and it would alter collateral consequences in areas such as licensing, housing, public benefits, and criminal record relief.
The bill’s stated purpose and findings reflect a strongly pro-decriminalization and pro-worker-protection posture. It presents sex work as a labor and safety issue, emphasizes violence reduction and anti-stigma goals, and frames the proposal as a human-rights measure. No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no documented legislative debate or recorded chamber sentiment in the supplied materials beyond the bill’s own supportive rationale.
The most likely points of contention are whether Illinois should fully decriminalize consensual adult sex work, whether removing prostitution and patronizing offenses would hinder enforcement against exploitation, and how effectively the bill distinguishes consensual sex work from trafficking or coercion. Supporters are likely to emphasize safety, labor rights, privacy, and record relief for people harmed by criminalization. Opponents are likely to focus on public safety, moral objections, and concerns that decriminalization could complicate anti-trafficking efforts or normalize commercial sex.