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The controversial legislation — referred to as SOAP, or Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution, and SODA, or Stay Out of Drug Areas, zones — came after people on both sides of the matter flooded city hall to have their concerns heard.
Supporters of SOAP and SODA said the anti-crime zones would disrupt growing street crime and illegal markets that can lead to violence. Critics said the bills would do more harm than good by further stigmatizing sex workers and people living in lower-income neighborhoods without addressing the underlying problems. They also took umbrage with money being spent on law enforcement rather than programs to help victims of human trafficking, addiction, and poverty.
She added that the bills “may scratch an itch to make council members feel like they are doing something to address public safety, but to claim these laws will address any of these problems is dangerous, and it is the epitome of performative.” Councilwoman Tanya Woo, who held a press conference with Kettle and other SODA advocates on Tuesday morning, called the intersection of Third Avenue and Pike Street in downtown Seattle “ground zero” for public disorder and said the city must “reclaim neighborhoods.”The SODA bill states a person can be ordered to stay out of a “zone” after being arrested in that area for a drug crime or for a non-drug crime that led to illegal drug activity.
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