while I was looking up info for the full documentary, I found an article saying one of the women has already been arrested:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/03/21/woman-arrested-for-prostitution-subject-documentary-american-courtesans/
I can't see the ruling making much of a difference to the level of violence one way or another, it's already there and well established. Sex workers are extremely marginalized and dehumanized, by everyone, and the criminal and anonymous nature of the work as things stand make them very easy targets. It might make for a slight jump in the number of workers willing to make a report, although I doubt it. From the article:
One night in the 1990s, DiAngelo said a john picked her up and took her to his home in Sacramento. Her instincts told her he was a bad date, but when she ran for the door he grabbed her by the hair. He beat her so severely, "I wondered if the taste of blood in my mouth was mine or his."
Half-conscious, she escaped and flagged down a motorist. The officers who arrived, she said, told her she could file a complaint, but that they would also have to arrest her for prostitution.
Incensed, DiAngelo went to the district attorney, who she said filed an assault charge that didn't stick. The attack, years later, turned out to be the impetus for her activism.
"I was so tired of being silenced," she said. "We are an integral part of our society. And yet, our lives aren't worth anything to anyone else."
This is common. Even if workers aren't threatened outright with arrest (which does happen a lot) they go on the watch list, and the likelihood of them winding up in jail skyrockets. It's not safe to report. Every worker knows this.
This is why I advocate for legalization.
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