Rhoda Perry was a Democratic member of the

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...

, representing the 3rd District (Providence's East Side). Perry was the chairwoman of Senate Committee on Health & Human Services and a member, Senate Committee on Judiciary.

Legislation

Rhoda Perry was the first legislator in Rhode Island to attempt to change the prostitution law. In 2005 Senator Perry submitted a bill to change the prostitution law, but later withdrew her support for the bill stating "I want to get at the source, not the poor woman who was being used in this way," After withdrawing her support for a prostitution law, Perry lobbied for and passed a

Human Trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

bill in 2007 and submitted another bill in 2009 to strengthen the previously passed law. In the documentary

Happy Endings? ''Happy Endings?'' is a 2009 cinéma vérité documentary film directed and produced by Tara Hurley. Filmed over 27 months, it chronicles the lives of the women in massage parlors in Rhode Island during a battle in the state legislature to once a ...

, Senator Perry explains how she changed her mentality on prostitution laws, wanting to address the source and not the victims. Perry was also integral in the creation of "Compassion Centers" in Rhode Island. The

Medical Marijuana Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...

bill was sponsored by Senator Perry and named after her nephew Edward O Hawkins and Representative Slater who worked on the House to pass the bill. Perry was the Senate legislative sponsor for Clean Elections Rhode Island, designed to make elections publicly funded. Introducing the act in spring of 2004, it has been brought before the House Finance and Senate Judiciary committees every year since, but has not yet been brought to a vote.

References

External links

official RI Senate website Rhode Island state senators 1943 births Living people Women state legislators in Rhode Island 21st-century American women {{RhodeIsland-politician-stub