Response to inquiries about Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner.

Dear Community,

We write to you today in response to inquiries about Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner and recent reports alleging that he engaged in purchasing sex in a state where sex work is criminalized. There have also been deeply concerning mentions that the individuals involved may have been victims of human trafficking. As a community-based organization grounded in Black liberation, feminist values, and a commitment to Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) abolition, we feel it is important to speak to this moment with clarity, care, and a refusal to replicate the carceral logics that cause harm across our society. Our goal with this statement is to center survivors, clarify the real harm in this situation, and humanize all of those involved, including the so-called ‘offender’. 

First and foremost, we reject the stigmatization of people who engage in sex work. Whether or not a person paid   for sex is not, in and of itself, a reflection of their  character, morality, or their  capacity to care for their  family or community. We hold a nuanced understanding of sex work that affirm the dignity, agency, and humanity of all people who engage in it—whether by choice, circumstance, or coercion. Our critique is not rooted in moral panic or carceral feminism — the response to gender based issues with punishment, incarceration and surveillance. Instead, we lean into our values of collective accountability and systemic transformation.

At the same time, we want to acknowledge the serious harm caused by human trafficking and exploitation. We center, honor, and stand with survivors, and we call for systems and communities that protect people from violence—not systems that disappear, cage, or punish them. We urge the public to resist the urge to conflate consensual sex work with trafficking, and instead to ask deeper questions about power, coercion, and the conditions under which people live and survive. If this is an instance of human trafficking, what is being done to support the survivors? These people are members of our communities. What does accountability look like? What resources does our community have to support their healing and transformation? We want to emphasize how our current punishment system does not touch on these questions. The salacious headlines and individualization of the problem does not allow us as a community to address the deeper systemic processes that makes trafficking and sexual coercion possible.

While we do not personally know Mr. Toner, and cannot speak to his private life or intentions, we do know he is a public figure who has made statements in the past that stigmatize and marginalize those with histories of incarceration. As such, this is a moment for reflection, humility, and accountability—not for punishment or political spectacle.

To be clear: The Black Response does not endorse political candidates, and we will not take a public position on whether Councilor Toner should resign from his seat. Our commitment is not to individual politicians but to the communities most impacted by criminalization, poverty, racism, and state violence. We are not aligned with many of Councilor Toner’s policy positions, but we believe in transformation over disposability.

We extend an invitation—an opportunity—for Councilor Toner to move toward a path of genuine accountability. We ask him to publicly apologize not only for his actions, but for his past rhetoric that has contributed to the ongoing stigmatization of justice-involved individuals. We call on him to engage in political education about the criminal legal system, human trafficking, and the realities of sex work. We urge him to listen deeply to people who have been incarcerated, who have engaged in sex work, who are survivors, and who live at the intersections of these experiences.

Moreover, we believe that true accountability must come through a transformative justice process—one that centers the harms, a process for healing, and community, not punishment or retribution. A transformative justice process that both holds Mr. Toner accountable for whatever harms he may have caused and ensures that we are implementing measures to prevent human trafficking and criminalization of sex work in our communities. We hope Councilor Toner will consider participating in such a process, not for our satisfaction, but for the communities who deserve more than silence, defensiveness, or denial.

Finally, we send care and support to Councilor Toner’s family during what is undoubtedly a painful time. We also hold in our hearts the sex workers involved, and all those navigating systems of violence with far fewer resources and much greater risk. Our vision is for a world in which no one is criminalized for surviving, where no one is trafficked, and where everyone has the support and freedom they need to live in safety and dignity.

In struggle and solidarity,

The Black Response