With 42 percent of precincts reporting, nearly two-thirds of voters said no. But the campaign for this measure has triggered a local dialogue surrounding the politics and ramifications of the world’s oldest profession – a debate that will continue long after the final results come in later tonight.

“Prostitution is an issue that divides households,” said Carol Stuart, who spent today campaigning for Measure Q on San Pablo and Ashby by waving signs up to passing cars. “Measure Q kick-started a prostitution rights movement in Berkeley; it’s an important first step.”

Tonight, voters Adrian Bankhdad and Dafney Blanca Dabach discussed Measure Q while watching election returns at South Berkeley’s La Pena Cultural Center.

Bankhdad voted against the measure because he said it was worded irresponsibly.

“I trust the law over the prostitutes themselves,” said Bankhdad. He said prostitutes are “women who are often addicted to crack and not in control of themselves, who degrade themselves for a fix.” What they need, he said, “is not a measure that will reduce the stigma of prostitution; they need positive intervention from the legal system.”

Dabach voted for Measure Q after she heard about a prostitute who couldn’t find a job because of her prostitution-related criminal record.

Measure Q would have little more than symbolic significance because prostitution cannot be repealed at a citywide level. However, along with making sex for sale the lowest police priority, the initiative would instruct city officials to lobby for statewide legalization of prostitution, and require from local police a semi-annual report of prostitution-related law enforcement activity.

The arrest of prostitutes is what inspired Robyn Few, a 45-year old former prostitute and executive director of the Sex Workers Outreach Project, to advocate for prostitutes’ rights in Berkeley. In 2002, she was convicted on one federal count of conspiracy to promote prostitution and received six months house arrest. Outraged by what she saw as a total lack of protection and rights for prostitutes, Few launched her petition drive to put the issue on the November ballot.

In District 2, the neighborhood along San Pablo known as Berkeley’s red-light district, Rachon Harris said even though prostitutes are “like streetlights” in his neighborhood, he does not believe they should be a top priority for police.

“We have more important issues here like guns on the streets, the crooked police, racial profiling, domestic violence, and homelessness,” said Harris, a 31-year old construction worker. “The police shouldn’t have to worry about johns and sex.”

Harris’ sentiments were echoed by many of his neighbors interviewed outside the Rosa Parks Magnet School where they voted. They felt prostitution was not a vital concern compared to other social problems that plague South Berkeley.

Though their support was not mirrored by the city at large, backers of Measure Q say they are not discouraged.

“We already won,” Stuart said. “We already won because it got people talking about sex workers’ rights.”