NY Prostitutes: Time to Ban Condoms as Evidence

It would make sex safer, they argue
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 18, 2012 1:26 PM CDT
NY Prostitutes: Time to Ban Condoms as Evidence
New York prostitutes don't want condoms used as evidence against them anymore.   (©robertelyov)

New York prostitutes think they—and their clients—will be safer if their state becomes the first to stop using condoms as evidence in prostitution arrests, Bloomberg reports. Since condoms are considered probable cause and can be used against them, many prostitutes simply don't carry protection while working, explains a new report from the Sex Workers Project at New York's Urban Justice Center.

That, of course, increases the risk of contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS—which is why the Sex Workers Project and PROS Network, a sex workers' coalition that co-authored the report, went to Albany yesterday and pushed for lawmakers to ban the practice of using condoms as evidence. But the bill, introduced previously, is too broad, opponents worry, and could make it more difficult to prosecute human trafficking crimes. (More prostitutes stories.)

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