Decriminalize Sex Work in New York

The criminal status of sex work makes sex workers and victims of trafficking vulnerable to violence and sexual assault, because they risk being arrested or even further victimized by police when they seek help from law enforcement. Because they are afraid to report crimes committed against them, the truly violent criminals typically go free, while sex workers are forced to suffer alone.

It also makes it difficult for women who have been convicted of illegal sex work to leave the industry as the stigma makes it difficult for them to be hired in mainstream professions or attend school. Even if one is opposed to sex work, criminalizing women for engaging in it only limits their options to exit the industry even more.

Criminalizing sex work contributes to the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, because condoms are often used as evidence to convict sex workers, so many are afraid to carry them. Decriminalizing sex work would make it easier for sex workers to access contraception, STI screenings, and engage in safer sex.

Criminalizing sex workers is violence, let's end the violence now.