Stay Strapped: NYPD vows to back off from criminalizing condoms in sex work cases

Imagine you are stopped by the police, searched without basis, and arrested for an illegal act with legal items in your possession cited as evidence of your crime. 

Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, this does not sound unfamiliar or unique to any one particular encounter with the police. However, this is what some 200 prostitutes reported when describing their interactions with the NYPD in interviews with Human Rights Watch.

Following Brooklyn's lead, the Manhattan district attorney announced this week that they will be cutting back on their seizure of condoms as evidence in the arrest of prostitutes.

Taking away condoms to support the arrest of sex workers makes about as much sense as taking the seat belts from cars of drag-racers. 

Such seizures discourage offenders from arming themselves with protection while engaging in risky behavior, for fear of getting caught red-handed. From a public health and human rights standpoint, this is an operational disaster. 

True, the average citizen may not carry around more than one or two condoms during a night on the town, but what if they did? Would this be grounds to prove they were selling their body? Probably not. Sure, if all of the stereotypical signs pointed to "prostitute" (i.e. walking the same block/corner for hours, walking up to car windows and asking for a "date", etc.), condoms may close the case. But that doesn't mean they should. 

Aside from enacting a questionable standard of what constitutes justified suspicion of legal offenders, the NYPD's job is to "serve and protect". In terms of sex work, however, who exactly is law enforcement trying to protect, and from what?

There will always be a moral debate over whether sex work should be legalized and regulated. Would it make everyone involved more safe? Yes. Does that keep people from feeling uncomfortable about two consenting adults exchanging money for sex acts? No. 

And therein lies the other problem. Consenting adults is the assumption, not always the reality of sex work (here, prostitution). 
This question of protection should be at the core of how law enforcement attacks sex trafficking; which involves pimps, underage girls, unsafe conditions, and lack of legal and institutional support. 

Considering the dangers of prostitution, the last thing the the law should do is perpetuate the cycle of insecurity and discrimination. 

Making condoms criminal evidence disincentivizes their use by sex workers, which in turn puts them and their johns at increased health risk, which underhandedly exposes unassuming sex partners to disease, thereby increasing the disdain for sex workers and their "dirty" practices. 

There is still a lot of work to be done on the matter, and it is about time that the NYPD smarten up and quit working against the city's own public health initiatives. 
As always, wrap it up, NYC. Be safe out there.