Speak Up! Doing Legislative Advocacy for Change in New York
For most issues that impact people in the sex trade within the United States, marching on Washington or asking the President to make a change is misdirected energy. States write their own criminal codes, as well as most public health, labor, and housing laws – all of which affect people in the sex trades. And cities have important powers too, regulating zoning, deciding how local money is spent, and making
the kind of decisions that affect us on a day-to-day basis like how late parks are open or where police patrol. The language –often just a few words– included in bigger state and city laws can have major impact on the ability of public services and law enforcement to place restrictions on us and penalize us for trying to make a living. On the flip side, the absence of language that protects people in the sex industry can create space for law enforcement and public services to abuse us and violate our human rights.
Being aware of how state and city law making works is important because it gives us the ability to engage in our democracy and demand change for ourselves and our communities. This guide serves as a primer on how the legislative process works and what opportunities there are for people in the sex industry and our allies to engage in making change.
The Red Umbrella Project is a run and led by people who have wide-ranging experiences in the sex trades. We believe there is a lot of value in engaging in advocacy to change policies that negatively affect our communities, and that people with lived experience in the sex industry are the best people to do this work. But we’re not going to lie: there’s a lot stacked against us. The conflation of sex work and trafficking, not to mention the social and legal stigmas associated with the sex trade, make it really difficult to get our messages across. The truth is that getting rid of bad laws and getting better laws passed is slow work, and it is often discouraging. It’s unreasonable to expect that we will have big successes right away. But we are long-term optimists, and we believe that it is crucial that we invest time and energy in working for legislative change, and that it is vital for people like us to have seats at the table when our lives are being legislated.
A note about the audience for this guide: This manual was prepared specifically for people in New York City and State who are interested in doing legislative advocacy and making change in state and city policies. State and city legislative processes vary widely, so although some of the strategies are transferable to other locations, the information about the process of how a bill becomes a law is very different in other cities and states. Please research your local situation before you engage in legislative advocacy!
If you want to talk about how it can be adapted for your local area, please email audaciaray@redumbrellaproject.org
Advocates for Sex Workers, Elected Officials, and Public Health Experts to Call for Law Barring Use of Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution
Report to Reveal Public Health Crisis Caused by NYPD’s Confiscation of Condoms
On Tuesday, April 17 people with experience in the sex trade, elected officials, public health experts, and human rights advocates will hold a press conference calling on the New York State Assembly to pass legislation barring the use of condoms as evidence of prostitution. Supporters of Bill S323/A1008, known as the No Condoms as Evidence Bill, say that allowing condoms to be confiscated by police and used as evidence in criminal cases discourages sex workers and other vulnerable New Yorkers from carrying condoms, undermining efforts to combat sexually transmitted diseases and educate the public about safer sex.
At Tuesday’s press conference, The Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center and the PROS Network (Providers and Resources Offering Services to Sex Workers) will release a report, entitled “Public Health Crisis: The Impact of Using Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution in New York City.” The report reveals findings from two separate surveys of NYC sex workers, including a survey conducted in 2010 by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) that is only now being released.
WHAT: Elected Officials, Public Health Experts, and Human Rights Advocates Hold Press Conference Calling for Legislation Banning the Use of Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution, Release Report on Public Health Crisis in NYC
WHO: Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Audacia Ray of Red Umbrella Project, Sienna Baskin of The Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, Chris Bilal from Streetwise and Safe (all members of the PROS Network), and Kathryn Todrys of Human Rights Watch.
WHEN: Tuesday, April 17that 1:00pm
WHERE: Room 130, Legislative Office Building
When she worked the streets, Yvette Gonzales said, she frequently saw other prostitutes working without condoms. But they were not having unprotected sex at the request of their customers.
Often, Ms. Gonzales said, the police would confiscate condoms when making a prostitution arrest so they could be used as evidence. And as soon as the prostitutes were released from jail, she said, they would go right back to work without protection; or they would refrain from carrying condoms at all, for fear of being arrested, and would hope customers would supply their own. “It breaks my heart,” said
Ms. Gonzales, who now works for a nonprofit group, the Positive Health Project, that counsels prostitutes, tests them for infection and provides them with free condoms. “The police need to understand: Don’t take their condoms. You’re taking someone’s health from them.”
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Albany Bill Would Bar Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution - NYTimes.com
Good article about no condoms as evidence legislation.
Two things, though (always! always with the critique):
- There’s no mention of how the collection of condoms as evidence of prostitution is an act of profiling people of color, especially trans women, who are using public spaces and may or may not be engaged in street based sex work.
- Also there’s this: ” Excluding certain types of evidence from criminal court is rare, but not unprecedented. One example is the rape shield law, which limits evidence or questions in rape trials about a complainant’s previous sexual conduct.” Mention of the rape shield law is ironic because rape shield law in NY state doesn’t apply to people who have gotten a prostitution related conviction in the last three years.
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***IMPORTANT UPDATE***
The New York state No Condoms as Evidence bill (S323/A1008) has been removed from the agenda for the NYS Senate Judiciary Committee for this Thursday, March 1.
State level bills need to make their way through several committees in both the Senate and Assembly before they can go to a vote, and frequently in past years, this bill has “died in committee,” which means that it was referred to a committee and then the members never put it on an agenda to get voted on. So it didn’t get voted against, it just didn’t get a chance.
The prime sponsor of the bill, Senator Montgomery, asked for the bill to be removed from the Judiciary Committee agenda. It will not be considered on March 1.
This is a little disappointing, but my sources tell me that Senator Montgomery did not feel there was enough support for the bill yet, and asked for it to be removed because she thought it would fail.
I’ll write updates as I learn about them!
The Issue: In New York, as in other places, condoms are often confiscated by police and then used as evidence of intent to engage in prostitution. This spring, people in the sex industry and our allies are putting pressure on elected officials in Albany to demand that they pass Bill S1289/A1008, which would stop police from using condoms as evidence of prostitution.
The Red Umbrella Project is offering a free, full day legislative advocacy training on Sunday, April 15 at the Urban Justice Center (123 William Street, 16th floor.) in NYC to prepare for our Albany lobby day on Tuesday, April 17. Learn from a veteran staffer of the state legislature how bills become law, how to monitor bills as they make their way through the process, and how to talk to your elected representatives about your concerns. We will be joined by NY State Assemblymember Richard Gottfried for an hour during the training. The training is from 10 am to 4 pm, and lunch, snacks, and beverages will be provided.
To RSVP or ask questions, email audaciaray@redumbrellaproject.org. We have limited capacity for both the training and the free lobby day bus, so please RSVP early. We highly encourage you to attend both the training and the lobby day, however, it’s not required to do both. Please indicate in your RSVP if you plan on attending both or just one.
Also, if you would like to distribute postcards to promote this training in your community, let me know and I can get some to you.
On display right now at the New York Public Library.
