Enforcement of DC Prostitution Law May Attack Women's Civil Rights

Washington, D.C.To help curb the high rate of prostitution in the nation's capital, a new law has given local police the freedom to establish Prostitution Free Zones that allow officers to arrest anyone suspected of being a sex worker. Yet the criteria used by some officers to label sex workers may actually violate women's civil rights.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">The Prostitution Free Zone law is meant to target men and women who loiter within a specific area with the intent of soliciting clients for a paid sexual encounter. Though some prostitutes are easy to spot, the task has grown more difficult as sex workers learn from their mistakes.

Yet a recent report from RH Reality Check claims that many officers are labeling women as prostitutes simply for carrying three or more condoms, despite the ready availability of condoms sold in packages of 10 or more.

Analysts worry that the practice needlessly penalizes women for engaging in responsible sexual intercourse within or outside of the sex trade.

"The real danger of this practice falls to people who actually are sex workers," blogs Alex Dibranco of Change.org. "It pushes them to abandon safe sex techniques, putting their own health at risk as well as that of the general population."