Condoms as evidence of prostitution in the United States and the criminalization of sex work

The use of condoms as evidence of prostitution had the same effect in each of the four cities: while public health departments spend millions of dollars promoting and distributing condoms for HIV prevention, some members of the groups most at risk of infection – sex workers, transgender women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth – fear carrying condoms to the point where they carry only a few, or none at all, and sometimes engage in sex without protection as a result [ 15]. Change is possible. Since the publication of our research findings, the US Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) has adopted a resolution recognizing that the use of condom possession as evidence of prostitution‐related offenses, like laws treating HIV status as the basis for prosecution or sentence enhancement, undermines HIV prevention and testing efforts. District attorneys in two jurisdictions – Nassau County, NY, and San Francisco – have stopped using condoms as evidence of prostitution and police in Washington, DC, are distributing know‐your‐rights cards to affected populations clarifying that the Metropolitan Police Department cannot interfere with possession of condoms and providing information on how to file a complaint against an officer for harassing, stopping, or searching a person on the basis of carrying condoms.