(ACTION) Condoms Aren’t a Crime! Sign a petition, Save a Life?
Why are condoms, one of the most effective HIV/AIDS prevention tools, being used as evidence of criminal action in New York, San Francisco and Washington DC? If you're outraged, sign your name.
We’ve covered some of the more recent (and “creative”) ways particular cities – and Washington DC – are essentially criminalizing public health tools: by using possession of a condom as credible evidence that one may be engaged in prostitution. Condom possession in DC, New York City, and San Francisco has been used to support arrests and prosecution of individuals for sex work and it’s not just stupid, it’s dangerous.
From a recent article on Rewire on efforts to pass a bill that would end this practice:
In the meantime, this bill’s holdup is hindering public health by discouraging prostitutes from carrying condoms. According to the Urban Justice Center, in a recent informal survey of street outreach program participants, nearly half of those who regularly carry condoms have had them confiscated by the police.
We know condoms are critical to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS so why, in the name of all that is evidence-based, common sensical and healthy, would we encourage people not to use them?
Change.org has been rallying those who believe these laws are dangerous and should be repealed to sign a petition to the mayors of New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC.
If you want to add your voice to the thousands who have already spoken up and said, “Condoms aren’t a crime!” sign the petition (and potentially save a life!).