Arrests for prostitution-related offenses have dropped dramatically in New York City in recent years as the movement to decriminalize the sex trade has gained a foothold in local politics. But a coalition of women’s rights and anti-trafficking groups said on Tuesday that the shift away from criminalization had gone too far.
At a Manhattan press conference hosted by the National Organization for Women’s New York City chapter, advocates said they were glad those who sell sex are no longer being arrested for prostitution as frequently — but they urged Mayor Eric Adams, the NYPD and local district attorneys to go after their clients, or “Johns,” more aggressively.
An NYPD spokesperson said police have shifted their focus in recent years toward targeting people who promote or buy sex, rather than arresting people for prostitution. But data from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services shows that people are hardly ever arrested for patronizing a prostitute in New York City anymore. That was listed as the top offense for just one person who was arrested in the five boroughs in 2022, compared with 1,356 people in 2012.
“The majority of sex buyers do not care whether the person they buy is trafficked, has a pimp, identifies as empowered or is a teenager,” said Ane Mathieson, co-director of the Empower Center at Sanctuary for Families, which provides services to people currently or formerly engaged in the sex trade.
Two of the speakers who said they were survivors of trafficking and had been involved in the sex trade themselves discussed the violence and trauma they faced.
Tuesday’s press conference was held just days after Adams responded to a New York Post report on the sex trade on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. The mayor said at an unrelated event last week that he was “putting in place an operation to deal with the sex workers.”
Adams did not specify details but said, “we want to also go after the Johns because the demand is creating the supply,…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply