Violence Against Sex Workers in New York City

Submitted by: Prostitutes of New York (PONY), New York, USA

Input for: Expert Group Meeting: "Violence Against Women: A statistical overview, challenges and gaps in data collection and methodology and approaches for overcoming them," 11-14 April 2005, Geneva, Switzerland

Topic: Violence against women in the sex industry

Police interactions

We asked how often sex workers had "run-ins" with police, meaning that they did not call the police, but that the police came after them.

• 63 per cent (32 of 51) of respondents reported having experienced run-ins with police. For those who did experience run-ins, 63 per cent (20 of 32) reported that these interactions were rare.
• 47 per cent (24 of 51) of respondents had been arrested in relation to sex work, and 12 per cent (6 of 51) said that they had been falsely arrested at least once.
• In the vast majority of cases where a respondent had been arrested, 88 per cent (21 of 24) were offered no services or alternative sentencing by the criminal court. Of the three people who had been offered services, only one received any services that were remotely substantive. This person was supposed to receive job training‹however, she found that the program was not helpful at all.
• Two women who had been trafficked into prostitution received services after having been arrested and held in immigration detention. These services were not offered through criminal court as a result of an arrest, but after the women were officially designated as trafficked persons.
• In addition to arrests, 29 per cent (15 of 51) of sex workers interviewed stated that they had at times been taken into police custody, but then released instead of being arrested. For some, this meant that they were issued a ticket, and in some cases, they were completely free to go.

Indoor sex workers have less contact with police than street-based sex workers, but this group was very worried about the police and tried to avoid interactions with law enforcement. They were afraid of the consequences of arrest, such as having a criminal record, stigma, impact on housing and family members, and immigration consequences, like deportation:

Gale* spoke of many concerns: "I would have a record… so much harder to get job… [I don't want] family and friends finding out… losing money from being in jail."

Karen also worried "about other people [friends] finding out." Viola did not want her mother to know how she supported herself.

Lily worried about the impact of arrest on her day job, as did Sara, who was fearful about an arrest "affecting my career."

Louise felt that an arrest would affect her ability to find mainstream work: "I see all this stuff about job training and this arrest would eliminate all the jobs you could want if you ever do want to leave [sex work.]"

Emiko was afraid that an arrest might result in "being deported back to Japan."

Edward also feared being deported, and he "hate[s] community service."

Sean was scared of "getting deported or having a black mark on my visa."

Police violence and sexual situations

• 14 per cent (7 of 51) of respondents experienced incidents of police violence, and victims of such violence felt they had no recourse.
• 16 per cent (8 of 51) of respondents have been involved in sexual situations with the police.

In addition to arrest, sex workers in this group also experienced violence at the hands of police:

Leticia said, "Just find a way to help us with the police. You have lots of women that have nobody to help them. We don't need lawyers, we need somebody to protect us when we get beat up, when police mess with us. Around here, they don't arrest you, they just mess with you like they own you."

When Bryan was hustling on the street, he was slammed against a wall by police. This happened to him two times — they pulled his hair, sprayed him with mace, and slammed him against a wall.

Violence and robbery from customers

• 46 per cent (24 of 52) of respondents have been forced by a client to do something he or she did not want to do.
• 42 per cent (22 of 52) of respondents have been threatened or beaten for being a sex worker.
• 31 per cent (16 of 52) of respondents have been robbed by a client.

The sex workers described high rates of violence. Violence here means being forced to do something that the respondent did not want to do; having been threatened or beaten because the respondent was a sex worker; and/or having been robbed by a client:

Sara describes a client "who came in and had a knife… I was cornered and I was about to be attacked and raped… I didn't go to the police because it would be coming out about what I've been doing."

Reporting violent incidents to the police

• 16 per cent (8 of 51) of respondents had gone to the police for help, as a sex worker, and found the police to be helpful.
• 43 per cent percent (22 of 51) of respondents stated that they were open to the idea of asking police for assistance. However, many of these same people also worried about how helpful police might be, and ultimately thought of the police as unhelpful and untrustworthy.

Despite their worries about the police, a few participants had good experiences with the police. These good experiences can help police write guidelines for best practices when assisting sex workers who come to them for help. Police who see sex workers as legitimate members of society are more likely to be helpful offer the same level of assistance that they would offer another person. They are also more likely to follow through on the steps taken in response to violence against sex workers. Unfortunately, this understanding that a sex worker may be a crime victim appears to be the result of enlightenment or understanding on the part of individual officers, and not the result of training and best practices issued by the police department.

Conclusion

Most sex work in New York is illegal, and therefore many sex workers isolated and invisible. There is a clear need for peer support for sex workers. Current policy and law enforcement efforts are not effective. Sex workers need targeted and meaningful programs and support systems that will help indoor sex workers who want to leave the life now, or at some point in the future, reach economic self-sufficiency and stability.

Recommendations

Police interaction with sex workers

• Policymakers should carefully consider the extent to which they make prostitution a criminal justice priority. Sex workers often engage in prostitution earn money for themselves and their families, and sex workers could benefit from substantive services and assistance rather than arrest
• Where a person has not committed a crime, police should not bother them.
• Local police and government agencies must keep arrest statistics so policymakers and advocates can examine criminal justice trends.

* All names have been changed.

Submitted by:

• Prostitutes of New York
  Tel: +1 212 713 5678
  Email: pony@panix.com