A Boston College student group is in trouble for handing out condoms on campus. (Photo courtesy peachy92/Flickr)
Cops should not be confiscating condoms, some are telling state officials this week.
Anti-trafficking advocates are in Albany this week to push for a law that would bar cops from confiscating condoms and using them as evidence in prostitution accusations.
Metro haspreviously reported that some transgender people in Queens say cops stop them and accuse them of prostitution, using any condoms they may have as proof.
Advocates say that police officers confiscate condoms, which are later used as evidence in prostitution cases. They want legislators to pass the No Condoms as Evidence Bill.
When condoms are confiscated, it discourages trafficking victims and LGBTQ people from carrying them, which could lead to increased HIV rates, they said.
Advocates point out that condoms keep New Yorkers safe, and that confiscating them is a waste of the roughly 40 million condoms given out each year.
“Using the presence of condoms on people or premises to arrest prosecute anyone puts everyone’s lives at risk,” said Mitchyll Mora at Streetwise and Safe, which works with LGBTQ youth.
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice banned the use of condoms as evidence in prostitution cases earlier this year, saying the public health impact of losing condoms was not worth the “limited courtroom gain.”
