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ProPublica put its considerable resources to work, and has establishes what sex workers have long known: police lie. NYPD lied about shifting to arresting customers, and a very small handful of undercovers continue to target sex workers in low-income communities of color. https://twitter.com/propublica/status/1335887410413117442
Thankful to see this, wish it had been sooner. Here’s my reporting showing similar patterns over four years ago: https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/11/22/the-nypd-arrests-women-for-who-they-are-and-where-they-go-now-theyre-fighting-back/
One critique: the ProPublica story downplays the extent to which sex workers who have been subject to these arrests have fought back (including suing the city and cops). And they are the ones pushing to change the law: https://gothamist.com/news/inside-the-new-movement-to-decriminalize-sex-work-in-ny
One example: one of the women I interviewed in 2016 who was suing the city was arrested by undercovers *again* in 2018 amd was arraigned on the same day as a major sex worker protest. And a few months later, I saw her at the launch of DecrimNY’s campaign.
I’m glad to see resources the handful of reporters on this beat don’t have turned to these same stories. And I hope the people running anti-sex work projects who work with the police can’t get away unchallenged on their own lies about these arrests. https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/07/18/ice-is-using-prostitution-diversion-courts-to-stalk-immigrants/
(Typos throughout are what I get for reading investigations at 6AM.)
