This month, Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) staff joined advocates from across New York in Albany for a legislative advocacy day organized by Advocates for Safety & Health (A.S.H.), a statewide initiative focused on the health, safety, and dignity of sex workers and survivors of trafficking. Nearly 20 people gathered to meet with legislators, including representatives from partner organizations Equality New York, ELA-ONE, The Ishtar Collective, SWITCH, New Pride Agenda, and Old Pros, alongside community members with lived experience and legal experts.
Advocates spent the day conducting 22 meetings with legislators and their staff to discuss legislation aimed at improving safety, public health, and legal protections for marginalized New Yorkers. Advocates received many positive responses from lawmakers and are hopeful that the critical legislation will continue to gain momentum in the weeks ahead.
Advocates for Safety & Health was formed out of the New York coalition that successfully passed immunity legislation (A.1029/S.3967) in 2025. The legislation is a critical public safety measure that allows sex workers and survivors of trafficking who experience or witness violent crime to seek help without fear of arrest. A.S.H.’s 2026 legislative platform builds on that work by advancing policies that address stigma, improve public health, and combat abuse within the criminal legal system.
Advocates for Safety & Health 2026 Legislative Platform
S.4404/A.5399
This bill would make it illegal for law-enforcement officers to engage in sexual contact with anyone who is a victim, witness, subject, or person of interest in an investigation — not just people in custody. It closes a serious gap in New York’s penal law by recognizing that people interacting with police during investigations can also be vulnerable to coercion or abuse. The measure builds on similar protections enacted in other states and is especially important for protecting sex workers and trafficking survivors, who are often targeted in undercover investigations.
S.9798/A.178
This bill would strengthen New York’s 2016 law that prohibits using condoms as evidence of prostitution by expanding the protection to all prostitution-related offenses and civil claims. It would also ensure that all reproductive and sexual health devices — not just condoms — are covered. By removing the fear that carrying condoms or other health tools could be used as evidence against them, the bill promotes public health and safety for sex workers and all New Yorkers, reducing the criminalization of self-protection and harm reduction practices.
A.588/S.9828
This bill would automatically vacate, dismiss, and expunge all convictions under New York’s former “loitering for the purpose of prostitution” law — the discriminatory statute often known as the “Walking While Trans” ban, repealed in 2021. It ensures that everyone previously convicted under the old law has their records fully cleared, with law-enforcement agencies notified and records either marked as expunged or destroyed upon request. By eliminating the lasting harm of convictions that targeted trans women, sex workers, and trafficking survivors, the bill provides long-overdue justice and a true clean slate for those impacted by a law that never should have existed.
