Art Caplan: Condoms Should Be Encouraged, Not Used as Evidence

Art Caplan has a new opinion piece up at NBC News on the increasing use of condoms as evidence of a crime by police in the United States. From the article:

Why do we shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to public health? The latest example of what not to do in the war against disease comes from the world of sex: All over the United States, police and prosecutors are discouraging safer sex by using the possession of condoms as evidence of a crime.

For decades, police officers have been regularly confiscating condoms from people they believe are engaged in prostitution to either justify an arrest or to use as evidence at trial. District Attorneys routinely mention the number of condoms a person had on them when arrested to help cinch prostitution charges.

Prostitutes are far more likely to be infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases than are the general population. That is why health departments spend a lot of money distributing condoms and trying to convince sex workers to use them.

Read the full article.

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