http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/flaherty150110.html
Sex Workers Targeted in New Orleans
by Jordan Flaherty >
More than half of the people on Louisiana's Sex Offender Registry -- which> was designed for rapists and child molesters -- are indigent women convicted> of sex work. Tabitha has been working as a prostitute in New Orleans since she was 13. Now 30 years old, she can often be found working on a corner just outsideof the French Quarter. A small and slight white woman, she has battled bothdrug addiction and illness and struggles every day to find a meal or a placeto stay for the night. These days, Tabitha, who asked that her real name notbe used in this story, has yet another burden: a stamp printed on herdriver's license labels her a sex offender.
Her crime? Offering sex formoney. New Orleans city police and the district attorney's office are usinga state law written for child molesters to charge hundreds of sex workerslike Tabitha as sex offenders.
The law, which dates back to 1805, declaresit a crime against nature to engage in "unnatural copulation" -- a term NewOrleans cops and the district attorney's office have interpreted to meananal or oral sex. Sex workers convicted of breaking this law are chargedwith felonies, issued longer jail sentences, and forced to register as sexoffenders. Of the 861 sex offenders currently registered in New Orleans, 483were convicted of a crime against nature, according to Doug Cain, aspokesperson with the Louisiana State Police. And of those convicted of acrime against nature, 78 percent are Black and almost all are women. Impactson Women's Lives The law impacts sex workers in both small and large ways.
Tabitha has to register an address in the sex offender database. Herdriver's license has the label "sex offender" printed on it. She also hasto purchase and mail postcards with her picture to everyone in theneighborhood informing them of her conviction. If she needs to evacuate toa shelter during a hurricane, she must evacuate to a special shelter for sexoffenders, and this shelter has no separate safe spaces for women. She iseven prohibited from ordinary activities in New Orleans like wearing acostume at Mardi Gras. "This law completely disconnects our communitymembers from what remains of a social safety net," said Deon Haywood,director of Women With A Vision <http://wwav-no.org/> , an organization thatpromotes wellness and disease prevention for women who live in poverty.
Haywood's group has formed a new coalition of New Orleans activists andhealth workers who are organizing to fight the way police are abusing the1805 law. Activists like Haywood believe that using the law in this way ispart of an overall policy by the New Orleans Police Department to go afterpetty offenses. According to a report from the Metropolitan CrimeCommission, New Orleans police arrest more than 58,000 people every year. Of those arrested, nearly 50 percent are for traffic and municipaloffenses, and only 5 percent are for violent crimes.
"What this is reallyabout is over-incarcerating poor and of-color communities," said Rosana Cruzof VOTE-NOLA <http://www.vote-nola.org/> , a prison reform organization thatis also a part of the new coalition. Haywood, Cruz, and other activistsbelieve they have an opportunity with the mayoral and city council electionsnext month to change the system. With all of the candidates attempting todistance themselves from Mayor Nagin, who is prevented by term limits fromrunning again, the new mayor is likely to be open to making changes. Thisincludes hiring a new police chief, as all the candidates have pledged todo. Advocates are hoping this is an opportunity to shift the department'sfocus. "When there's a new police chief, we can educate them," saidHaywood. Many of the women Haywood's group works with are at the mosthigh-risk tier of sex work. They meet customers on the street and in bars.
Most are dealing with addiction and homelessness, and many cannot get foodstamps or other public assistance because of felony convictions on theirrecord. "I'm hoping that the situation will look different because of thiscoalition," Haywood said. "I can't tell you how overwhelmed we've been fromthe needs of this population." Condemned Miss Jackie is one of those women. A Black woman in her 50s, she was arrested for sex work in 1999 and charged as a sex offender. Her name was added to the registry for 10 years. Whenthe registration period was almost over she was arrested for possession ofcrack. She says the arresting officer didn't find any drugs on her person,but the judge ruled that she needed to continue to register as a sexoffender for another 15 years (the new federal requirement for sexoffenders) because her arrest was a violation of her registration period.
"Where is the justice?" she asked, speaking through tears. "How do theyexpect me to straighten out my life?" Struggling with basic needs likehousing, Miss Jackie added: "I feel condemned." Advocates and formerdefendants claim that the decision over who is charged under which penaltyis made arbitrarily, at the discretion of police and the district attorney'soffice, and that the law disproportionately affects Black people, as well astransgender women. When asked about the allegations of abusing the crimeagainst nature statue, New Orleans Police Department spokesman Bob Youngresponded: "Persons are charged according to the crime they commit." WendiCooper's story, however, paints a different picture. In 1999, Cooper hadrecently come out as transgender. A Black transwoman, she triedprostitution a few times and quickly discovered it wasn't for her. Butbefore she quit, she was arrested. At the time, Cooper was happy to take aplea that allowed her to get out of jail and didn't think much about whatthe "crime against nature" conviction would mean on her record. As she gotolder and began work as a healthcare professional, the weight of the sexoffender label began to upset her more and more. "This is not me," shesaid. "I'm not that person who the state labeled me as . . . it slandersme."
Cooper appealed to the state to have her record expunged and talked tolawyers about other options, but she still must register for at leastanother five years and potentially longer. "I feel like I was manipulated,you know, pleading guilty to this crime. . . . And it's hard, knowing thatyou are called something that you're not," she said. She is also afraid nowthat the conviction will prevent her from getting her license as aregistered nurse or from being hired. Although some women have tried tofight the sex offender charges in court, they've had little success. Thepenalties they face became even harsher in 2006 when Congress passed theAdam Walsh Act <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Walsh_Child_Protection_and_Safety_Act> ,requiring tier-1 (the least serious) sex offenders to stay in the publicregistry for 15 years.
There's also an added danger to fighting thecharges, according to Josh Perry, a former attorney with the Orleans PublicDefenders office. "The way Louisiana's habitual offender law works, if youchallenge your sentence in court and lose, and it's a third offense, themandatory minimum is 20 years. The maximum is life," he explained. Perryestimates that on an average day two or three people are arrested forprostitution in New Orleans, and about half of them are charged under thecrime against nature statute. "Right now, there are 39 people being held atOrleans Parish Prison [for] crimes against nature," Perry told a gatheringof advocates. "And another 15 to 20 people . . . charged with failure toregister as a sex offender." Sex workers accused as sex offenders facediscrimination in every aspect of the system. In most cases, they cannotget released on bond, because they are seen as a higher risk of flight thanpeople charged with violent crimes. "This is the level of stigma anddysfunction that we're talking about here," said Perry.
"Realistically,they're not getting out." Organizing for Change Advocates have said theideal solution would be to get state lawmakers to change the law, but theyfeel there's little hope of positive reforms from the current legislature. For now, organizers want to put pressure on police and the districtattorney's office to stop charging sex workers under the crime againstnature statute. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done. Haywood is working with lawyers and national allies to develop a legalstrategy, as well as a broad local coalition that includes criminal justicereform organizations like VOTE-NOLA and activist groups like the New Orleanschapters of Critical Resistance<http://www.criticalresistance.org/article.php?list=type&type=27> andINCITE! Women of Color Against Violence <http://www.incite-national.org/> .
"We're trying to organize, but we're also working on the human rights sideof how it's affecting their lives," she said. "This is a population thatworks in crisis mode all the time." Jennifer, a 23-year-old white woman whoasked that her real name not be used in this story, has been working as aprostitute since she was a teenager and also works as a stripper at a clubon Bourbon Street. She recently broke free of an eight-year heroinaddiction. Unless the law changes, she will have the words "sex offender"on her driver's license until she is 48 years old. Haywood said that storieslike this show that the law has the effect of forcing women to continue withsex work. "When you charge young women with this -- when you label them asa sex offender -- this is what they are for the rest of their lives," shesaid. Jennifer said it's affected her job options. "I'm not sure what theythink, but a lot of places won't hire sex offenders," she said. Haywood saidthe women she sees have few options. Many of them are homeless. They aresleeping in abandoned houses or on the street, or they are trading sex for aplace to stay. "The women we work with, they don't call it sex work," shesaid. "They don't know what that means. They don't even call itprostitution. They call it survival."
Sex Workers Targeted in New Orleans
by Jordan Flaherty >
More than half of the people on Louisiana's Sex Offender Registry -- which> was designed for rapists and child molesters -- are indigent women convicted> of sex work. Tabitha has been working as a prostitute in New Orleans since she was 13. Now 30 years old, she can often be found working on a corner just outsideof the French Quarter. A small and slight white woman, she has battled bothdrug addiction and illness and struggles every day to find a meal or a placeto stay for the night. These days, Tabitha, who asked that her real name notbe used in this story, has yet another burden: a stamp printed on herdriver's license labels her a sex offender.
Her crime? Offering sex formoney. New Orleans city police and the district attorney's office are usinga state law written for child molesters to charge hundreds of sex workerslike Tabitha as sex offenders.
The law, which dates back to 1805, declaresit a crime against nature to engage in "unnatural copulation" -- a term NewOrleans cops and the district attorney's office have interpreted to meananal or oral sex. Sex workers convicted of breaking this law are chargedwith felonies, issued longer jail sentences, and forced to register as sexoffenders. Of the 861 sex offenders currently registered in New Orleans, 483were convicted of a crime against nature, according to Doug Cain, aspokesperson with the Louisiana State Police. And of those convicted of acrime against nature, 78 percent are Black and almost all are women. Impactson Women's Lives The law impacts sex workers in both small and large ways.
Tabitha has to register an address in the sex offender database. Herdriver's license has the label "sex offender" printed on it. She also hasto purchase and mail postcards with her picture to everyone in theneighborhood informing them of her conviction. If she needs to evacuate toa shelter during a hurricane, she must evacuate to a special shelter for sexoffenders, and this shelter has no separate safe spaces for women. She iseven prohibited from ordinary activities in New Orleans like wearing acostume at Mardi Gras. "This law completely disconnects our communitymembers from what remains of a social safety net," said Deon Haywood,director of Women With A Vision <http://wwav-no.org/> , an organization thatpromotes wellness and disease prevention for women who live in poverty.
Haywood's group has formed a new coalition of New Orleans activists andhealth workers who are organizing to fight the way police are abusing the1805 law. Activists like Haywood believe that using the law in this way ispart of an overall policy by the New Orleans Police Department to go afterpetty offenses. According to a report from the Metropolitan CrimeCommission, New Orleans police arrest more than 58,000 people every year. Of those arrested, nearly 50 percent are for traffic and municipaloffenses, and only 5 percent are for violent crimes.
"What this is reallyabout is over-incarcerating poor and of-color communities," said Rosana Cruzof VOTE-NOLA <http://www.vote-nola.org/> , a prison reform organization thatis also a part of the new coalition. Haywood, Cruz, and other activistsbelieve they have an opportunity with the mayoral and city council electionsnext month to change the system. With all of the candidates attempting todistance themselves from Mayor Nagin, who is prevented by term limits fromrunning again, the new mayor is likely to be open to making changes. Thisincludes hiring a new police chief, as all the candidates have pledged todo. Advocates are hoping this is an opportunity to shift the department'sfocus. "When there's a new police chief, we can educate them," saidHaywood. Many of the women Haywood's group works with are at the mosthigh-risk tier of sex work. They meet customers on the street and in bars.
Most are dealing with addiction and homelessness, and many cannot get foodstamps or other public assistance because of felony convictions on theirrecord. "I'm hoping that the situation will look different because of thiscoalition," Haywood said. "I can't tell you how overwhelmed we've been fromthe needs of this population." Condemned Miss Jackie is one of those women. A Black woman in her 50s, she was arrested for sex work in 1999 and charged as a sex offender. Her name was added to the registry for 10 years. Whenthe registration period was almost over she was arrested for possession ofcrack. She says the arresting officer didn't find any drugs on her person,but the judge ruled that she needed to continue to register as a sexoffender for another 15 years (the new federal requirement for sexoffenders) because her arrest was a violation of her registration period.
"Where is the justice?" she asked, speaking through tears. "How do theyexpect me to straighten out my life?" Struggling with basic needs likehousing, Miss Jackie added: "I feel condemned." Advocates and formerdefendants claim that the decision over who is charged under which penaltyis made arbitrarily, at the discretion of police and the district attorney'soffice, and that the law disproportionately affects Black people, as well astransgender women. When asked about the allegations of abusing the crimeagainst nature statue, New Orleans Police Department spokesman Bob Youngresponded: "Persons are charged according to the crime they commit." WendiCooper's story, however, paints a different picture. In 1999, Cooper hadrecently come out as transgender. A Black transwoman, she triedprostitution a few times and quickly discovered it wasn't for her. Butbefore she quit, she was arrested. At the time, Cooper was happy to take aplea that allowed her to get out of jail and didn't think much about whatthe "crime against nature" conviction would mean on her record. As she gotolder and began work as a healthcare professional, the weight of the sexoffender label began to upset her more and more. "This is not me," shesaid. "I'm not that person who the state labeled me as . . . it slandersme."
Cooper appealed to the state to have her record expunged and talked tolawyers about other options, but she still must register for at leastanother five years and potentially longer. "I feel like I was manipulated,you know, pleading guilty to this crime. . . . And it's hard, knowing thatyou are called something that you're not," she said. She is also afraid nowthat the conviction will prevent her from getting her license as aregistered nurse or from being hired. Although some women have tried tofight the sex offender charges in court, they've had little success. Thepenalties they face became even harsher in 2006 when Congress passed theAdam Walsh Act <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Walsh_Child_Protection_and_Safety_Act> ,requiring tier-1 (the least serious) sex offenders to stay in the publicregistry for 15 years.
There's also an added danger to fighting thecharges, according to Josh Perry, a former attorney with the Orleans PublicDefenders office. "The way Louisiana's habitual offender law works, if youchallenge your sentence in court and lose, and it's a third offense, themandatory minimum is 20 years. The maximum is life," he explained. Perryestimates that on an average day two or three people are arrested forprostitution in New Orleans, and about half of them are charged under thecrime against nature statute. "Right now, there are 39 people being held atOrleans Parish Prison [for] crimes against nature," Perry told a gatheringof advocates. "And another 15 to 20 people . . . charged with failure toregister as a sex offender." Sex workers accused as sex offenders facediscrimination in every aspect of the system. In most cases, they cannotget released on bond, because they are seen as a higher risk of flight thanpeople charged with violent crimes. "This is the level of stigma anddysfunction that we're talking about here," said Perry.
"Realistically,they're not getting out." Organizing for Change Advocates have said theideal solution would be to get state lawmakers to change the law, but theyfeel there's little hope of positive reforms from the current legislature. For now, organizers want to put pressure on police and the districtattorney's office to stop charging sex workers under the crime againstnature statute. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done. Haywood is working with lawyers and national allies to develop a legalstrategy, as well as a broad local coalition that includes criminal justicereform organizations like VOTE-NOLA and activist groups like the New Orleanschapters of Critical Resistance<http://www.criticalresistance.org/article.php?list=type&type=27> andINCITE! Women of Color Against Violence <http://www.incite-national.org/> .
"We're trying to organize, but we're also working on the human rights sideof how it's affecting their lives," she said. "This is a population thatworks in crisis mode all the time." Jennifer, a 23-year-old white woman whoasked that her real name not be used in this story, has been working as aprostitute since she was a teenager and also works as a stripper at a clubon Bourbon Street. She recently broke free of an eight-year heroinaddiction. Unless the law changes, she will have the words "sex offender"on her driver's license until she is 48 years old. Haywood said that storieslike this show that the law has the effect of forcing women to continue withsex work. "When you charge young women with this -- when you label them asa sex offender -- this is what they are for the rest of their lives," shesaid. Jennifer said it's affected her job options. "I'm not sure what theythink, but a lot of places won't hire sex offenders," she said. Haywood saidthe women she sees have few options. Many of them are homeless. They aresleeping in abandoned houses or on the street, or they are trading sex for aplace to stay. "The women we work with, they don't call it sex work," shesaid. "They don't know what that means. They don't even call itprostitution. They call it survival."
