Documenting Police Practices in China
Uncovering community needs
Through formal research with marginalized groups in
2013 and 2014, Asia Catalyst discovered that police
in China often use the possession of condoms as
evidence of prostitution and grounds for arrest
of sex workers. This practice reduces sex workers’
willingness and ability to carry and use condoms
for commercial sexual transactions, increasing their
vulnerability to HIV. A much-publicized government
crackdown on sex work in 2014, further emphasized
the importance of securing a policy change on
condom possession to maximize the effectiveness of
China’s HIV prevention program. Asia Catalyst also
recognized that such a change would be impossible
without civil society involvement.
Bryon Lippincott photo /
Flickr. Beijing, 2014
THE RESEARCH FOUND:
(1)
Widespread and high incidence contact between sex workers and police,
often involving abuse, extortion and entrapment;
(2)
Decreased use of condoms by sex workers due to police focus on
condom possession as primary evidentiary requirement for arrest;
(3)
A high degree of conflict between police and ministry of health policies,
which mandate condom distribution and promotion for sex work
COMMUNITY TESTIMONIALS
“ The state allows condoms to be brought into hotels,