This factsheet provides an overview of trends in the criminalization of the sex trades in the borough of Manhattan,
New York City (Lenapehoking) over 16 years. These results challenge much of the rhetoric from law
enforcement, sex work prohibition groups, and other supporters of criminalization of the sex trades; namely, that
arrests and police surveillance of sex workers are necessary to identify cases of sex trafficking and exploitation.
On the contrary, the data highlights that the vast majority of arrests punish adults involved in consensual sex
work, and disproportionally harm BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) youth.