More harm than help

Free condoms and needles aren’t the solution

By Andrea Shearer
From the February 2005 Print Edition

Condoms for prostitutes and bleach kits for drug addicts — not exactly the conventional way of dealing with the problems that accompany promiscuous sex and rampant drug use. The California Prevention Education Project (Cal-PEP), formerly the California Prostitution Education Project, uses these methods to promote “safety” for Bay Area prostitutes, primarily those in the African-American community. The organization has adopted a “nonjudgmental” approach to these problems, handing out condoms and sterilization kits to prostitutes and drug users, rather than showing their clients — who like to be called “sex workers” — that prostitution is not the best way to earn a living.

Cal-PEP was founded by former prostitute Gloria Lockett as an organization to protect women in the sex industry who she felt were unfairly portrayed and targeted for their activities. Cal-PEP is primarily run by former prostitutes of color, and these individuals allege that they are most able to serve the needs of Bay Area prostitutes. The organization targets African-American sex workers and substance users because in 2000, 57 percent of all AIDS cases in Alameda County were among African Americans. 90 percent of Cal-PEP’s clients are African-Americans, followed by Latinos/as, then Caucasians.

Of the people treated by Cal-PEP who are HIV positive, 40 percent contracted the virus through unprotected sex, 20 percent through intravenous drug use, 20 percent from men who have sex with men, and 20 percent are unsure as to how they contracted HIV. More than 50 percent of Cal-PEP’s clients said they did not use condoms with their main partner even if their partner was HIV positive. Forty percent are current or former sex workers.

Cal-PEP’s nonjudgmental approach to prostitution relies on the belief that prostitution should be viewed as a job just like any other, disregarding the moral decay, drugs, violence, and other negative externalities to society at large that accompany it. According to one San Francisco anti-prostitution activist, “Cal-PEP blocks any dialogue on violence and trauma connected to prostitution because that would not fit their advocacy of prostitution as work.”

One night a month, Cal-PEP rents a hotel and holds workshops for prostitutes and their regular sex partners. “Just make sure you use a condom and sterilize your needle before you shoot up … and leave a fifty on the nightstand on your way out.”

Donna M. Hughes of the National Review noted that “Cal-PEP is well known for its shady past. Ten years ago, the San Francisco Examiner did an exposé on Cal-PEP revealing that although the organization was officially headed by Lockett, it was really being run by a man who was formerly her pimp and had been convicted of racketeering and tax evasion in connection with running a multi-state prostitution ring, which included girls as young as 16.” Hughes criticized Cal-PEP for receiving federal and state grants even after the scandal.

In fact, Cal-PEP’s average annual budget of $1 million consists entirely of federal and state grants — two of these are from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2004, SAMHSA invested more than $111 million in several programs, including Cal-PEP, to develop local capacity to provide mental-health and substance-abuse treatment and prevention services for individuals living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Also in 2004, the CDC gave $49 million to Cal-PEP and other organizations to pursue prevention activities in communities hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, particularly communities of color.

It is ridiculous that California tax dollars go towards stocking shelves with condoms and hypodermic needles for programs like Cal-PEP. Rather than helping clients to leave dangerous lifestyles, Cal-PEP “helps” by passing out condoms — which, as we all know, are not 100 percent effective. According to Tazima Jenkins Jones of Cal-PEP, “It [prostitution] is not something we are encouraging people to do, but for some women it is the only way to live.”

The belief that certain people cannot amount to anything more than prostitution is a pathetic and disheartening concept. Cal-PEP’s outlook encourages the belief that some people are less capable of leading healthy and safe lifestyles — the very attitude that perpetuates such illicit and disastrous behavior.

Other jobs may not turn as large a profit as selling one’s body, but they at least do not come along with violence, disease, and substance abuse. Perhaps some women turn to prostitution because they lack education and need money, so what they really need are tools and skills to enter the workforce. In this case, “help” means more than a handful of free condoms. With the funding it receives, couldn’t Cal-PEP offer job training and a referral system for these women to potential employers — in addition to sexual-health education?

What organization can take itself seriously, or expect others to, when its sexual-education brochures feature racy illustrations like a woman unbuttoning her shirt and headlines such as, “Let Me Holla @ Cha About STDs”? Another pamphlet declares, “Don’t get caught slippin’ in yo pimpin’ when it comes to HIV. Reduce yo risk!” Does Cal-PEP actually respect its clients — or does it expect nothing better for them than ill education and drug use?

The truth of the matter is that people always have the potential to make their lives better. Given certain tools and opportunities, this can become reality, but Cal-PEP is not interested in giving prostitutes the tools or opportunity to lead better lives and break their dangerous habits; Cal-PEP is an enabler, addressing the symptoms of a problem but not the deeper cause.

Condoms and drug kits do not bring the promise of a better existence. Putting a prostitute back in school and on the path to a better career would truly help her in the long run, and helping drug users conquer their addictions would help them more than teaching them how to keep their needles clean. Unfortunately, Cal-PEP does not believe that its clients are capable of leading more promising lives.

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