[1][2][3] Some sex workers have reported that they have encountered police officers who have physically assaulted them without evidence of a crime and without making an arrest.
[4] Studies have been conducted to examine the extent and frequency of abuse experienced by sex workers in the United States.
[6] Sex workers have reported "experiencing verbal degradation, cursing, insults, and racial slurs from the police" and being harassed when engaging in non-criminal activities.
Proponents have also argued that it can contribute to reduced stigma, discrimination, and marginalization that comes with being a sex worker, as well as curbing the abuse experienced by police officers.
[14] On June 18, 2014, Oklahoma City Officer Daniel Holtzclaw pulled over a 57-year-old woman and forced her to perform oral sex upon him.
During the trial prosecutors stated that Holtzclaw targeted women in poor communities who had drug or prostitution records, as he assumed that they would be unlikely to file a report.
[21][22] In 2017 the Oakland City Council agreed to pay a settlement of nearly one million dollars to Celeste Guap, a former underaged prostitute.
Guap stated that she had been exploited and sexually assaulted by approximately two dozen officers from the Oakland, Richmond, Livermore, and Contra Costa County departments, which included encounters prior to her reaching the legal age of consent.
Guap has further expressed an unwillingness to testify due to fears for her own safety as she still resides in the Bay Area where the crimes were committed.