When rape shield laws spread across the country in the 1970s to protect sexual misconduct victims from having their sexual histories used against them in court, women could finally come forward without fearing their “promiscuity” would be paraded in front of a jury.

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But not all victims were covered by the laws, which were written during a time when society painted some women as virtuous and deserving of protection while others – such as sex workers – often remained unbelieved and unbelievable.

Over the last half-century, the understanding of sexual assault, coercion and consent has evolved, and rape shield laws around the country have been updated.

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But in New York, stigmas and misconceptions about trafficking victims and sex workers are still etched into the rape shield statute by treating them differently when they suffer sexual attacks.

“Today, we are literally legitimizing rape by allowing this law to be on the books,” said Lola Balcon, a sex workers’ rights advocate.

Now some politicians are seeking to change that.

In New York’s legislative bodies, two bills attempt to address New York’s outmoded law. One, co-sponsored by state senator Kevin Parker and assembly member Linda B Rosenthal, removes an exception that allows the defense to introduce evidence proving the victim has been convicted of a prostitution offense in the three years prior to the alleged sex offense under prosecution.

“Just because someone is a sex worker, that doesn’t mean that every time they have sex with someone they’ve consented to it,” Rosenthal told the Guardian.

The other bill, sponsored by state senator Andrew J Lanza, extends the rape shield protection to cover sex trafficking cases, which are not included under the current statute. It originated from the experience of Judge Fernando Camacho, who noticed a pattern emerging as he presided over sex trafficking cases.

Today, we are literally legitimizing rape by allowing this law to be on the books Lola Balcon

A young girl would run away from home and shelter in a building occupied by drug users. She would sleep with some of the people there in exchange for drugs until one day, a man would tell her she deserved better. After she followed him, he would imprison her and she would be raped by different men for weeks. One day, she would escape and run into the street, screaming for help.

When her sex trafficking case went to trial and she was called to the stand as a victim, the trafficker’s attorney would ask Camacho to allow evidence about how she slept with men for drugs in that abandoned building.

“This is merely being asked for the purpose of … humiliating this witness and distracting the jury,” Camacho said.

The information has little to do with whether the girl was locked up and raped for profit. But because the rape shield law does not cover sex trafficking cases, there is nothing barring the defense from using a witness’ sexual history against her.

Camacho hopes to change that. In his own courtroom, he usually does not allow such evidence to be introduced. And he believes that if New York’s rape shield law covered sex trafficking, other judges would be more inclined to follow suit.

But whereas trafficking victims are often understood to deserve protections, the blame society places on sex workers still puts them in a gray area, Rosenthal said. Those stigmas tend to inform policy surrounding sex workers and make them less of a sympathetic cause than trafficking victims.

But the two communities are less different than many think: sex workers are often trafficking survivors, and though some choose their profession, others do so because they have few other options.

Implied in New York’s current law is the assumption sex workers lie about alleged sexual violence they experience and cannot be trusted, which robs them of their ability to say no to sex.

“It really spells out that if you’ve ever traded sex for money, or resources, or food,” Balcon said, “then that makes you less credible as a rape victim and makes your story less believable.”

By having a prostitution conviction exception to the rape shield law, advocates, scholars and politicians believe New York is discrediting the voices of women who have been involved in sex work.

“The implication of allowing that to be used is that by engaging in the sex trade, … either through coercion or not, someone has given up their right to consent,” said Julia Salazar, a New York state senator-elect who included the rape shield law’s shortcomings in her platform. “Nobody’s sexual history should ever be used against them when testifying to or reporting an act of sexual violence.”

Sex workers’ rights advocates say women who work consensually are often doing so as a second or third job during a crisis. And as targets for sex crimes, they need proper rape shield laws; around 75% are raped after entering the industry, according to a 2007 Columbia Law Review article.

The exception to the rape shield law disproportionately affects women of color, who are statistically more likely to sell themselves on the streets and more susceptible to both sexual assault by clients and harsher enforcement by police.

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“Engaging in sex work for a few months or a few years to get by should not mean you should no longer have access to justice,” said Balcon.

Both proposed revisions would likely bolster the voices of trafficking survivors and make it less intimidating for them to seek justice.

“You don’t want to discourage people who were actually victims of sexual assault (from) coming forward simply because they have a history that they’re fearful they’ll have to disclose and talk about on the witness stand,” Camacho said.

Even in an era of heightened awareness around sexual misconduct, Balcon said ideas about women’s sexual purity still affect those who have done sex work.

But, Balcon said, “I think that #MeToo has shown us that sexual harassment and violence is never acceptable under any circumstance. And people who trade sex should not be outside of that.”