ALBANY — Lawmakers joined transgender activists, sex workers and human-trafficking victims at the Capitol on Tuesday to rally for the decriminalization of prostitution.

They are pushing for a repeal of the state's "loitering for prostitution" ban, which advocates say has led police to profile and arrest transgender individuals without evidence of a crime. Actions like "waving at a car" and "wearing a skirt" are treated as evidence of criminal activity, according to New York penal law.

"The law is ambiguous to the point of unconstitutional and gives law enforcement way too much discretion to antagonize and harass trans New Yorkers," Assemblyman Dan Quart, a co-sponsor of the bill, said.

A second bill, which would broaden criminal record relief for trafficking survivors, passed the Senate codes committee on Monday. It builds on a 2010 amendment to New York's Criminal Procedure Law enabling survivors of trafficking to vacate "prostitution-related" convictions.

Advocates say survivors of trafficking continue to be criminally prosecuted for a wide range of offenses, like drug charges or trespassing, that they were pressured to commit.

Previous legislative efforts to address the loitering ban did not gain traction. Quart said some lawmakers are considering bill language to fully decriminalize the sex trade in New York.

A number of prosecutors, including Albany County District Attorney David Soares, choose not to prosecute sex workers, instead targeting traffickers or exposing "johns" who create the demand.

Schenectady District Attorney Robert M. Carney said his office has for years sought to get prostitutes out of the business, offering counseling and drug rehabilitation as an alternative to criminal penalties.

But many sex workers choose the misdemeanor conviction and 90-day sentence over submitting to drug treatment or turning over their pimp or trafficker, he said.

"You need leverage in order to change behavior," Carney said. "You really do need to figure out how to help people, and enhancing services is a better idea than increasing or decreasing penalties."

The story of Song Yang, a Chinese immigrant who fell or jumped to her death in November 2017 from a fourth-story balcony during a New York Police Department raid of a Queens massage parlor, highlighted the toll of sex-trafficking crackdowns by law enforcement and spurred new activism on the issue.

"I made a promise to the family of Yang Song's family that I will seek justice in her case, and I intend on keeping that promise," said Assemblyman Ron Kim, whose district includes the Flushing neighborhood where the tragedy occurred.

In the Capital Region, the impact of human trafficking hit home in 2014, with the murder of a family of four, including two young boys, in Guilderland. The father, a Chinese immigrant, had ties to a network of exploitation and indentured servitude at Chinese takeout restaurants.

While street-walking -- or loitering -- is not a significant problem in the region, law enforcement officials say they are increasingly concerned about the proliferation of illegal massage parlors that traffic women from overseas.

"It's very hard to penetrate," Carney said. "There's also a language barrier, so it's very hard to see who's arranging it."

In recent years, sex work has moved off the streets and onto the web, with prostitution services promoted through Craigslist and Backpage ads, according Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple.

The city of Albany has seen a number of sting operations in recent years because it is a pass-though for traffickers headed for Montreal or Boston, and who often stop at hotels in Colonie, according to prosecutors.

While the Albany County district attorney's office says it now won't prosecute sex workers, having the law on the books enables police to "make an initial arrest to get them into custody and get them out of there," Apple said.