MORE RESEARCHERS ARE making the case to decriminalize sex work, joining calls by other advocates who say doing so might improve public health outcomes.

In December, health experts, legal scholars and advocates released a report that focused on decriminalizing sex work in Washington, D.C., where sex work is punishable by fines or jail time. It's some of the latest research suggesting that criminalizing prostitution can lead to dangerous health outcomes for sex workers.

There is "considerable evidence from public health researchers that criminalization of sex work contributes to community violence, propagates crime, blocks access to public health resources, is an ineffective deterrent to participation in sex work, and is deeply harmful to sex workers," according to an executive summary of the report, an effort by the Whitman-Walker Institute, an LGBTQ-focused community health center in Washington, the Georgetown University O'Neill Institute of National and Global Health Law and HIPS, a nonprofit working to advance the health rights of sex workers.

Advocates of decriminalization argue that criminalizing sex work puts workers in constant fear of the police, making them less likely to ask for help if they face danger from a client – workers may worry about being arrested, or about facing violence or solicitation from law enforcement officers themselves. They also say it makes it harder for sex workers to access social services, welfare benefits and health care.