Game Classification

Sex workers across the world must often make a dangerous choice between protecting their health and avoiding police harassment or arrest. In many countries, police treat condoms as contraband, confiscating or destroying condoms they find on sex workers during both legal and illegal searches. Prosecutors may use confiscated condoms as criminal evidence of prostitution.

Cops & Rubbers is a roleplaying tabletop game, designed by Lien Tran, based on research conducted by Open Society Foundations' SHARP program partners in Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Russia, and USA, and includes quotes from actual sex workers in these countries who have suffered violations to their public health rights and human rights because of this policy.

Since its launch at the 2012 International AIDS Conference, Cops and Rubbers has been played by an international audience from across 6 continents. Players often develop empathy for sex workers by playing from their perspective and by making difficult choices that jeopardize their health in order to fulfill their basic needs.

Cops & Rubbers was designed initially as an interactive simulation tabletop game for health and human rights advocates, health practitioners, academics, and policymakers that advocates against the criminalization of condoms by demonstrating the real consequences related policing tactics have on sex workers – including violence, extortion, and increased vulnerability to HIV infection. It has also been played by a much broader audience in order to develop greater awareness and possible attitude change towards sex work and the criminalization of condoms.

Distribution : Internet
Platform(s) : Browser - Mobile

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