Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Wednesday that all outstanding prostitution-related warrants for the past four decades have now been dismissed.

Gonzalez requested that 857 outstanding warrants and their underlying cases be dismissed as his office said they no longer prosecute arrests for prostitution.

The outstanding warrants that were dismissed were issued as far back from the '70s to 2011 as the Brooklyn D.A. had vacated warrants from 2012 to now.

News 12 spoke with activist for sex workers and survivors of trafficking Melissa Broudo, legal director of Decriminalize Sex Work, who said this was a step in the right direction.

"This is not just symbolic. It is meaningful for those over 857 people whose lives were directly impacted by criminalization who either had warrants hanging over their heads or pending court cases hanging over their heads. The criminal justice system is so crippling for people that are caught within it," Broudo said.

The Brooklyn D.A.'s Office also said someone with an open warrant is subject to arrest at any time, making them less likely to report abuse of other crimes, which makes both them and the public less safe.