The Week In Links—August 9th

The Week in Links

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August 9, 2013

mejustin — Elle, from her martial arts training

WNYC did a segment on transgender and sex worker self-defense training with Daisey Lopez and Sempai Elena, “THE self-defense instructor for New York sex workers.”

“We Got This: A Zine about Screening, Safe Calls & Buddy Systems For Safer Indoor Sex Work” has been released by Born Whore/Juliet November. It’s a PDF pamphlet that compiles a lot of valuable safety information.

Eliot Spitzer made life harder for sex workers and is remorseless about it, Melissa Gira Grant reminds us.

Sydney Leathers went HAM on the male ego (and talks about being a sugar baby) in this astonishing piece for XOJane.

Gnarly concern trolling in the wake of the murders of sex workers: “Show me a child who deserves to grow up a heroin addicted street sex worker. No one gets to choose their parents.” Thankfully Tracy Connelly’s actual family speaks here, and her partner here.

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The Week in Links: October 14

The Week in Links

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suzyhooker

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October 14, 2011

sji_poster1_cyd_OU — A new sex work public service announcement, brought to you by St. James Infirmary

St. James Infirmary is launching a new media campaign with sex work PSAs on San Francisco Muni buses, similar to the Turn Off the Blue Light campaign in Ireland. If you’re a sex worker in San Francisco, check out the Media Launch Party this weekend.

The Second Annual American Pole Fitness Championships are taking place in New York City tonight.

Golden State sex workers, beware: Governor Jerry Brown has decided that warrantless cell phone searches in the state of California are legal. Password-protect that shit, because according to Catherine Crump of the ACLU: “The police can ask you to unlock the phone … but they almost certainly cannot compel you to unlock your phone without the involvement of a judge.”

Bloomberg Businessweek published two excerpts (here and here) from Rhacel Salazar Parrenas’s new book, Illicit Flirtations: Labor, Migration, and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo, for which the author spent nine months working as a “hostess” in a Tokyo bar.

While talking about playing a sex worker in Sucker Punch, actress Emily Browning told The Guardian that she is in favor of sex workers rights.

Chris Brown and Bow Wow made “at least three” Miami strippers extremely happy when they tipped them over $5,000 each.

Chris Brown’s ex Rihanna is apparently into strip clubs, too.

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The Week In Links—November 8th

The Week in Links

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suzyhooker

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November 8, 2013

“If William T. Vollmann ever wins the Nobel Prize in Literature—as many speculate he will—he knows exactly what he will do with the $1.1 million pot the Swedes attach to the award. ‘It will be fun to give some to prostitutes,’ he says, sitting on his futon, chuckling, a half-empty bottle of pretty good bourbon between us.” That’s how Alexander Nazaryan’s profile of William T. Vollman for Newsweek starts. The tagline is “He’s written about prostitutes, crack, and war zones; is it time for a Nobel Prize?” No, but enjoy your rage blackout then get back to work on your book.

Meas Ratha was just a teenager when she was kidnapped and sold into a brothel as a sex slave in Cambodia. She told her tragic story in a documentary made by Somaly Mam, an anti-trafficking activist. Mam went on to win the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation for her activism. Many agree that Ratha’s story spearheaded Mam’s behemoth campaign against trafficking and sex slavery. Thankfully, Ratha’s story has a happy ending. Oh, just one thing: Ratha’s story is fabricated.

Business Insider sent a reporter into a legal Nevada brothel, Sherri’s Ranch. The reporter’s “expectations were shattered” (though he never states what his expectations were) and he draws this jaw-dropping conclusion: “Sheri’s Ranch is a compelling demonstration that legalized and well-regulated prostitution can be safe, functional, and profitable.” Gee, does anybody else smell a Pulitzer?

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The Week In Links—April 3rd

The Week in Links

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Red

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April 3, 2015

T&S contributor Kenya Golden makes looking fantastic look easy. Happy #Blackout day!

The publication of the $pread book is spawning so many articles about that dearly beloved magazine! This week we’ve got one in the The Atlantic featuring a thoughtful interview with Rachel Aimee and Eliyanna Kaiser.

Community activists in Toronto are organizing in an effort to protect sex workers, injection drug users, and homeless people, from the usual brutal street clean-up efforts which accompany such public spectacles.

For sex work history fans, this article and interview on illicit sex and sex work during Ottoman and French rule of Algeria is fascinating!

Nearly one quarter of UK university students have considered doing sex work, while 5% actually do or have done sex work. Austerity cuts, rising tuition, general social moral laxness, may all play a part, although the chorus of anxious articles spawned by the study mainly blame high tuition.

One student said she is “always on her guard” when with clients. The article treats this as if that’s somehow unique to sex workers and not just, you know, part of the experience of having sex with strangers while female.

“Shouldn’t student sex workers be supported instead of stigmatised?” asks this article, quite reasonably.

You haven’t seen handwringing until you’ve read this article about the hitherto unbemoaned threat of global warming: it will force women to become sex workers.

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The Week In Links—July 12th

The Week in Links

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suzyhooker

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July 12, 2013

1016689_547596545276509_1048633125_n — Picture of Jasmine shared by Rose Alliance on Facebook

Swedish activist and sex worker Jasmine Petite was reportedly murdered by her abusive ex after years of documenting his violent behavior to the police, only to have it ignored and dismissed in large part because of her occupation. You can read more here. Sweden’s criminalization of clients has long been lauded by anti-sex trade advocates and various feminists as an effective method of eliminating criminalization’s harm of sex working women. Jasmine’s inspiring twitter feed is still online.

In France, a debate is emerging around legalization of sexual surrogacy. (Which is still definitely not prostitution, ok?!)

Nicki Minaj instagrams photos of her strip club visit with the caption “I endorse these strippers.” Surely our T&S dancers also deserve such an auspicious blurb—though they’re probably not cool with being photographed at work.

Lebanese police may be called to account for their abuse of suspected drug users and sex workers.

Chinese sex workers’ rights activist Ye Haiyan was released from detention for defending herself from police assault, only to have the Guandong security police evict her, her partner, and her 14 year old daughter from their home. “‘If I ever see you again in Zhongshan, I’ll break your legs,” the head of the security police told Ye.

Philippine survivors of the Japan’s WWII era “comfort system” are planning a rally later this month to draw more attention to the decades of injustice and silence around their abuse.

India sees the positive impacts of SCOTUS overturning the anti-prositution pledge.

NYPD Commissioner jokes about shutting down 19 massage parlors in Brooklyn after finding that women working in those locations all had children still in Asia who needed their financial support. Haha!

Meanwhile, Eliot Spitzer is running for NY comptroller as a first step towards reviving his political career. Is that a 2020 run for president I feel coming on?

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