The Week In Links–April 12th
The Root and the Daily Beast ask porn perfomers whether the industry is racist—the answer is a resounding NO DUH.
A Westminster Council study shows that the recession puts sex workers under a greater risk of violence. This is yet another reason to adopt the Merseyside model in which crimes against sex workers are treated as hate crimes in court.
The Scottish Trade Union Congress forbade the Sex Worker Open University from using their site to have a Sex Worker Worker’s Rights Conference at the last minute, claiming that the Congress supported sex workers organizing but also supported the Swedish model of criminalizing clients. (Maybe we need to write a primer on how those two positions are functionally contradictory.) The Scotsman reports that this didn’t put a damper on the attendees’ protest—they protested *outside* the Scottish Trade Union Congress in opposition to the Swedish model, chanting, “Rhoda [Grant], don’t erode our rights!” (Rhoda Grant is the Labour MSP behinds the push to criminalize clients.)
Despite the usual moral panic in that regard, here’s yet more evidence that teen prostitutes are not languishing on the streets of New Zealand.
The Sabotage Times explores Brazil’s new upmarket hipster brothels. Apparently, nothing can escape being tarred by a hipster brush.
Freakonomics hosts an interview with Maxine Doogan of the Erotic Service Providers’ Union, on the term “sex work” and the disadvantages of legalization vs decriminalization.
