Tag: LEAD

Diversion Programs Are For Cops

(Photo by Flickr user IceBone)

There is significant debate within our sex worker community about whether LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) programming, a pre-booking diversion program for low-level drug and sex work related offenses, is a good or bad thing. The first LEAD program launched in Seattle, Washington in 2011, with private funding from the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations,… Continue reading Diversion Programs Are For Cops

Casualties of War: The Wars on Drugs and Trafficking

(This photo by Flickr user Ira Gelb of a frail white woman marked as a "slave" has been used on many anti-trafficking websites and articles.)

After several years of working in nonprofit agencies that take a harm reduction approach to working with drug users and sex workers, I’ve observed many similarities between the war on drugs and the war on trafficking. As the drug war has lost popularity, the war on trafficking has gained momentum. Both the war on drugs… Continue reading Casualties of War: The Wars on Drugs and Trafficking