The Week In Links—January 10

VICE published a look at the world of illegal ass augmentation shots with some very frightening pictures of what happens when injections go wrong. The Buttloads of Pain video documentary debuts on the site next week. Please only see licensed professionals!

Kink.com director/dominatrix Maitresse Madeline auctioned an hour of cam time for a record-breaking $42,000. The auction was part of her Divine Bitches 2.0 rollout and we commend her on its success.

Terri-Jean Bedford challenged Stephen Harper to define sex acts with this hilariously detailed questionnaire on her blog in anticipation of the Conservative government trying to write new legislation in the aftermath of the Bedford decision. In the meantime, over the last five years, prostitution-related charges in Toronto have dropped by 90%.

Last week’s #notyourrescueproject got some media coverage as sex workers on Twitter told the rescue industry why they didn’t need to be saved from, uh, themselves.

Here’s a whole entire article about prostitution in the oil boomtowns of North Dakota where the journalist didn’t quote one sex worker, cool.

A British Columbia strip club had its liquor license suspended for failing to keep out customers in biker gang colors.

I guess we have to watch the reboot of HBO’s Real Sex, because there’s definitely going to be sex work content. It’s called Sex//Now and launched last Friday with an episode about camgirls. This oral history of the show was published this summer—if you have fond memories of first being exposed to sex work through it, tell us about it!

This report about the wrongfully classified employee lawsuit filed against Rick’s in New Orleans includes an interview with the attorney behind the case, and a dancer who’s part of a group of dancers who hired their own representation because they wish to remain independent contractors.

Johnathan Bond, the adult son of Tamara Greene, is calling for another look into the murder of his mother. Greene was a dancer in Detroit and her still-unsolved 2003 murder was part of what unraveled Kwame Kilpatrick’s mayoralty.

It’s interesting how this BBC article on the entrepreneurship of male sex workers doesn’t stop to ask if they’re trafficked.

The Peruvian justice system is trying to put a stop to vigilantes attacking sex workers.

A seventeen-year-old pimp gets busted for taking money from his underage girl.

The Scarlet Alliance’s Jane Green writes about dealing with stigma in two different realms as a queer sex worker in this op-ed for Australia’s Star Observer.

The persecution of indoor sex work in Edinburgh continues as politicians and cops seek to shut down the practice of commercial sex in saunas and make it illegal to have condoms in them.

An Australian researcher questions the assumptions behind the Nordic model.

The Nordic model, explained by cats.

We’re flattered to be in the opening paragraph of this piece on the increasing viability of sex workers’ rights in the activist sphere.

Jimmy Carter urges Canada to adopt the Nordic model, quotes Nick Kristof. You’re seriously hurting our hearts, here, Jimmy.