The Week In Links—July 5th

The New York Times ran a substantial piece on the still-unsolved Long Island sex worker murders by Robert Kolker, author of a forthcoming book on the same subject.

Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric assassinated by a US drone strike in Yemen, “regularly visited high end prostitutes” — if you think 7 times over ten months counts as regularity. How wonderful that this is a topic of discussion, and not his status as a murdered US-born man not charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime. (Can anyone clarify what counts as “high end” in the eyes of mainstream media? The only requirement seems to be working indoors.)

Canada’s recent Supreme Court case has sparked a discussion about indigenous women’s (overrepresented) presence in the nation’s sex trade.

There’s been a bunch of brouhaha over a recent bust in Melbourne, from which we’ve learned that being an East Asian migrant sex worker equates to being exploited. Strangely enough, none of the 100 women “saved” have been interviewed.

A German straight male escort is profiled here, if you’re curious. Warning: link contains confessions.

Suzy Favor Hamilton continues to be punished for working as an escort; the Big Ten has stripped her name from their female Athlete of the Year award.

Irish Senator David Norris, our new hero, says “the deliberate blurring of the boundaries between trafficking and sex workers is wrong.”

Elsewhere in Ireland, a woman bringing charges against a man for rape and abduction was accused by his defense of being a prostitute hired by the man in question—and therefore presumably unrape-able.

In Australia, if you take offense to being asked if you’re a prostitute, you probably are one.

The Philippines government is considering decriminalizing prostitution.

In what would be a sweet story if not for the police involvement angle, a Tokyo brothel provided older gentleman with age-appropriate ladies from 46-73.

Channing Tatum might direct “Magic Mike 2.” WHO CARES WHO DIRECTS IT JUST GET FILMING ALREADY.

Developing evidence suggests the Vatican very recently ran an underage male prostitution ring, with a military police officer acting as the head.

In what is simultaneously the best and most “duh!”-evoking headline of all time, an article from the Netherlands confirms “Selling Sex Solves Problems For Prostitutes.”

But, just in case you were looking for another headline which exhibits the art of stating the obvious: “Peer Education A Safety Net for Sex Workers“