Melissa Gira Grant’s story about April Brogan’s death from withdrawal complications while in jail is a heartbreaking look at how little regard the justice system has for sex worker lives. Our Caty is quoted on the double stigma drug-using sex workers face.
A woman running an underground brothel in Germany has been busted; her workers, undocumented Chinese migrants, will be deported.
A new Cambodian study reiterates what the Lancet already proved: further marginalization and criminalization of sex workers, even in the guise of ending trafficking, only puts us more at risk.
“Sex workers don’t owe you any answers” is a sharp, smart, and sadly necessary reminder by Alana Massey that we do not, in fact, owe you answers. Not to friends, not to teachers, and definitely not to sad little clovers on the internet:
“The best thing sex work taught me was that men will take every opportunity to demand things they feel entitled to,” Bruiser told me in a direct message on Twitter. “I literally owe them exactly nothing.”
One would think that, as long as trafficking is regarded as an issue of sexual abuse and exploitation alone, rather than migration caused by imperialist western border policies, migrant sex workers would be offered protections from deportation. Wrong!
PRI is doing a series on sex workers in Thailand, debunking the myth that only coerced women would work in the sex industry. One woman works to support her family, another to support her plans for the future.
In support of the novel theory that not all Thai sex workers are coerced: eight sex workers arrested in a raid say they do it for the money.
Laura Lee keeps writing inspired, impassioned defenses of sex workers’ legal rights, and this one is particularly good.
The Beaverton, Oregon club Stars will stay open and in possession of a liquor license in the aftermath of judgments against former manager Steven Jason Toth for “compelling prostitution”, first degree sexual abuse, and second degree sodomy. The company will now have to follow a variety of new rules, many of which make stripping much less accessible and flexible for women with little social capital, like
…criminal background checks of all strippers and a check with the missing kids database. The compliance officer will communicate with the police and Oregon Liquor Control Commission and help keep tabs on strippers who leave early. In addition, the club will hold roll calls throughout the day and keep a file on each stripper with a photo and proof of background check.
All staff must attend an annual seminar on recognizing the signs of sex trafficking and prostitution, and Stars will reward the reporting of information that leads to the discovery of prostitution or sex trafficking. The police will conduct up to three unannounced visits to ensure compliance with the agreement.
A New South Wales sex worker has asked that the laws against “home brothels,” or escorts working out of their homes, be changed for safety reasons.
South African sex worker organization SWEAT outlines some of their demands for better treatment and human rights, especially necessary in the face of ongoing abuse by police.
A missing Japanese sex worker’s body was found a week after her disappearance; now, a month later, it appears she was killed over her inability to pay her debts.
“I want a sex worker for prime minister”: Zoe Leonard’s chant got updated for the UK General Election.
A stripper and an “amateur sex coach” are among this season’s potential suitors on The Bachelorette.
It’s been a few weeks since anyone used this headline so I guess we were due. From the Huffington Post: Why are so many college students turning to sex work?
If you’ve never heard of the “Pretty Woman complex” you aren’t alone, but you are in luck! Sadsack divorced lawyer Cory Standby just wrote a book about his midlife crisis and yes, Pretty Woman complex, which involved him spending thousands of pounds on strippers. Listen to him talk and you can tell—they earned that money:
‘I slept with strippers,’ Mr Standby said. ‘But I also tried to heal them.
Gag.
The reference to New Zealand sex worker asking for laws against home brothels appears to be referring to NSW in Australia and not New Zealand. Far as I know NZ allows up to 4 people to work in a Owner operated brothel. Of course the SW might be a New Zealander commenting on the application of New South Wales law in Australia.