Chinese authorities hold periodic sweeps to detain sex workers, drug users, and other ‘social undesirables’ en masse in advance of national holidays and major government conferences.
Chinese sex workers says that police crackdowns don’t stop sex work – they only drive sex workers further underground, putting them at higher risk of violence and HIV/AIDS.
Further to our January news story the head of the Australian charity 'The Grey Man' has stepped down.
Source: NSWP member organisation Stella press release.
Ontario Court of Appeal Judgment
Partial Victory: Judgment Abandons Street Sex Workers
It is with a mix of joy and disappointment that we have learned of the decision by the five Ontario Court of Appeal judges that recognize the unconstitutionality of the articles criminalizing bawdy houses and living on the avails of prostitution, except in cases of exploitation. It is a victory in and of itself to be able to work legally indoors, alone or in groups and to have the right to have people around to increase security, such as receptionists, drivers, managers, agency owners, etc.
News it just breaking of the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling. This ruling upholds a lower court decision but actually makes changes to some of the existing laws.
Sex Workers in Madrid are taking direct action on the Banking industry by declaring an indefinite strike and refusing clients who work in this sector.
They say that until bankers return to providing credits to Spanish families and also small- and medium-sized businesses, there will be no sexual pleasures for their employees.
At the recent World Health Organisation conference in Montreaux, Switzerland looking at addressing violence against sex workers in the context of HIV, St. James Infirmary programmes director Stephany Ashley presented information about their media campaign on the public transport system.
The Guyana Coalition of Sex Workers (GCSW) is advocating for a better educated Guyana Police Force capable of handling diverse issues in a mature manner.
An article in The Atlantic shows how several US states are still using possession of condoms as evidence for arresting people 'suspected of engaging in prostitution.'
APNSW share examples of good practice in sex work HIV programming.
The reality sex workers face in Namibia was revealed in a UNFPA community assessment conducted in five towns in which more than 200 sex workers participated.
Article by VAMP (Reproduced from FeministsIndia.com)
Sex workers in a small town in Maharashtra, India, march for change on 3rd March, International Sex Workers Rights Day.
March 3rd is International Sex Worker Rights Day. Many sex worker organisations plan special events on or around this day each year. Here are just a few of those events and how they were covered in the media / online. Updated to show even more coverage!
Scott Long writes on his website, Paper Bird, about the way the media reports on sex work, Nicholas Kristof and the misuse of language by ideological opponents of sex work.
American academic Heidi Hoefinger has spent seven years researching the local hostess bar scene, and come up with some surprising findings.
IPPF's HIV Update newsletter, the first in 2012 focuses on 'laws & policies'. This issue features an article from the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. Many sex workers contributed to the evidence gathered by the Commission, including through the regional dialogues.
Source: Rights Work Initiative
In her book Illicit Flirtations, Rhacel Parrenas provides us with cutting edge, systematic, and empirical research on Filipina migrant hostesses— the women the U.S. government called the largest group of “trafficked” persons in the world. Illicit Flirtations challenges this simplistic long-distance assessment. It presents the nuances, differences, struggles and hopes of Filipina women working in Japan as bar hostesses.
Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) has now been in existence for 20 years.
Read this great article looking at the work of DMSC and its successes at livemint.com