Two straightforward reforms are needed to make the insurance industry a positive force instead of a barrier to child sex abuse prevention.
Help Not Handcuffs!
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In 2015, an inventory of Florida’s sexual assault kits found that 13,435 kits had never been submitted for analysis. We must: end the backlog on testing rape kits, stop rapists from raping, end rape by police, and stop arresting people for consensual sex. Lawmakers want to help victims of human trafficking, but they can't do that if they refuse to listen to sex workers. SWOP Behind Bars decriminalize-sex-work - Smashcast! - Apr 22nd
Live On The Mainline
On the air with The Pennsylvania Project at the 555 Building on the Main Line. Link to live cast coming soon!
Transportation By Janet Fishman
Transportation Poetry by Janet Fishman, Painting by Philip Zuchman, Image Collage by Ms. Dante, Image of Ms. Dante also by Janet Fishman, at a Salon arranged by Deb Zuchman Philadelphia April 14th 2019
HIV Criminalization Beyond Non-Disclosure: Advocacy Toolkits on Intersections with Sex Work and Syringe Use, The Center for HIV Law and Policy and National LGBTQ Task Force
HIV Criminalization Beyond Non-Disclosure: Advocacy Toolkits on Intersections with Sex Work and Syringe Use, The Center for HIV Law and Policy and National LGBTQ Task Force (2017)
And what if I fall?
What If I Fall? Poetry by Jacob Ibrag Photo of trees and sky M Dante
Victim or Criminal: What happens to workers and adult survivors?
State bill would add adult sex traffickers, customers to Megan’s Law lists. PENN LIVE Chuck Biedka “Sex trafficking is on the rise in Pennsylvania, and state Sen. Kim Ward wants authorities to better keep track of those convicted of the offense. Ward, R-Hempfield, is proposing a change to state law that would require those convicted of the sex trafficking of adults to be added to the Megan’s List of sex offenders in the state.”
Press Release: California enacts historic measure to prioritize safety for sex workers | US PROS Collective 2018
Press Release: California enacts historic measure to prioritize safety for sex workers | US PROS Collective 2018
April Visit To State Capital Harrisburg PA
Wonder why many women choose prostitution?
Support: The ESPLER Project CALI
ESPLERP Update for April 2019
Support: FL HB 703 SB 926
SWOP Behind Bars supports Florida House Bill 703 (HB 703) and its counterpart Senate Bill 926 (SB 926) which would greatly expand health education in public schools and repeal the abstinence-only mandate. We also advocate for amending these bills to include human trafficking education instead of passing HB 259/SB 982.
Support: A Grand Jury Indictment Of Andrew Mitchell
This blog supports a grand jury investigation and indictment of Andrew Mitchell. #justicefordonna
2019-2020 PA SB 60 / HB 12
2019-2020 PA SB 60 / HB 12
10 Reasons To Decriminalize
10 Reasons To Decriminalize
Oppose Language Defining FL SB 540 HB 851
Re: Florida SB 540 dated 3/5/2019; Florida HB 851
Spring Sale on South Street
Spring Sale at: PASSIONAL Boutique KDM Enterprises HQ 317 South St. Philadelphia, PA 19147
Thank You Keystone Conference
The workshop had 29 attendees participating in discussion and activities with a focus on healing. The core message clear on the benefits of releasing ones self from shame and blame to be able to give and receive love.
Support CA SB233
CA SB 233 would allow those in the sex trade to report violence against them such as trafficking, rape, kidnapping and more with out fear of being criminalized for misdemeanor prostitution charges. CA SB 233 would also disallow the use of condoms as evidence in the arrests of sex workers. Link in post!
Support: PA Dems Desire To See Sen Leach Resign
HARRISBURG -- The Montgomery County Democratic Committee has called on State Sen. Daylin Leach to resign, saying his behavior since sexual-harassment and assault allegations against him surfaced had “created a divisiveness that threatens party harmony and undermines our cause at a time when we need to be united.” by Chris Brennan and Angela Couloumbis, Updated: March 16, 2019
Support: California SB233
CALL TO ACTION - SB233 - Allow Trafficking Victims and Sex Workers to Report Violence Without Fear of Arrest. This important bill sponsored by SWOP Sacramento, SWOP USA, SWOP LA, St James Infirmary, ESLERP, USPROS, and supported by the ACLU, San Francisco DA, SF County Superviors, and the Gender Health Center. which would prohibit the arrest of individuals engaged in sex work when they come forward as a witness or a victim of specified violent and serious crimes. It will also end the practice of using condoms as evidence of sex work related offenses. Individuals in the sex trade experience and witness extremely high rates of violence but are often reluctant to report crimes for fear of being arrested.
Dividing Sides Of Sex Work Representation
All set to attend a decriminalization panel in Manhattan I was -- indirectly -- asked not to attend the event hosted by Best Practices Policy, New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance, and Black Coalition of Sex Workers for the U.N. Commission on the Status Of Women. This is now the third year I have been banned from what is supposed to be an open forum. I believe the best thing to realize is that our goals as sex workers and sex trade survivors as have similar language and meaning though are not shared or inclusive to each other when we are from different cultures. The U.N. seems the place to being us together. Realistically - Perhaps we are not stronger together.
In Philly: Understanding Incarceration’s Multigenerational Impact on Women, Girls, and Communities
The public face of over-incarceration is overwhelmingly male. However, between 1980 and 2016, the number of incarcerated women in the U.S. increased by more than 700 percent. While research has revealed that the root causes and effects of incarceration are different for women and girls, our criminal and juvenile justice systems have largely remained gender non-responsive. As a result, too often our public health systems are left to deal with unaddressed issues of trauma, abuse, poor mental and physical health, substance abuse, and poverty. These challenges have multigenerational impacts, affecting not only women and girls who are incarcerated, but also their children, families, and communities.
NACDL’s Webcast: HIV Criminalization Webinar
U=U is Undetectable = Untransmittable: M Dante sat in on the National Association Of Criminal Defense Attorneys (NACDL) Criminalization Webinar to see how this topic addresses and affects sex workers, and how the Positive Justice Project helps.
Kindness In Outreach & Advocacy: Desiree Alliance
Desiree Alliance is a coalition of current and former sex workers working together with supporting networks for an improved understanding of sexual policies and its human, social and political impacts of criminalization’s surrounding sex work.
The War On Whores
Author and Whore, Maggie will be joined by Triple-X Secretary Kerry Porth and New Democratic Party candidate Sven Robinson will host a panel discussion following the film. The War on the Whores is a feature-length documentary that exposes the harms and waste of America’s escalating crackdown on sex work which masquerades as fighting sex trafficking and rescuing vulnerable women and girls caught up in sexual exploitation.
