Instrument of Crime: Condoms, Prostitution, Prosecutors and Public Safety in Pennsylvania Philadelphia Convention Center 106AB Presentation: Friday 10/5/2018 10:45 AM Outlawed in California, New York, and Washington D.C., since 2012 Pennsylvania prosecutors have been using Comstock Act era tactics in an effort to detain prostitutes to combat trafficking. Is charging individuals for Instruments of Crime (IOC) effective policing tactic in ending human trafficking; or is contributing to challenges in addressing important public health risks surrounding HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and sexually transmitted diseases? Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are combining forces for important advocacy work to draw attention to these practices.
NSWP On: Including Sex Workers In Diversity Protocol
NSWP has created an assessment tool for Including sex workers in your organization’s diversity protocol
Advocates for Sex Workers Send Open Letter to Allegheny District Attorney Stephen Zappala Opposing Criminalization of Condom Possession
The letter notes that criminalizing condoms “has a chilling effect on Pittsburghers' willingness to carry and use condoms, especially those who are most vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS and other STIs including women and men of color, LGBTQ people, young people, victims of trafficking, and people in the sex trades.”
Dear District Attorney Zappala
The Sex Worker’s Outreach Project (SWOP) Pittsburgh is disappointed in the District Attorney Zappala’s response to the open letter we and several other organizations (including ACLU of Pennsylvania, Women's Law Project, #SurvivorsAgainstSESTA and Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania) opposing several practice that endanger the citizens of Allegheny County: 1.) police and prosecutors’ practice of citing condom possession as evidence of intent to engage in prostitution-related crimes, 2.) police seizure of condoms and other contraceptives, and 3.) the practice of adding the more severe possessing-instrument-of-crime (“PIC”) charges under 18 Pa.C.S. § 907 when defendants are charged with prostitution.
Industry Night Playlist
Missed the Meet & Greet hosted earlier in Spring by Eris Absinthe & I at Kung Fu Necktie? You can still listen to the awesome music the Absinthe Drinkers organized for us!
In San Francisco: Policies Prioritizing Sex Work Safety
US PROS Collective | The US PROStitutes Collective (US PROS) is a multiracial network of women who work or have worked in different areas of the sex industry. Founded in 1982, US PROS campaigns for the decriminalization of prostitution and for justice, protection and resources so that no woman, young person or man is forced into prostitution through poverty or violence.
Support Safety: Oppose SB 1204
Support Safety: Oppose Bill SB 1204 that criminalizes sex workers associating with each other or with supporters for safety, information and support.
Pa Sen. Bob Casey’s letter for Workers/Survivors to understand the FOSTA/SESTA facts
Senator Rob Portman of Ohio introduced S. 1693, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017, on August 1, 2017. The legislation amends Section 230 to ensure that those who run sites that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking can be held accountable for their actions in civil or criminal court. Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri introduced H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) on April 3, 2017. This bill imposes criminal penalties on a person who facilitates sex trafficking in interstate commerce.
Kitty Stryker on FOSTA/SESTA
What the FOSTA/SESTA Anti-Sex Trafficking Bill Means And what it means for sex workers. 2018-02-23 Kitty Stryker | Teen Vogue
Oakland event March 19: Sex worker collective Empower from Thailand
Great to hear the discussion in Philadelphia. Safe travels and successful journey to EMPOWER.
Please join us in a public meeting welcoming EMPOWER, a sex worker collective from Thailand on Monday, March 19, 2018 at 7pm, location: Omni Commons Ballroom, 4799 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland CA
Why Sex Workers are Fighting the Anti-Sex Trafficking Bill
Guest post by collaborators: M. Dante, Lola Li, and Heather Berg. On March 12th, the Senate votes on SESTA, the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act. SESTA would criminalize the online advertising, information sharing, and support networks that sex workers use to do their jobs safely. Readers can support the #LetUsSurvive campaign by calling their Senators. WE ARE: #SurvivorsAgainstSESTA
3/12 EMPOWER Collective Visiting Philadelphia
3/12/2018: EMPOWER Thailand in Philly: MORNING - U Penn event Mon March 12 from 8-9am sponsored by the Nursing school, with co-sponsorship from School of Social Policy and Practice thanks to Dorothy Roberts and TJ Ghose. EVENING - Crossroads Women's Center Mon March 12 at 6pm
Stop SESTA/FOSTA
Hybrid FOSTA/SESTA Hinders Law Enforcement, Hurts Victims and Speakers | Center for Democracy & Technology
HIV & Solitary Confinement: CJ Palmer
On the 19th of January, 2018, CJ Palmer, a trans woman and former sex worker was charged with causing grievous bodily harm in relation to the alleged transmission of HIV to her ex-partner. CJ has been remanded in a maximum-security male prison in Western Australia where she has already spent over 9 months while awaiting her trial. Her sentence will also be served in a male prison. As a woman in a maximum security male prison, CJ is forced to stay in isolation in a cell by herself in the Crisis Care Unit.
Fuck the Sabbatical
Trump Campaign Co-Chair Sentenced to 20 Years for Trafficking Minors and Sexual Abuse Some of his criminal behavior occurred during the campaign. ByTom Boggioni / Raw Story
ESP LERP v. Gascon (9th Cir. – Jan. 17, 2018) California Appellate
Re/Post of Professor Shaun Martin at the University of San Diego School of Law, and his thoughts on recent Ninth Circuit and California appellate case ESPLERP v Gascon.
Today we trade fear for sanctuary
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner Inauguration: Today we start the long road towards empowering and protecting some of our most vulnerable witnesses and survivors: immigrants that lack legal status so that they like other vulnerable groups - young people, elderly people, sex workers - can participate in the criminal justice system that is there to protect them. Today we trade fear for sanctuary.
2018 Las Vegas Women’s March Includes Sex Workers
Thanks to Cris Sardina from Desiree Alliance for speaking for ALL sex workers at the National Women's March in Las Vegas: “This is my truth as I live it. I no longer give anyone permission to see me as less than. Don’t dismiss my womanhood. I am a sex worker. I am allowed to be here.”
Human Trafficking Report: 700 Illicit Massage Parlors Operate in Our Area | NBC 10 Philadelphia
Police say approximately 100 illicit massage businesses operate throughout Philadelphia. “I’ve been a cop for 30 years and I had no clue,” said Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Gary Ferguson. “No idea that human trafficking and prostitution was this big a problem in Philadelphia.”
2018 Women’s March Rhode Island Includes Sex Workers
2018Women March Rhode Island Includes Sex Workers. COYOTE had a 60 people sign up for our email list, and over 100 people stopped at our table. Bella shared that, "We had strippers from Westerly, and we had students from 3 universities and several communities members asking how they can volunteer with Coyote RI. Most importantly we got to educate our community and explain how Uncle Sam is the biggest pimp in the USA."
The International Union of Sex Workers’ statement on the Centre For Women’s Justice challenge to convictions for street sex work
We seek to remove the barriers to leaving the sex industry imposed by criminal law. Women selling sex onstreet may be arrested for loitering or soliciting[iii]; indoors, any way of working with or for another person creates a risk of prosecution[iv]. Clients are entirely criminalised onstreet and extensively indoors[v]. This means that almost anyone who encounters victims of trafficking in the sex industry has reason to fear arrest if they contact the authorities to report concerns. This complex and confusing mess of legislation endangers everyone in the sex industry. Only complete decriminalisation offers the wholesale reform necessary to create a legal framework that offers us the same human rights accorded to others.[vi]
#MLK
#MLK
As the founder and executive director of the Rhode Island Chapter of Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE RI), Bella looks to build and strengthen support networks for sex workers in Rhode Island and she works in close collaboration with activists nationwide. Bella's personal experiences with the criminal justice system over the past four decades give her unparalleled expertise in the areas of sex trafficking and sex worker rights. Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM 1220 Kingstown Rd Peace Dale, Rhode Island 02897 https://www.facebook.com/events/165195230759840/?active_tab=about
Re/Visiting The Invisible John Interview About Jane
The Invisible John Interview About Jane ORIGINAL POST ON SWOP PHL SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 Journalists ask the darndest questions then don’t publish the answers sex workers give them or purposely don’t share all viewpoints if the views don’t fit in with the desired angle of an expose. So – we’ve decided to publish an unpublished and unquoted requested dialog by a journalist who interviewed SWOP Philly’s M. Dante.
Sunday December 17th
“Its time to change the social perception that she wasn’t a person, she was a “prostitute”. No one wants to feel a sense of community or sameness with her. She was something other than us and therefore we don’t need to feel fear or grief at the fact or the manner of her death.”
