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NEW ON THE SITE
500 PEOPLE FREED FROM CANS REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS IN LOUISIANA: On March 29th, 2012 a judge ruled that continuing to require people convicted for solicitation of prostitution under the "Crimes Against Nature Statute" to register as sex offenders violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. This decision follows the abolishment of the Crimes Against Nature Statute (CANS) and frees approximately 500 people previously convicted under the statute from this discriminatory and disparate punishment. More information is available at Women With A Vision's website and the Center for Constitutional Rights case page. Special thanks to Streetwise and Safe for bringing this information to our attention.
KEY MOMENTS OF 2011 IN THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF PEOPLE IN SEX WORK/TRADE: The past year was full of activity as sex worker rights activists mobilized across the country to advance the wellbeing of people engaged in sexual exchange. From the halls of the United Nations to the streets of New Orleans, there were important victories, but also challenges.
THREE US-BASED GROUPS WIN APPEAL ON "ANTI-PROSTITUTION PLEDGE": A federal appeals court has ruled the United States cannot force US-based groups seeking international HIV/AIDS funding to denounce sex work. This decision from the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court in New York upholds a lower court decision in favor of the Alliance for Open Society International, Pathfinder International, Interaction and the Global Health Council. The decision, however, does not prevent the United States from applying the "anti-prostitution pledge" (also known as the anti-prostitution loyalty oath) to organizations based outside of the United States seeking US government funding for international HIV/AIDS work. Read BPPP's media analysis to understand the full story.
RIGHTS CONCERNS ACKNOWLEDGED AT THE UN: U.S. sex worker organizations, organizations working with people in the sex trade and related communities participated in the Universal Periodic Review process at the Human Rights Commission at the UN in Geneva. After generating a report on human rights violations against these communities in the U.S., activists successfully advocated for inclusion of their issues in recommendations to the U.S. government. Sex workers and their allies then worked to raise awareness of the recommendations and encourage the Obama Administration to accept them – which it did on March 18, 2011 in Geneva, stating, "we agree that no one should face violence or discrimination in access to public services based on sexual orientation or their status as a person in prostitution." This statement is an unprecedented acknowledgment of the need to prevent human rights abuses against sex workers and to ensure their access to public services. On March 18 across the United States sex workers and their allies held public actions of support of Recommendation 86.
IN THE NEWS
- A coalition of New York City based organizations released a report in mid-April 2012 highlighting the devastating impact of the use of condoms as evidence on a wide range of communities of people involved in sex work and who trade sex, as well as people profiled by the police as prostitutes. The Huffington Post commented that "advocates for sex workers want New York to become the first state to ban police officers from confiscating condoms as evidence in prostitution cases, saying it has a chilling effect on disease protection." The advocates report release and press conference in Albany NY received much press attention nationally-including coverage in Business Week and the Washington Post, as well as internationally.
- Sex workers and their allies have released an open letter (March 22, 2012) to the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC) to raise awareness about the impact of dehumanizing statements made by organizations such as NOW-NYC weighing in on the debate over the murder of a number of people on Long Island. As activists from SWOP-NYC and SWANK prepared the open letter, they received news of another body being found on Gilgo Beach. Read more in Media Analysis.
- A proposal in Washington, D.C. to make "prostitution free zones" permanent has been criticized by human rights activists, health advocates, and even the police and prosecutors. BPPP has helped to coordinate and support the local efforts to stop the law -- read more in Media Analysis.
- An INCITE! affiliate carefully unpacks the ways in which law and policy affects youth, especially LGBTQ and youth of color, in a response to Rinku Sen's recent article in Colorlines. "There are no simple answers," comments the INCITE! affiliate and collective of radical women of color, queer people of color and Indigenous people who identify as people in the sex trade. The INCITE! affiliate response illustrates that "current ways of thinking about trafficking and the sex trade make LGBTQ youth invisible" and that New York City's Safe Harbor Act fails youth, and builds a critique of Rinku Sen's depiction of the "simple solutions" offered by GEMS (a New York City based program for girls).
MORE ABOUT THE BEST PRACTICES WEBSITE
The Best Practices Policy Project is an organization dedicated to creating excellence amongst organizations and advocates working with sex workers, people in the sex trade, vulnerable and related communities in the United States. We produce materials for policy environments, address research and academic concerns and provide NGOs with technical assistance. Everything that we do is guided by principles that protect the rights of people who engage in commercial sex in all its forms.
This website is a tool to help people who want to make the US a better place for sex workers, people in the sex trade and communities that are affected by anti-prostitution policies. The resources on this site will help you organize and learn about key issues. Mainstream reporting on sex worker issues and policy can be difficult to interpret so we regularly update our media review page and provide news analysis from the BPPP perspective. We provide fact sheets on what constitutes best practices and provide practical guides on how to make your advocacy and organization more accountable to diverse communities of sex workers, people in the sex trade and related vulnerable communities.
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