Phoenix responds to Project ROSE’s police raids

October 18th, 2013 · · News Archive, Press Release No comments - Tags: , , , ,

PHOENIX, AZ – Sex workers and allies protested yesterday October 17, 2013 outside Bethany Bible Church, the site of the Project ROSE Prostitution Diversion Initiative. Twice a year the Phoenix Police and the ASU School of Social Work team up to arrest people working in the sex trade. People who are arrested and found to be “eligible” for services are forced to choose between a 6-month diversion program and criminal charges. Many arrested during the stings are not eligible for the diversion process at all and face incarceration under Arizona’s mandatory minimum statutes.

“Project ROSE coordinators claim this program offers voluntary diversion,” Jaclyn Moskal-Dairman of Phoenix SWOP, an organization of sex workers and allies fighting for the rights of sex workers, explained. “But when our own members are arrested and taken to court, we know better. This program doesn’t make people safer, it creates fear and trauma. The raids rely on coercion, and result in more people behind bars for working.”

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Gabriela Leite: Era uma mulher! Era uma puta! Era uma puta mulher! Pura vida! Da vida!

October 11th, 2013 · · News Archive No comments - Tags: , , ,

Gabriela Leite, the founder of the movement for sex worker rights in Brazil, died yesterday October 10, 2013. She was instrumental in struggles for prostitution to be recognized as a profession in Brazil, she showed us how HIV/AIDS work could be done to defend the rights and citizenship of sex workers, and she challenged US restrictions on global HIV/AIDS funding that discriminate against sex workers. She was a well-known and renowned public figure who did not shy away from having been a sex worker. In fact she ran for federal office on a platform for the rights of prostitutes, gays, and access to abortion.

Tributes to her life are planned for October 12, 2013 in the Catumbi Cemetery Chapel, Rio de Janeiro with the funeral at 8.30 am and burial at 9.30 am. Friends and family organizing these events write that, “Gabriela Leite inaugurated a new way of being and doing politics… Gabriela was magnetic, unforgettable, charismatic, charming, elegant, fragrant, showy, libertarian, fearless, bold, stylish, friendly, generous, combative, cheerful, a warrior, a gift, unique, a partner, an advisor, persistent,  inspiring … a muse!”

Era uma mulher! Era uma puta! Era uma puta mulher! Pura vida! Da vida!

 

Gabriela

Making history for sex workers’ health and rights

June 22nd, 2013 · · Campaigns, Press Release No comments - Tags: , ,

Grassroots, long-term, coalition work gets the job done — the New York State General Assembly passed the No Condoms as Evidence bill yesterday. Here’s the press release from the coalition:

NO CONDOMS AS EVIDENCE BILL PASSES NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY

Anti-Trafficking Advocates, Women’s Groups, LGBTQ Organizations, Public Health Advocates And Civil Rights Groups Hail Passage of Critical Public Health Measure and Urge Senate to Take Action.

FRIDAY, June 20, 2013 (NEW YORK) – Today the New York State Assembly passed A2736, known as the “No Condoms as Evidence” bill, sponsored by Queens Assembly Member Barbara Clark.

“Today’s action by the New York State Assembly brings us one step closer to making history as the first state in the country to enact legislation that prohibits police and prosecutors from confiscating and introducing condoms as evidence of intent to engage in prostitution-related offenses,” said Andrea Ritchie on behalf of the No Condoms as Evidence Coalition, made up of over 70 organizations advocating for the bill’s passage. “We want to extend our sincere thanks to Assembly Member Barbara Clark and Speaker Sheldon Silver for showing leadership in putting public health first. We call on New York State Senators who care about public health, sex trafficking, stop and frisk, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and human and civil rights to follow suit after the session break.”

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Striking Anti-Prostitution Pledge is an Important, but Only Partial, Victory

June 20th, 2013 · · Policy Updates No comments - Tags: , ,

Ending a ten year saga, the US Supreme Court today struck down a section of the Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act that restricts government HIV/AIDS funding from groups that do not take an explicit stance in opposition to prostitution. The so-called “anti-prostitution loyalty oath” was challenged by non-governmental organizations based in the United States soon after the passage of the Leadership Act in 2003 – and the Court’s finding that the oath violated those groups’ First Amendment rights is welcome. But it is not enough, because the decision does nothing for groups that are not based in the US, including those best-positioned to fight the epidemic because of their local and grassroots nature. The First Amendment does not extend to them, meaning they are still subject to the oath’s requirements. The Leadership Act – which created the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR – is up for re-authorization this year and the Obama administration should work with Congress to remove the oath once and for all.

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