Supporting Brazilian sex workers

June 13th, 2013 · · Campaigns No comments - Tags: ,

Sex workers in Brazil are challenging the Brazilian government’s decision in early June 2013 to first veto and then drastically alter an HIV prevention campaign that had been developed by the Department of STD/AIDS/Ministry of Health in partnership with sex workers earlier this year. After abruptly ordering the rights based materials to be taken offline the government relaunched the campaign with sanitized and adulterated materials several days later. The government  removed slogans about rights, citizenship, and positive affirmations of the profession from all campaign materials replacing them with fear based messages such as, “AIDS still has no cure.”

Sex workers in Brazil have released statements critisizing the government’s actions both as separate NGOs and in a powerful joint statement from the Brazilian Network of Prostitutes. Davida’s newspaper, Beijo da Rua, has reported that the sex workers that appeared in the campaign are sending cease and desist letters to the Ministry of Health revoking their releases for using their images and demanding the immediate suspension of the campaign materials in which they appear. The Ministry has now taken the campaign offline, and the fight continues to request that the Minister be forced to resign, and demand that prostitutes’ voices be heard and respected.

International pressure is incredibly important and effective in swaying political decisions. Activists and allies around the world can help support Brazilian sex workers actions:

Equal rights for all professions!

Equal rights for all professions!

New York is finally considering saying “no” to using condoms as evidence

June 11th, 2013 · · Articles, Campaigns, Policy Updates No comments - Tags: , , ,

“I’m damned if I do, I’m damned if I don’t.  I don’t want to get any disease but I do want to make my money… Why do they take your condoms, do they want us to die, do they want us to get something?”
– New York-based Sex Worker (Public Health Crisis: The Impact of Using Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution in New York City, April 2012 Report).

It may have taken over ten years, but a New York State Assembly bill to prohibit condoms as evidence in prostitution cases is finally catching the attention of District Attorneys and the New York State legislature.  Last week, New York State Assembly and Council Members, the Kings County (Brooklyn) and Nassau County District Attorney’s office, along with human rights groups and legal advocates – Red Umbrella Project, Human Rights Watch, the Sex Workers Project, Make the Road New York, Streetwise and Safe, and the New York Civil Liberties Union- gathered on the steps of New York City Hall for the “No Condoms As Evidence” press rally.  Organized by the No Condoms as Evidence Coalition, these groups gathered to urge the passage of NY State bill S1379/A2736, also known as the No Condoms as Evidence bill. This is an inclusive bill that would prevent prosecutors from introducing condoms as evidence in prostitution cases, including cases involving victims of trafficking. New York has a history of police confiscating condoms from people perceived to be engaged in sex work, particularly targeting transgender and gender non-conforming persons.

The Urban Justice Center and the PROS Network released a report in April 2012 on the impact of using condoms as evidence finding that over 50 percent of the NY-based respondents interviewed had condoms confiscated based on police profiling them as a sex worker.  Seventy-five percent of transgender women and gender non-conforming people interviewed reported that they did not carry condoms on them for fear of being arrested by the police.

Seeing District Attorneys and sex workers’ rights groups together addressing sex workers’ right to carry condoms without the fear of being arrested demonstrated important progress for sex workers and allies.  This, of course, does not mean that all D.A.s are fully committed to ending the use of condoms as evidence.  A recent New York Times article revealed that some of the City’s D.A.s stated that they would still continue to allow condoms as evidence of human trafficking, despite adopting a policy that would not allow condoms in prostitution cases.

The press rally also spotlighted the problem of police profiling of members of the LGBTQ community—especially transgender women—as sex workers.  Queens Councilmember, Jimmy Van Bramer spoke on the City Hall steps stating, “No assumptions should ever be made about anyone who carries condoms.”  Yhatzine LaFountain, a member of immigrant rights group, Make the Road New York stated, “I have experienced firsthand how the police profile transgender women like me, confiscate our condoms and arrest us for walking the street as ‘trans’… Condoms are supposed to protect us, not turn us into criminals.”

Supporters of the bill are working to have the bill passed by the NY State Assembly by the end of the June session.

 

Guest blogger Kat Thomas attended the June 6, 2013 rally and press conference on the steps of NYC Hall organized by the No Condoms as Evidence Coalition and provided the Best Practices Policy Project with the above post.

Challenging “Helpful” Raids in Phoenix, Arizona

May 15th, 2013 · · Campaigns, News Archive 2 comments - Tags: , ,

This week, Project ROSE—a collaboration between the Phoenix Police Department, ASU School of Social Work and a number of local service organizations–is conducting a three
day raid targeting sex workers and people in the sex trade for arrest. Sex workers and their allies have organized a comprehensive response to these rights violating raids which are planned for May 15, 16 and 17. Advocates have distributed “know your rights” information amongst communities who may be affected by Project ROSE’s raids. A public action protesting the raids is planned on Thursday May 16 at 4.30 pm in front of the “command post” at Bethany Bible Church where community members will be transported after their arrest by the Phoenix Police Department.

Project Rose is predicated on the notion that arresting people in the sex trade is the best way to link them to services. This program relies on force, not human rights and harm reduction. Arrestees who are eligible—the program is available to those with no prior arrests for sex work, no outstanding warrants, and not in possession of any drugs at the time of arrest—only have the option of “diversion” to Project ROSE or incarceration on a prostitution charge.

Sex worker rights advocates in Phoenix are challenging the utility of Project ROSE and are raising concerns about the abuses that arrested community members may experience at the hands of the police and in prisons. “Project ROSE is not a solution to violence and harm against sex workers,” said Jenelle Lovelie of the Phoenix chapter of the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), adding that, “Project ROSE criminalizes sex workers and masquerades as a social service project.” Another local organizer Jaclyn Moskal-Dairman noted that the “restrictive eligibility criteria for accepting ‘diversion’ from criminal charges mean that many who will be arrested this week will not be offered services at all. Instead they will be incarcerated.” In Arizona people arrested under anti-prostitution statutes face a mandatory minimum sentence on their first charge and felony charges after the third arrest. Experience has shown that being incarcerated in Arizona can be a death sentence. In May 2009 Marcia Powell, a woman serving a 27 month sentence for solicitation of prostitution, died after being left in a prison holding cage in the blazing sun without water. Project ROSE would not have assisted Marcia, the program would have imprisoned her because she had several prior arrests for prostitution.

Sex workers and their allies are demanding rights based approaches that work such as peer based outreach programs, comprehensive services and an end to police harassment and arrest. They are adamant that Project ROSE is ineffective and the numbers confirm their claims. Of 214 people arrested since the program began three years ago only about one third complete the diversion program. The fate of the remaining 70% is not clear, but it seems likely given Arizona’s tough stance on incarceration that they have been sentenced to jail or prison.

 

So, what can we say about the First Amendment and sex worker rights?

April 24th, 2013 · · Articles, Policy Updates No comments - Tags: , ,

Guest bloggers Kat Thomas and Lauren Parnes observed the April 22, 2013 session of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington D.C. and provided the Best Practices Policy Project with the following post.

This week the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case, Agency for International Development (USAID) v. Alliance for Open Society International (OSI). The constitutional law at issue is the First Amendment: the government cannot infringe on the peoples’ “freedom of speech.” This case considers whether a so-called “anti-prostitution pledge”—this particular restriction is part of larger federal law relating to HIV/AIDS, the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003—violates the freedom of speech of US organizations receiving US global HIV/AIDS funding (known as PEPFAR funding) by telling them to “adopt and espouse” a policy against prostitution and trafficking. Although PEPFAR distributes money to international groups as well as those based in the US for programs abroad, the First Amendment protections would only apply to the US-based organizations.

Why is a policy that has a negative impact globally on sex workers’ health, labor, and sexual rights being challenged in terms of its impact on the “free speech” rights of US organizations? To fully answer why we cannot take most human rights issues to the Supreme Court would require delving too far into constitutional history for one blog posting. It is helpful to understand that the Supreme Court primarily considers cases relating to the US Constitution and federal law. Given our country’s high regard for the First Amendment—which includes the right to free speech—the legal strategy adopted by OSI effectively brought the anti-prostitution pledge to the forefront of the judiciary and the media.

As written, the law requires that in order to receive US global HIV/AIDS funding to work with, for example, people living with HIV in India, an organization must agree in writing to the US government that it will adopt the policy of anti-prostitution and express it as its own. Further, the pledge prohibits the organization from engaging in activities or dialog that is inconsistent with an anti-prostitution stance. If this policy is held to be constitutional the requirement applies to the organization funded through the PEPFAR program – even if the organization is also funded by private donors. OSI’s attorney argued yesterday that this is a violation of a US-based organization’s freedom of speech:  “They want to be able to publish papers, and they want to be able to be a part of the discussion in a marketplace of ideas…unfettered by a policy requirement that demands fealty to the government’s viewpoint” (David W. Bowker, OSI Counsel). 

There are many complicated layers to the arguments in this case, but one of the main ones dealt with requiring organizations to profess the government’s viewpoint. Courts have found it constitutional for Congress to stipulate that the government will not fund organizations that speak in support of policies to which the government is opposed. For instance, the US government may deny funding to US family planning programs if they promote “abortion as a method of family planning” or disperse information on seeking abortions (as per, Title X of the Health and Services Act, Section 1008).

What is different about this case, as Justice Ginsberg pointed to in her questioning, is that the government cannot now compel such organizations to tell their patients, “I agree with the government, you shouldn’t be getting an abortion.”  And as Justice Alito noted, it seems unprecedented and “quite a dangerous proposition” to not only gag organizations, but require the organization to take the government’s viewpoint with which it doesn’t agree. Courts have held that the government has the right to fund certain organizations to the exclusion of others, but a funding requirement cannot compel the organization’s expression of a position consistent with the government’s.

Even though in theory everyone has a right to free speech, because of the government’s current stance on sex work, the US may seem less inclined to consider the First Amendment rights of organizations working with sex workers and sex worker groups. This was exactly OSI’s point yesterday:

“… on the government’s theory, the government can give you — can give anyone in the country a dollar in Medicare funds and say, okay,  now that you’ve taken a dollar of our money, we want you to profess your agreement with the Affordable Care Act, and we want you to never say anything inconsistent with that in your private speech. That is — that is wildly inconsistent with the First Amendment. That’s exactly what’s happening here. The only difference is the subject of prostitution. That’s what makes it less palatable.”  (David W. Bowker, OSI Counsel)

This on-point analogy had several of the Justices nodding (even Chief Justice Roberts).

What was unfortunate was that OSI’s attorney followed up by saying that he needed “to be clear” that OSI does not “approve” of prostitution. We do not know whether OSI would have endorsed their counsel’s use of the word “approve,” which is not interchangeable with the word “promote,” and was not used in the OSI briefs. Unfortunately the press echoed this comment that was perhaps misspoken, further deepening stigmatizing attitudes towards sex workers. For example, National Public Radio reported that, “Bowker said his clients are opposed to prostitution”.

Challenging the anti-prostitution pledge before judges who may not want to hear about sex worker rights in the courtroom took strategic and careful planning and it is a victory that this case was heard by the highest court in the land. But are we still at a point where the only way to advocate for sex workers’ rights through the judicial system is to first assure the public that we do not approve of sex work? For this reason, yesterday’s discussion at the Supreme Court was disquieting. It revealed the problematic nature of a strategy that required OSI’s attorney to deny the human rights of sex workers in order to access First Amendment protections.

Bowker’s comment and the silence about what constitutes a health and rights approach to working with sex workers in the media, left many in sex worker communities feeling confused. OSI has engaged with and supported these communities in the past. Perhaps it is again time to sit at the table with sex workers rights groups and help sex workers and advocates understand what happened in the courtroom yesterday. The more we can engage, discuss and clear up misunderstandings, the more we can support one another and protect the dignity of sex workers. After all, isn’t the freedom of “unfettered” discussion what OSI was fighting for and what the First Amendment is supposed to protect?

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The full transcript of the oral arguments at the Supreme Court is available online, as are many other documents relating to the case of USAID v OSI.