Coverage of Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath Court Case

April 19th, 2013 · · Policy Updates No comments - Tags:

BPPP will be at the Supreme Court on Monday to observe USAID v Open Society International (a legal challenge that could free some US-based organizations from the Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath also known as the “anti-prostitution pledge” restriction on global HIV/AIDS funding). Look for up to the minute  information via twitter and Facebook, in addition to checking in here.

BPPP will also be making connections with  friends at A Kiss for Gabriela, a film and social media project featuring Gabriela Leite a prominent sex worker leader from Brazil, throughout the day to deepen our understanding of the issues from a global perspective. Filmmaker Laura Murray will be posting an inspirational video from Gabriela Leite about the importance of fighting the funding restriction along with background information about what happened when the Brazilian government did not sign the pledge and thereby rejected more than $40 million of US funding.

More background information about about the USAID v OSI case is now available online.

Sex worker rights submission to 2013 TIP Report

March 7th, 2013 · · Policy Updates, Reports No comments

BPPP, Desiree Alliance, SWOP-NYC and SWANK collaborated to provide written information to the US Department of State for inclusion in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report (the TIP Report). This annual report is intended to illustrate the degree to which the United States and foreign governments comply with the “minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons” that are prescribed by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

In our written testimony our organizations strongly encouraged the US Department of State to include information in the 2013 TIP report about anti-trafficking policies that have violated the spirit of UPR Recommendation 86 leading to violence and discrimination against sex workers, people in the sex trade and people who are profiled as engaging in prostitution. Such policies include the use of anti-trafficking funding to arrest, detain, incarcerate, deport and harass sex workers and people presumed to be sex workers, their families, and people who are presumed to be their customers. We also noted that the US government still hinders effective, rights based programming domestically and globally by placing politically-driven restrictions on the criteria for organizations that may receive grants under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  Read the full written contribution.

Hold the US accountable: Give input to TIP Report

February 27th, 2013 · · Policy Updates No comments

The U.S. State Department is seeking input for inclusion in its global Trafficking in Person (TIP) Report from organizations within the United States and from around the world. Historically, U.S. approaches to the issue have implicitly or explicitly endorsed human rights abuses against sex worker communities in the name of combating human trafficking. When members of BPPP and the Desiree Alliance met with staff at the TIP office last year, they welcomed our input into the forthcoming report. BPPP will send in a short submission and we shall see if any of our perspectives are included. We encourage other groups to do the same, if possible. State Department officials will accept additional documentation until March 6, 2013 and reporting occurs annually . Organizations can report on what is happening in the U.S. as well as what is happening abroad.

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Statement of U.S. LGBTQ and Allied Organizations on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 17th, 2012 · · Media Analysis No comments - Tags:

Best Practices Policy Project was happy to help craft and subsequently sign this statement for International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers:

Statement of U.S. LGBTQ and Allied Organizations on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

The undersigned lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, Two Spirit and allied organizations mark the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers by calling for support for efforts worldwide to defend the lives and rights of all people involved in the sex trades.

We recognize that systemic homophobia and transphobia, racism, disproportionate poverty and homelessness, widespread discrimination, and an absence of pathways to immigration status, frequently limit the economic and survival options of LGBTQ people, particularly LGBTQ youth and adults of color and transgender people. These conditions not only inform and can contribute to the involvement of LGBTQ people in the sex trades, whether by choice, circumstance, or coercion – they also increase the vulnerability to violence and abuse against LGBTQ people in the sex trades.

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