Farewell to a Visionary Leader

September 14th, 2012 · · News Archive No comments - Tags:

Robyn Few, founder of SWOP USA and friend of the Best Practices Policy Project, passed away September 13, 2012 after a valiant four years managing a serious form of cancer. Robyn and a circle of colleagues re-booted the struggle for sex worker rights in the United States in the mid-2000s by creating a way for sex workers and allies to organize locally via SWOP chapters and be connected by national network. Robyn also co-founded the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (December 17). Read more about Robyn, hear her voice and view some of our photos of her in the struggle.

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ARTICLE: Using Human Rights to Hold the US Accountable

September 1st, 2012 · · Articles, Reports No comments - Tags: ,

Advocates and researchers Kari Lerum, Kiesha McCurtis, Penelope Saunders, and Stephanie Wahab who were involved in the Universal Periodic Review process at different points in 2010 and 2011, have produced an article about the importance of Recommendation 86 and the UPR  for publication in the Anti-Trafficking Review (a peer reviewed journal published by the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women).

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A Call to Action on Sex Work and HIV

July 1st, 2012 · · Campaigns, News Archive, Policy Updates No comments - Tags: , , ,

Organizers in the United States representing communities of sex workers and people in the sex trade have produced a call to action in regards to US policies affecting sex workers and people in the sex trade for distribution during the International AIDS Conference (IAC) to be held in Washington, D.C. in July 2012. The group of organizations and advocates organizing to highlight the rights of sex workers during the IAC are demanding that the U.S. government make good on its 2011 commitment “that no one should face violence or discrimination in access to public services based on… their status as a person in prostitution”

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End the Use of Condoms as Evidence

April 17th, 2012 · · Campaigns, News Archive No comments - Tags: ,

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.