sex worker rights

Vancouver sex workers honoured with memorial

susan davis — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:03:04 +0000

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/west-end-sex-workers-honoured-wi...

A crowd of 100 gathered Friday morning outside Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Anglican Church, at the West End intersection of Jervis and Pendrell, to unveil a memorial — a retro lamp post with a red bulb.

The memorial honours sex workers who frequented these streets until the early 1980s, when they were driven away by city hall, police and the provincial government.

Producing the ‘Trafficked Woman’: Canadian Newspaper Reporting on Eastern European Exotic Dancers During the 1990s

susan davis — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:30:43 +0000

By Elya M Durisin and Robert Heynen
This article explores the emergence of discourses of “human trafficking” in Canadian newspapers during the 1990s, focusing on the depiction of Central and East European migrant women. The period saw much debate over a work permit exemption in federal immigration policy that allowed for the migration of workers into the exotic dance sector. We argue that debates over the exemption were often framed through an ethnosexualizing discourse that enabled narratives of victimization and legitimated repressive border security and policing practices.http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/3907

Representing Colonial Violence: Trafficking, Sex work, and the Violence of Law

susan davis — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:29:18 +0000

By Sarah Hunt
This article examines the emergence of the discourse on “domestic trafficking” of Indigenous girls and women for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Drawing on community-based experience, the author argues that the shift toward the language and framework of “human trafficking” to capture a range of offences and injustices facing Indigenous women is one of many efforts to recategorize violence against Indigenous women as worthy of legal response in the context of ongoing colonial legal violence. http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/3042

Fighting Wrongs with Wrongs? How Canadian Anti-Trafficking Crusades Have Failed Sex Workers, Migrants, and Indigenous Communiti

susan davis — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:28:01 +0000

By Robyn Maynard
Indigenous populations, sex workers, and migrants have been legally, socially, and economically disenfranchised by the Canadian state in a multitude of ways—often in the name of “anti-trafficking.” In effect, state-led anti-trafficking enforcement measures fail to address the root causes of the harms created by past and present colonization, anti-sex work laws, and racist immigration measures and programs. This paper argues that anti-trafficking legislation and policies have been immeasurably harmful towards those they claim to protect.http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/3041

Punished for Strength: Sex Worker Activism and the Anti-Trafficking Movement

susan davis — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:26:21 +0000

By Ava Rose
This article is a reflection on my work as a sex worker and activist amid the global concern over human trafficking. I highlight the challenges that sex workers can experience as we attempt to position ourselves within discursive frameworks that define us by our injuries. I contend that the focus on injuries risks obscuring the varied experiences of performing sexual labour, the contributions to knowledge made by sex working people, and the solidarity within sex working communities. http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/3033

Evidence that Evidence Doesn't Matter: Human Trafficking Cases in Canada

susan davis — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:24:43 +0000

By Katrin Roots and Ann De Shalit
This article considers the ways in which the political pressures that have structured Canada’s involvement in the fight against human trafficking and the on-the-ground enforcement of laws adopted through Canada’s positioning as an anti-trafficking nation have created a problem that necessitates regulation. Although the problem could be interpreted as a legal fiction, its effects are real and include greater restrictions on migrants, a lack of attention to wide-ranging labour abuses, and the tightening of the net around sex work.http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/3179

RED UMBRELLA MARCH FOR SEX WORK SOLIDARITY

susan davis — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 18:23:12 +0000

SEX WORKERS, ALLIES, FAMILY AND FRIENDS STAND TOGETHER!

On Saturday, June 11, sex workers together with their allies, families and friends are coming out for our annual Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity. This is our fourth year, marching in the street, brightly dressed with red umbrellas! Each year we highlight a facet of solidarity and encourage the public to come march with us. This year's focus is "Freedom to Associate is Our Right!"

The Freedom to Associate is a right granted to all citizens by our Charter of Rights & Freedoms. Canada's new anti-prostitution laws violate sex workers' freedom even to the point that standing in the street together is illegal if it encourages buying sex.

4 Feminist Reasons Why We Need to Support Sex Workers‏

susan davis — Tue, 10 May 2016 19:54:43 +0000

http://mic.com/articles/142879/4-feminist-reasons-why-we-need-to-support-sex-workers#.srgo7EXTK

As sex-positive as our generation might be, the sex industry itself is still a contentious topic. Some feminists think sex work objectifies women and is inherently exploitative, while others argue that sex work can be empowering.

City o Vancouver Sex Work Guidelines...YAY!!!

susan davis — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 18:43:02 +0000

it seems that the city has fllowed through and come out in favor of sex workers rights!!

from the sex work social planners;

Dear all,

We are very pleased to announce the release of the City of Vancouver Sex Work Response Guidelines.

Decriminalization of sex work might reduce victimization and unsafe practices.

takeitslowly — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 01:20:24 +0000

Decriminalizing indoor prostitution could improve the bargaining position of female sex workers relative to clients, leading to lower rates of victimization. Research from the late 1990s found that indoor sex workers are victimized considerably less than outdoor street walkers. The legal quirk in Rhode Island only applied to indoor sex work, which could have resulted in some prostitutes abandoning outdoor business for its decriminalized — and safer — counterpart. http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5898187/prostitution-rhode-island-decrimina...

Ottawa Raids see eleven deported and no trafficking victims found...

susan davis — Mon, 11 May 2015 16:28:00 +0000

shocker....same as always....see how well your stupid ideology impacts our lives? see how much your crusade to end trafficking no matter the harms to sex workers is working...? this was a really awesome idea....give men power over migrant women....how feminist....

Economist magazine analyses Internet impact on trade

DaveW — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 18:08:06 +0000

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21611074-how-new-technology-shaki...

Should the advertizing of sexual services be better regulated?

Struggling — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 05:29:09 +0000

Hi everyone. I would like to know your thoughts on the regulation of the advertizing of sexual services. When we consider all the regulations and educational campaigns that go into the advertizing of nicotine and alcohol, why not the same for the advertizing of sexual services? To take an example, if you visit the adult section of backpage.com craigslist.com, or the website of individual escorts, though you will find many ads offering sexual services, you will find not one single ad on the same page advertizing sex or other therapy, Sex Addicts Anonymous, chastity devices or keyholding services, or any of a myriad of other services, organizations, or products that could potentially help to cope with potential or already-established sex addition or other sexual or other problems.

NPD - MP Randall Garrison against C-36

susan davis — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 17:50:21 +0000

This is from NDP-MP Randall Garrison at the Parliamentary debate on Sep 26. If you want to email him, his address is Randall.Garrison@parl.gc.ca

https://openparliament.ca/debates/2014/9/26/randall-garrison-4/

Myth of Sex Trafficking

fortunate — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 02:24:45 +0000

There are so many articles debunking everything about conflating human trafficking with sex work and sex trafficking with sex work, and rescue organizatins being revealed as frauds using falsified stats and debunked research. and all that was starting to clutter up the Informative links thread :)

If anyone is interested in the topic, just google "human trafficking lies" and a bunch of stuff comes up. Where I got that idea is in this blog post:

http://kwetoday.com/2014/05/12/2014-alloursisters-humantrafficking-sexwork-the-real-truth-ldnont/