Thai Sex Workers: APNSW Press Release for French Press

APNSW responds to the Mitterand story:
It has come to our attention that there is still continuing debate around the issue of the French Culture Minister,
Frédéric Mitterrand, and his admission that he paid for sex with male sex workers in Thailand. We have seen attacks on him from both the left and the right of French [...]

UK: Prostitution and trafficking – the anatomy of a moral panic

Nick Davies
The Guardian, Tuesday 20 October 2009
There is something familiar about the tide of misinformation which has swept through the subject of sex trafficking in the UK: it flows through exactly the same channels as the now notorious torrent about Saddam Hussein’s weapons.
In the story of UK sex trafficking, the conclusions of academics who [...]

Workers’ safety at risk: lawyer

Natalie Alcoba, National Post Published: Wednesday, October 07, 2009
In a landmark case, sex trade workers in Ontario have launched a constitutional challenge of Canada’s prostitution laws, arguing that they deprive them …
Women who have worked the risky sex trade have launched a constitutional challenge against Canada’s prostitution laws, arguing that decriminalizing some elements will [...]

CA: David Asper: Why turn prostitutes into criminals?

Posted: October 08, 2009, 1:00 PM by Chris Selley
David Asper
With our prostitution laws being challenged in the courts, moral questions about the world’s oldest profession are being debated in Canada.
And not for the first time.
In the mid 1980s, the Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution — known as the Fraser Committee — extensively studied Canada’s [...]

Does policing Craigslist actually threaten safety?

September 28, 2009 1:30 PM
Editors’ Note: Guest bloggers Andrea Ritchie and Jarad Ringer are two of New York City’s foremost experts on violence against sex workers. Ms. Ritchie is the Director of the Sex Workers Project at Urban Justice Center. Mr. Ringer is the Coordinator of the Hate Violence and Police Relations Program at the [...]

Africa: Rights Not Rescue

Female, Male, and Trans Sex Workers’ Human Rights in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa
Date:June 2009
Source:OSI
Author:Jayne Arnott and Anna-Louise Crago
Sex workers are subjected to widespread human rights abuses, including police violence and unequal access to health care, in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Despite enormous challenges, sex workers are organizing to protect their rights and demand [...]

Legal Prostitution Under Pressure in Rhode Island

SEPTEMBER 5, 2009
By SIMMI AUJLA and JENNIFER LEVITZ
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island has a long tradition of going its own way. Founded by religious outcasts, it was the last of the original 13 colonies to join the union and the state mascot, which sits atop the State House, is a bronze figure named the [...]

Residents on edge as 9 women vanish from N.C. city

Search for serial killer after six turn up dead AP .
By ALYSIA PATTERSON, Associated Press Writer Alysia Patterson, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 36 mins ago
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – They spent their nights jumping in and out of strange cars, trolling otherwise empty streets lined with decaying storefronts and boarded-up homes. Many sold sex [...]

German prostitutes defend ‘flat rate’ brothels

Reuters | 07/27/2009 3:37 PM
BERLIN – Prostitutes in Germany are fighting back against attempts by conservative politicians and some irate residents to stop popular “flat-rate” brothels.
Officials in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg launched moves to stop one brothel with a “flat-rate” fee system because they viewed it as inhumane for women to provide unlimited sexual services [...]

CA: REAL Women refused standing in prostitution law trial

Blog post
From Canadian Women’s Issues
Friday, July 3, 2009
The July 3 Globe and Mail has a story by Kirk Makin saying “An Ontario judge has turned down a request from two religious groups and a conservative women’s group to take part in a constitutional challenge of the country’s prostitution laws.” According to this story, the judge, [...]