Dog Days Turn Deadly in America’s Prisons

By James Ridgeway | Tue September 1, 2009 4:27 AM PST
The summer of 2009 hadn’t even begun when Marcia Powell, a 48-year old inmate at Arizona’s Perryville Prison, was baked to death. Powell, whom court records show had a history of schizophrenia, substance abuse, and mild mental retardation, was serving a 27-month sentence for prostitution. [...]

A Few Questions for Belle de Jour, Call Girl and Scientist

November 20, 2009, 1:30 pm
By RYAN HAGEN
In 2003, a young American woman in London studying for her PhD. ran into money trouble. To support herself while writing her thesis, she joined an escort service. Under the assumed name Belle de Jour, she started to blog her experiences. That blog led to a series of successful, [...]

For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival

Running in the Shadows
October 27, 2009
By IAN URBINA
ASHLAND, Ore. — She ran away from her group home in Medford, Ore., and spent weeks sleeping in parks and under bridges. Finally, Nicole Clark, 14 years old, grew so desperate that she accepted a young man’s offer of a place to stay. The price would come later.
They [...]

Older Stories: Sex, Lies, and Craigslist

by Ginny Mies on June 29, 2006
After a few days of correspondence via email, Abigail* determined that it was safe to go out on a date with Phil, a businessman who described himself on his Craigslist ad as having “worldly tastes and gentlemanly manners,” as a man who was looking for a woman to spoil [...]

Catherine Lique

Catherine Lique was last seen in Barstow, California on November 26, 2003. She has never been heard from again. She was involved with prostitution at the time of her disappearance, and frequented local truck stops. Her boyfriend stated she simply left one morning and never returned; he said he believed she had run off with [...]

MA: Friends mourn slain dancer

By Jessica Fargen
Sunday, October 4, 2009 – Updated 7h ago
Police yesterday continued to hunt for the person who murdered an exotic dancer, as friends and Everett neighbors mourned a woman they described as vibrant and gentle.
The bloody body of Sheila Santos, 26, a Brazilian beauty who danced at Club Alex’s in Stoughton, was found before [...]

MA: Slain dancer had said she worried for her safety

By John R. Ellement and Brian R. Ballou
Globe Staff / October 3, 2009
EVERETT – Police questioned a man last night in connection with the slaying of a 24-year-old exotic dancer outside her apartment early yesterday morning.
Sheila Santos was attacked and killed outside her Main Street apartment building shortly after she finished work at Club [...]

IL: Elk Grove gay bar Hunters Nightclub imposes new rule on cross dressers

Patrons are now required to supply ID that matches their ‘gender presentation’
Brian Cox and Lisa Black
September 21, 2009
An Elk Grove Village gay bar popular with cross-dressers now requires them to show a valid photo ID that matches their “gender presentation.” Put another way, they now need a photo ID that shows them in drag.
Hunters Nightclub [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]