Tell the Department of Health and Human Services How the Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath Harms Sex Workers

We need your help by Tuesday, December 22
Note: This is very time sensitive! Please take the simple action of reading and signing a letter (can be done electronically by individuals and organizations, within the US and internationally) by Tuesday, December 22nd.
As many of you know, the anti-prostitution loyalty oath (APLO) is a regulation that has [...]

Arrest the Violence: Human Rights Violations Against Sex Workers in 11 Countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia

From Aliya Rakhmetova of SWAN.

Dear all:
To mark December 17, the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers, the Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia is releasing its new report, Arrest the Violence: Human Rights Violations Against Sex Workers in 11 Countries in Central and Eastern Europe [...]

Corrections Employees Fired Over Sex Worker Death in Perryville Prison, AZ

NY Daily News
PHOENIX — Sixteen Arizona corrections employees have been fired, suspended or otherwise disciplined for their roles in the death of an inmate left in an outdoor holding cell for four hours in triple-digit heat and for a “wait-them-out” practice at the prison where she died.
Full Article

A little look at some numbers in San Francisco

I haven’t seen any figures about the actual cost of the First Offender’s Prostitution Program, but from the Examiner Article I think we can infer that the expense is approximately:
100 (Street sting operations)
+ 4 (Internet based operations)
=104 x 6.6 (# of arrests per operation)
= 686.4 (participants annually)
686 x $1,908 (actual cost per participant)
=1,309,651.20 [...]

RI cops: Case similar to Boston Craigslist slaying

WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — An attempted robbery of a woman at a suburban Providence hotel may be linked to the slaying at an upscale Boston hotel of a woman who advertised massage services on Craigslist, police said Friday.
A 26-year-old woman who also advertised massage services on Craigslist was bound with cord and held at gunpoint [...]

Some Links On Boston Murder

Pattern Emerges in Hotel Attacks
And as authorities launched a hunt for the man – also captured on surveillance cameras last week at the Westin Copley Hotel, where a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman was bound and robbed at gunpoint – the killing this week opened a window on a vast and elusive underworld of prostitutes who [...]

Sex 2.0 May 9th, 2009 Washington DC

The 2nd Annual Sex 2.0 un-conference is just a few weeks away! Early-bird registration closes on April 16th. This year is the second year that Bound, Not Gagged is participating as a Community Sponsor. New social media has been a critical tool for sex workers around the globe in recent years. Not only has [...]

Bound, Not Gagged Happy Hour May 7th, 2009!

The Desiree Alliance is pleased to invite you to attend a happy hour to support our web blog project, BoundNotGagged.com
BoundnotGagged.com is a place for sex workers to respond to the way that we’re portrayed in the media and the way that sexist laws are used to undermine our rights. BoundnotGagged.com is our way of responding [...]

Third-Gendering

Posted on Behalf of Robin from SWOP-NYC
To my fellow cis sex workers rights activists:
Men, women, and transgendered people.  Male, female, and trans.  I’m sure most of you recognize these phrases as they are used widely across the sex workers rights movement.  I was at the December 17th march in D.C., and I heard them used [...]

Sheriff sues Craigslist as ‘largest source’ of prostitution

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced today that his office has sued Craigslist and has asked a federal judge to ban the Internet company from posting its “erotic services” section, which the sheriff said is a clearing house for prostitution.
Dart also asked the judge to force the online classifieds company to reimburse the sheriff’s department [...]

Let’s Talk About Sex Baby! (And keep talking and talking and talking…)

“Sex in America: Can the Conversation Change?” hosted by the New York Open Center and the Huffington Post
This was really just the tip of the iceberg in trying to cover the many conversations about sexuality that need to be happening. With only two hours, it was impossible to really dig deeper into the nuances. I [...]

Sex Workers Urge Obama Administration to Help Stop Violence

Media Advisory
####
Contact: Stacey Swimme
Email: press@swopusa.org
Phone: 877-776-2004 ext. 2
Kelli Dorsey
(202) 829-2103
kelli@differentavenues.org
http://www.swopusa.org/SW_NationalMarch08/
Sex Workers Urge Obama Administration to Help Stop Violence
Sex workers will submit a letter and demands to President-elect Obama and select cabinet-appointees Wednesday December 17, 2008 to mark the 6th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This year mourners will gather in Franklin [...]

December 17 2008: National March for Sex Workers’ Rights

A Kevin Folie from NBC is spamming the hell out of us…

Here’s what he wants you to know:
Joe.J
http://originals.cnbc.com. | kevin.folie@nbcuni.com | 64.210.199.231
On Tuesday, November 11th at 10 p ET Melissa Francis examines the world of high-end prostitution in the CNBC Original [...]

Prop K News Nov. 4th 2008

Oft-mocked San Francisco leads the way
Living in San Francisco means constantly being told you’re in the kookiest place in the country – a city where you vote on whether to name a sewage plant after the outgoing president and where residents enthusiastically debate whether to enforce prostitution laws. How do you think those ideas play [...]

Prop K News Nov 3rd, 2008

San Francisco Prostitutes, Mayor Clash on Vote to Stop Arrests

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) — San Francisco may become the first major U.S. city to decriminalize prostitution.
Voters will decide tomorrow on a ballot measure that would stop police from enforcing laws against sex workers and eliminate funding for anti-prostitution programs. The measure, known as Proposition K, may [...]

Yes on K is the Christian thing to do

by LEA BROWN
Why would a Christian minister support Proposition K, the November ballot initiative that would decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco?
There are many reasons. Prop. K would allow sex workers to organize for their rights and safety. It would enable them to report abuse in the industry without fear of prosecution. It would improve their [...]

Opposition to Prop K Post at change.org

Editor’s Note: Yesterday, we heard from sex worker and activist Karly Kirchner about why she believes Proposition K – which would decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco – is right for the city. Today, anti-exploitation activist Kristie Miller argues that the measure is a step backwards.

The Police, the DA and SAGE: A lucrative partnership

by  US PROStitutes Collective* in support of Yes on Prop K
Since the First Offender Prostitution Program in San Francisco (FOPP) began in 1995, there has been much public concern over the amount of money it costs to the city of San Francisco, the use of that money and the increasing criminalization of women and men [...]

NY Times on Prop K

In San Francisco, a Proposition Supported by Its Prostitutes
By JESSE MCKINLEY
SAN FRANCISCO — When Proposition K was added to Tuesday’s ballot, many people likely snickered at the possibility that San Francisco might take its place alongside such prostitute-friendly havens as Amsterdam and a few rural counties in nearby Nevada.
But this week, it became readily apparent [...]