Be heard on the issues that matter most to you!
This 13 minute video by the Network of Sex Work Projects (and which I first saw on the Urban Justice Center's Sex Worker Project web site) raises important questionsa about the ways that anti-sex-work policies get in the way of reaching important public health goals like HIV prevention.
In sociology we often talk about "unintended consequences." This video is useful because it documents ways that anti-prostitution efforts end up putting women and men at greater risk of harm from things like STIs or violence. In this thread perhaps we can compile a list of other documents that also show such consequences of anti-sex-work policies.
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
Unintended consequences...of course folks want to protect victims of force, slavery, but wind up punishing sex workers in the course of combatting trafficking. Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women has a new report, Collateral Damage, which investigates the "Victims of Anti-Trafficking," the sex workers and migrants.
House version HR 3887 now expands the Mann Act to broadly place all sorts of commercial sex business operations (targeting voluntary contexts!) within the scope of FBI oversight. The Department of Justice is opposed to this move as they state that this is not the purvey of the US Department of Justice. The bill is waiting in the Senate Judiciary Committee after making it through the House.
This effort is spearheaded by fundamentalists (an alliance of the fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist feminists).
Please visit www.bayswan.org/traffick/HR3887.html for a more extensive analysis, and for model letters to send to your Senator about this issue.
The issues are quite complex as it revolves around some minor changes in the wording of the current Mann Act.
Carol Leigh
Trafficking Policy Research Project
Carol, thank you for the update on HR 3887 and for the link to BAYSWAN's page of sample letters and background info. I'll put up a SexAct(ivism)! piece calling on readers to write to their Senators and action on thi.s. I also think that a call for continued action on this, with an echo back to the beautifully written letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee and published on Bound, Not Gagged , should be part of our summary statement at the end of this forum.
Thanks also for the link to Collateral Damage. It makes me think that another thing that should come out of this forum is a page of resources that would link readers here to all the important web sites and documents from from which we each draw.
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
You're welcome Stacey, but I'm the one who should be saying thank you to all of you who are taking the time to come here to contribute! There are so many smart people out there working on these issues and just not enough opportunities for us to all get together and share what we're thinking about or raise questions and explore problems without having to defend ourselves immediately. So thank you all for being here for the week!
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
The anti-prostitution pledge has also led to a rising number of AIDS cases. I have a few articles referenced here: http://pledgingaction.wordpress.com/the-pledge/ if you scroll down the page a bit.
Safer sex is sort of one my things.
XX
