▶ Watch on YouTube
Happy International Women's Day!
In the US, roughly 70,000 - 80,000 women are kidnapped by armed men, and put in cages every year..
Why?
Because they choose to have sex for money.
As a result, prostitution is one of the most dangerous professions in the U.S. The death rate for prostitutes in the US is 204 out of every 100,000. By contrast, the death rate for commercial fishermen is 129 out of every 100,000. Also, the average prostitute gets physically (but non-lethally) attacked approximately once a month.
Yet they can't go to police, because in many cases the police themselves will also rape or extort them. They can't even band together to help themselves because doing so is considered "brothelkeeping", which is punished even more harshly than prostitution. If anyone helps them, such as by renting them a room, they too can be charged with "pimping".
Fortunately, the tide of opinion among knowledgeable people is changing, and several organizations are calling for the decriminalization of prostitution, including the following:
Amnesty International
World Health Organization
UNAIDS
International Labour Organization
the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women
the Global Network of Sex Work Projects
the Global Commission on HIV and the Law
Human Rights Watch
the Open Society Foundations
Anti-Slavery International
Want to help? Consider supporting Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOPUSA), one of the most active organizations pushing for sex worker law reform.
http://www.new.swopusa.org/
More links:
Amnesty International on why decriminalization is desirable:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/amnesty-international-publishes-policy-and-research-on-protection-of-sex-workers-rights/
Juno Mac on the laws that sex workers want:
The history of the New Zealand Sex Workers Collective, the group primarily responsible for decriminalizing sex work in New Zealand:
http://www.nzpc.org.nz/History
In the US, roughly 70,000 - 80,000 women are kidnapped by armed men, and put in cages every year..
Why?
Because they choose to have sex for money.
As a result, prostitution is one of the most dangerous professions in the U.S. The death rate for prostitutes in the US is 204 out of every 100,000. By contrast, the death rate for commercial fishermen is 129 out of every 100,000. Also, the average prostitute gets physically (but non-lethally) attacked approximately once a month.
Yet they can't go to police, because in many cases the police themselves will also rape or extort them. They can't even band together to help themselves because doing so is considered "brothelkeeping", which is punished even more harshly than prostitution. If anyone helps them, such as by renting them a room, they too can be charged with "pimping".
Fortunately, the tide of opinion among knowledgeable people is changing, and several organizations are calling for the decriminalization of prostitution, including the following:
Amnesty International
World Health Organization
UNAIDS
International Labour Organization
the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women
the Global Network of Sex Work Projects
the Global Commission on HIV and the Law
Human Rights Watch
the Open Society Foundations
Anti-Slavery International
Want to help? Consider supporting Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOPUSA), one of the most active organizations pushing for sex worker law reform.
http://www.new.swopusa.org/
More links:
Amnesty International on why decriminalization is desirable:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/amnesty-international-publishes-policy-and-research-on-protection-of-sex-workers-rights/
Juno Mac on the laws that sex workers want:
▶ Watch on YouTube
The history of the New Zealand Sex Workers Collective, the group primarily responsible for decriminalizing sex work in New Zealand:
http://www.nzpc.org.nz/History