Save the Dates!

April 7, 2022

With Congressional elections fast approaching, Equality NY’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is hosting a roundtable for candidates focused on addressing LGBTQI issues. The event will feature four candidates from New York congressional districts in New York City and upstate. As a member of Equality NY’s advisory council and PAC Committee, DSW’s Melissa Broudo helped organize the event.

Join the roundtable to hear what candidates Ashmi Sheth, Rana Abdelhamid, Brittany Ramos Debarros, and Melanie D’Arrigo see as the most pressing issues facing the LGBTQI community in New York and how they plan to address them if elected. Click here to register– we hope to see you there!

———

April 1, 2022

At 10 am PT, 1 pm EST, the UCLA Global Lab for Research in Action will be hosting “Reimagining  Gender Equality Through Sport,” a Luskin Summit webinar about the role  of sports in the pursuit of gender equality. This session will feature two conversations — one focused on the global landscape of “sport for development” and the other focused on the United States — and will conclude with a brief panel discussion and Q&A. Each conversation between researcher and practitioner will highlight emerging research that demonstrates how sport can be used to advance gender justice around the world.

DSW is proud to have the Global Lab for Research in Action as a grantee. Register for the panel here!

Congressional Candidate LGBTQI Roundtable

(Equality NY PAC, 2022)

(UCLA, 2022)

DSW Newsletter #34 (March 2022)

Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

March 1, 2022 Burlington voters overwhelmingly chose to remove archaic and discriminatory language from their city charter. The current charter mandates that Burlington “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common...
Read More
Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

March 3, 2022 Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) re-introduced the Safe Sex Workers Act (SSWA) to the House and Senate on International Sex Workers Rights...
Read More
Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

February 27, 2022 As a society, we’ve never been very good at talking about sex, John Oliver points out in the February 27th episode of Last Week Tonight. If we want to craft legislation and policies that protect...
Read More
John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2022 Each year, sex workers, advocates, and allied communities celebrate International Sex Worker Rights Day, recognizing a movement that upholds the principles of harm reduction to support the rights and dignity of those who are...
Read More
Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

Save the Dates!

April 7, 2022 With Congressional elections fast approaching, Equality NY’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is hosting a roundtable for candidates focused on addressing LGBTQI issues. The event will feature four candidates from New York congressional districts in...
Read More
Save the Dates!

DSW Newsletter Archive

Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

March 3, 2022

Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) re-introduced the Safe Sex Workers Act (SSWA) to the House and Senate on International Sex Workers Rights Day. The SSWA directs the US Department of Health and Human Services to study the impact of SESTA/FOSTA, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018, on sex workers and related communities. Initially proposed in 2019, the SSWA is a product of years of activism by sex worker rights advocates and allies, calling for the inclusion of impacted communities in policy development around sex work and related issues.

SESTA/FOSTA continues to have an incredibly harmful impact on sex worker rights and safety. The rise of websites like Backpage and Craigslist’s Erotic Services (ERS) page in the early 2000s had allowed sex workers who previously engaged in street-based work to migrate online. A 2018 survey out of the University of Leicester found that online sex work allowed for much more control over working conditions and reduced the risk of physical attack. Workers surveyed said that the internet allowed them to screen clients for safety and to engage in peer support. Over 80% of those surveyed said the internet improved their quality of life. “The types of crimes that sex workers are experiencing have changed,” reported Teela Sanders, professor of criminology and lead researcher. “There was a much lower incidence of violent crime [including] sexual and physical assault than in other studies. But there [were] high levels of digitally facilitated crimes.” In a different study looking at the regional rollout of Craigslist’s erotic services (ERS) page, researchers out of Baylor University found that ERS had decreased the female homicide rate by 17% on average.

But not everyone viewed these developments positively. The conflation between consensual adult sex work and human trafficking in laws and general rhetoric sparked misguided fears that online content would lead to the proliferation of trafficking in commercial sex. A moral panic spurred the passage of SESTA/FOSTA. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act prevents online platforms from being prosecuted for the content that third parties post on their website. Proponents of the law claimed that limiting Section 230 protections for any site hosting sexual content would scrub commercial sex from the internet and therefore online sexual exploitation would be squashed.

Sex workers, service providers, free-speech activists, and even law enforcement warned that the law would have unintended consequences for both sex worker rights and investigations into online trafficking. Websites hosting sexual content had established relationships with law enforcement to combat trafficking. Many voluntarily reported content that showed signs of abuse or allowed police to comb posts themselves. With the passage of SESTA/FOSTA, many of these platforms either shut down or wiped any content of a sexual nature from their websites for fear of prosecution. As a result, law enforcement lost many trails of evidence they had been following and were forced to abandon investigations.

When sex workers lost access to online platforms to advertise their services, the benefits to health and safety that these sites provided were also lost. A report by the Samaritan Women Institute for shelter Care interviewed service providers for survivors of human trafficking and found that SESTA/FOSTA had failed to address trafficking. If anything, the law had pushed more individuals back into street-based sex work, leaving them more vulnerable to violent crime. Making it harder for sex workers to find and vet clients also leaves them at greater risk for exploitative relationships and possibly trafficking, the report found.

The Safe Sex Workers Act (SSWA) asks the United States government to do what it should already feel obligated to — examine the impact of written law on the lived experience of individuals, as well as its success in meeting its stated intentions. Analyses of SESTA/FOSTA like the report published in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review by Kendra Albert, Elizabeth Brundige, and Lorelei Lee, have overwhelmingly concluded that the law impedes trafficking prosecutions and endangers human rights and safety. The SSWA has been endorsed by over seventy anti-violence, public health, technology, civil and human rights organizations including AIDS United, Center for Democracy and Technology, Transgender Law Center, National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, and more. “Sex workers — far too often overlooked by policy analysis — have long been among the communities most impacted by HIV,” said Jesse Milan Jr., president, and CEO of AIDS United.  “Research and community input is needed to understand the harmful effects of recent policies on sex workers and consequently on ending the HIV epidemic. The SAFE SEX Worker Study Act is a piece of legislation that will enable such vital research.”

We ask that readers reach out to their elected representatives and urge them to support this important bill.

Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Puneet Cheema in Rep. Khanna's video announcing the bill's introduction. (Lambda Legal, 2022)

Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Puneet Cheema endorses the bill in Rep. Khanna's video announcing the its introduction. (Lambda Legal, 2022)

AIDS United supports the SAFE SEX Worker Study Act

AIDS United released a press release in support of the bill. (AIDS United, 2022)

DSW Newsletter #34 (March 2022)

Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

March 1, 2022 Burlington voters overwhelmingly chose to remove archaic and discriminatory language from their city charter. The current charter mandates that Burlington “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common...
Read More
Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

March 3, 2022 Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) re-introduced the Safe Sex Workers Act (SSWA) to the House and Senate on International Sex Workers Rights...
Read More
Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

February 27, 2022 As a society, we’ve never been very good at talking about sex, John Oliver points out in the February 27th episode of Last Week Tonight. If we want to craft legislation and policies that protect...
Read More
John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2022 Each year, sex workers, advocates, and allied communities celebrate International Sex Worker Rights Day, recognizing a movement that upholds the principles of harm reduction to support the rights and dignity of those who are...
Read More
Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

Save the Dates!

April 7, 2022 With Congressional elections fast approaching, Equality NY’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is hosting a roundtable for candidates focused on addressing LGBTQI issues. The event will feature four candidates from New York congressional districts in...
Read More
Save the Dates!

DSW Newsletter Archive

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2022

Each year, sex workers, advocates, and allied communities celebrate International Sex Worker Rights Day, recognizing a movement that upholds the principles of harm reduction to support the rights and dignity of those who are most vulnerable. International Sex Worker Rights Day was first organized in 2001 by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya, a Kolkata-based sex worker rights group whose name translates to “The Unstoppable Women’s Synthesis Committee.” It has since been adopted as a universal day of celebration, recognized around the world.

Sex workers face criminalization, stigmatization, and discrimination in all forms across the globe. March 3 provides an opportunity for groups to raise their voices in unison and recognize how far we have come and how far we still have to go. In 2022 alone, the movement has had several significant achievements:

* Sex work was decriminalized in Victoria, Australia;

* Amnesty International released a report reviewing the impact of “End Demand Policies in Ireland” and advocating for decriminalization;

* The United States Federal Court ruled that Title XI protects sex workers from being discriminated against based on their work history;

* Last Week Tonight with John Oliver featured the decriminalization of sex work on a segment;

* Burlington, Vermont voted overwhelmingly to strike language discriminating against sex workers from its city charter;

* An article in the Boston Review reignited the debate over whether there is a constitutional right to sex work; and

* Belgium decriminalized prostitution.

Many states have proposed bills that would provide immunity from arrests for sex workers who witness or are the victim of a crime, ensure sex workers have access to health care and vacate the convictions of trafficking survivors. This year, members of Congress proposed legislation to study the ways in which SESTA/FOSTA has impacted sex workers and survivors of human trafficking.

This year, DSW had the honor of hosting an event held by the New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG) in honor of the holiday. NYTAG invited sex workers to participate in a focus group in partnership with the Mayor’s Office’s Task Force on Health and Safety Needs of Sex Workers. Filmmaker Tavleen Tarrant attended and shot footage for her upcoming documentary on sex work and related issues in New York State.

Leading up to International Sex Worker Rights Day, DSW’s Melissa Broudo participated in a symposium on the national movement to decriminalize sex work. The symposium, entitled “Decrimpact,” was hosted by the Getting to Zero Activist Academy, a Massachusetts-based organization fighting the HIV/AIDS crisis by bridging intersectional divides. The event debuted Out of the Shadows: The Movement to Decriminalize Sex Work, a short documentary filmed and produced by participants in the Activist Academy and Dawson Hill. The film captures the voices of local sex worker rights activists, researchers, and Representative Lindsay Sabadosa (D-Northampton), a Massachusetts state representative who recently proposed H. 1867, a bill to fully decriminalize consensual adults sex work in Massachusetts. It explores how decriminalizing sex work would help the fight against HIV, reduce commercial sex trafficking, and promote the safety of sex workers.

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

Kiara St. James, the Executive Director of NYTAG (holding the red umbrella), is pictured with event attendees. (NYTAG, 2022)

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly of NYTAG and DSW is pictured with Tahtianna Fermin, founder of Bridges4Life, an organization supporting children raised in foster care. (NYTAG, 2022)

DSW Newsletter #34 (March 2022)

Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

March 1, 2022 Burlington voters overwhelmingly chose to remove archaic and discriminatory language from their city charter. The current charter mandates that Burlington “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common...
Read More
Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

March 3, 2022 Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) re-introduced the Safe Sex Workers Act (SSWA) to the House and Senate on International Sex Workers Rights...
Read More
Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

February 27, 2022 As a society, we’ve never been very good at talking about sex, John Oliver points out in the February 27th episode of Last Week Tonight. If we want to craft legislation and policies that protect...
Read More
John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2022 Each year, sex workers, advocates, and allied communities celebrate International Sex Worker Rights Day, recognizing a movement that upholds the principles of harm reduction to support the rights and dignity of those who are...
Read More
Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

Save the Dates!

April 7, 2022 With Congressional elections fast approaching, Equality NY’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is hosting a roundtable for candidates focused on addressing LGBTQI issues. The event will feature four candidates from New York congressional districts in...
Read More
Save the Dates!

DSW Newsletter Archive

Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

March 1, 2022

Burlington voters overwhelmingly chose to remove archaic and discriminatory language from their city charter. The current charter mandates that Burlington “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common prostitutes and persons consorting therewith.” The question of whether to remove the language was presented to voters during their annual local election. Burlington residents showed their support for human dignity, equity, and safety by choosing to strike this outdated language from the charter. The referendum now heads to the statehouse to be ratified.

The charter change does not decriminalize sex work in Burlington, as Vermont State law still criminalizes commercial sex. But the referendum vote does signify that Burlington voters understand the important differences between consensual adult sex work and human trafficking and support equity, safety, and dignity for all. Consensual adult sex work is not inherently dangerous but criminalization and stigmatization leave individuals vulnerable to abuse and violence. Conversely, the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work protects the health and safety of communities by allowing sex workers greater access to resources and agency in their work. It also helps combat violence against sex workers by allowing them to report crimes committed against them and others without fear of arrest. When Rhode Island decriminalized consensual adult sex work between 2003 and 2009, incidences of female gonorrhea declined by 39% and sexual assault declined by 31%.

Stigma and discrimination cause tremendous harm to all people engaged in sex work, whether their form of work is legal or not, and whether they are working by choice, circumstance, or coercion. Laws that further stigma, shame, misogyny, and discrimination enable and amplify harm to an already vulnerable population.

“Removing this discriminatory language from the city charter is a critical and positive step for consensual adult sex workers and everyone who cares about their communities. It also shows that voters can separate consensual adult sex work from the grotesque crime of human trafficking,” said Henri Bynx, co-founder of The Ishtar Collective, Vermont’s only organization run by and for sex workers and survivors of exploitation or trafficking. “We are deeply touched and encouraged to no longer be further marginalized by punitive language in Burlington’s city charter,” they continued.

A broad coalition of supporters urged Burlington voters to stand up for equity, safety, and dignity by voting affirmatively on question #5 on Town Meeting Day 2022.

Endorsers included:
Representative Tiff Bluemle (Chittenden-6-5)
Representative Brian Cina (Chittenden-6-4)
Representative Selene Colburn (Chittenden-6-4)
Representative Robert Hooper (Chittenden-6-1)
Representative Curt McCormack (Chittenden-6-3)
Representative Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (Chittenden-6-2)
Representative Barbara Rachelson (Chittenden-6-6)
Representative Taylor Small (Chittenden-6-7)
Representative Gabrielle Stebbins (Chittenden-6-5)
Burlington City Council President Max Tracy (Ward 2)
Burlington City Councilor Perri Freeman (Central)
Burlington City Councilor Jack Hanson (East)
Burlington City Councilor Zoraya Hightower (Ward 1)
Burlington City Councilor Joe Magee (Ward 3)
Burlington City Councilor Jane Stromberg (Ward 8)
The Ishtar Collective
Migrant Justice
National Harm Reduction Coalition
Out in the Open
Pride Center of Vermont
Vermont CARES

Volunteers from The Erotic Laborers Alliance of New England (ELA-ONE) promote Equity, Safety, and Dignity on March 1 in Burlington.

Megan, a volunteer from the Erotic Labor Alliance of New England (ELA-ONE), and J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly of DSW and the Ishtar Collective brave the cold in order to advocate for the charter change. (DSW, 2022)

Burlington VT Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

Members of the Ishtar Collective, ELA-ONE, and allies celebrate on election night. (Ishtar Collective, 2022)

DSW Newsletter #34 (March 2022)

Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

March 1, 2022 Burlington voters overwhelmingly chose to remove archaic and discriminatory language from their city charter. The current charter mandates that Burlington “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common...
Read More
Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

March 3, 2022 Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) re-introduced the Safe Sex Workers Act (SSWA) to the House and Senate on International Sex Workers Rights...
Read More
Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

February 27, 2022 As a society, we’ve never been very good at talking about sex, John Oliver points out in the February 27th episode of Last Week Tonight. If we want to craft legislation and policies that protect...
Read More
John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2022 Each year, sex workers, advocates, and allied communities celebrate International Sex Worker Rights Day, recognizing a movement that upholds the principles of harm reduction to support the rights and dignity of those who are...
Read More
Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

Save the Dates!

April 7, 2022 With Congressional elections fast approaching, Equality NY’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is hosting a roundtable for candidates focused on addressing LGBTQI issues. The event will feature four candidates from New York congressional districts in...
Read More
Save the Dates!

DSW Newsletter Archive

John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

February 27, 2022

As a society, we’ve never been very good at talking about sex, John Oliver points out in the February 27th episode of Last Week Tonight. If we want to craft legislation and policies that protect human rights, public health, and the safety of all communities equally, we need to do better. The show’s recent segment dives headfirst into the issue of sex work decriminalization. “Everything about the way we regulate sex work in this country is confusing and counter-productive,” says Oliver. It’s either “demonizing, patronizing, or just plain wrong.” He goes on to analyze the convoluted contradictions inherent in criminalizing sex workers in order to “save” them. Central to Oliver’s argument: instead of trying to project a discriminatory and misogynistic moral framework onto those engaging in commercial sex, “we need to be talking constructively about how to make [sex work] safer in every possible way.”

DSW staff attorney and legal director, Rebecca Cleary and Melissa Broudo provided background research to the producers of the show, resulting in a poignant and hilarious analysis that unflinchingly addresses the stigma and misconceptions around sexual labor. Many members of law enforcement and lawmakers oppose decriminalization because they believe that sex work is inherently exploitative and that decriminalization will allow trafficking in commercial sex to proliferate. But sex workers are not a monolith — many different kinds of people engage in commercial sex for a variety of reasons. To enact the most effective, impactful policies for a deeply diverse population, we must consult with and listen to impacted communities. Sex work is work; it’s how people support themselves and their families, the same as any other job. And sex workers are people with thoughts and opinions on their own situations and they overwhelmingly support the decriminalization of sex work because it makes their work safe.

In the segment, one law enforcement officer said that sex workers often describe being arrested as having “saved [their] life.” Oliver makes the perhaps obvious point that if the best option we have to help someone is to arrest them, that poses a system-wide problem. No one should be forced to participate in sex work against their will, just as no one should be forced to do any form of labor against their will. But saddling someone with a criminal record is a far cry from help, particularly when repeated arrests can result in felony convictions in certain states.

Many of these arrests occur during prostitution stings in which police pose as clients and then arrest  people who agree to have sex with them. “It’s no wonder many sex workers have trouble regarding the police as their saviors especially as cops have a reputation for acting violently or inappropriately during stings,” said Oliver. “A couple of years ago in Arizona, a federal agency engaged in 17 sexual encounters with women working in massage parlors as part of an investigation, disgustingly code-named ‘Operation Asian Touch’. And that’s not uncommon. Because in many states it is not specifically illegal for police officers to have sex with sex workers during a sting operation. And in some cases, police have protested efforts to ban the practice. This is both grotesque and also a bit ironic because what they’re fundamentally arguing there is that they should be able to have sex for their jobs legally in order to stop people having sex for their jobs.”

Even without these abhorrent policies, the way that sex work is policed in this U.S. is incredibly discriminatory, particularly along the lines of race, gender, and gender expression. The recently repealed loitering for the purpose of prostitution offense in New York State was used to target, arrest, and harass individuals for legal activities like talking to passersby or wearing certain clothing or the basis of “looking like” a sex worker. The law was colloquially termed “the ban on Walking While Trans” because of the disproportionate number of trans women targeted for the crime. 88% of people arrested under this statute from 2009-2019 were women of color. From 2016 to 2020, almost everyone arrested for prostitution-related crimes in NY was non-white. In other cities, workers are arrested for carrying condoms, leading many sex workers to go without, putting their lives at risk.

The episode digs into many more examples of the irony and, in some cases, the idiocy of the laws that govern sex work in the U.S. Having conversations about making sex work safer is almost impossible when it is continually conflated with human trafficking. Human trafficking is an egregious offense where “any number north of zero is clearly terrible,” but reports of millions of people allegedly trafficked into commercial sex each year are consistently debunked by experts. 80% of trafficking cases occur in sectors outside of commercial sex. However, because of conflation and a disproportionate focus on prostitution as trafficking, advocates and service providers report that non-sexual labor trafficking cases often go unreported and unprosecuted. Some states have even codified this harmful conflation into law, replacing the word prostitution with trafficking. Alaska used this provision to prosecute a woman for trafficking herself.

While the segment engages audience members because of its witty pointedness, the reality of these policies for impacted communities is much less amusing. Reducing all sex work to exploitation removes the voices, agency, and humanity of the individuals who engage in it, which lawmakers use as an excuse to ignore sex workers in crafting policies.

An outlier in this is New Zealand, which decriminalized consensual adult, sex work in 2013. Under the 2013 Prostitution Reform Act, commercial sex is no longer a crime, so long as it is consensual. This allows sex workers access to unemployment benefits, healthcare, and other fundamental rights. Under the law, sex workers have successfully sued for sexual harassment and assault they experienced while working. “It is a human rights-centered approach,” says Oliver, “that seems to be working.”

The episode acknowledges that we don’t have all the answers yet. “There are good-faith disagreements to be had over the finer points of decriminalization policy,” Oliver notes. “But if we basically agree, as I hope we do, that making sex work safer is a priority, it is the direction to strive toward.”

DSW was honored to be included in the research of this episode and encouraged to have this issue discussed on such a well-known platform. If you haven’t yet viewed the episode, we highly recommend it for some heavy-hitting truth bombs and belly-laughs.

John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

(HBO, 2022)

DSW Newsletter #34 (March 2022)

Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

March 1, 2022 Burlington voters overwhelmingly chose to remove archaic and discriminatory language from their city charter. The current charter mandates that Burlington “restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common...
Read More
Burlington, Vermont Votes To Remove Language That Discriminates Against Sex Workers From City Charter

Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

March 3, 2022 Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) re-introduced the Safe Sex Workers Act (SSWA) to the House and Senate on International Sex Workers Rights...
Read More
Members of Congress Introduce Bill To Study the Impact of SESTA/FOSTA

John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

February 27, 2022 As a society, we’ve never been very good at talking about sex, John Oliver points out in the February 27th episode of Last Week Tonight. If we want to craft legislation and policies that protect...
Read More
John Oliver Dissects Sex Work Criminalization and How We Can Do Better

Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2022 Each year, sex workers, advocates, and allied communities celebrate International Sex Worker Rights Day, recognizing a movement that upholds the principles of harm reduction to support the rights and dignity of those who are...
Read More
Honoring International Sex Worker Rights Day

Save the Dates!

April 7, 2022 With Congressional elections fast approaching, Equality NY’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is hosting a roundtable for candidates focused on addressing LGBTQI issues. The event will feature four candidates from New York congressional districts in...
Read More
Save the Dates!

DSW Newsletter Archive