When a young woman in Atlanta tried to escape her pimp in April 2010, his retaliation was swift and brutal. He ordered four other sex workers to beat the runaway until her eyes swelled shut and a bottle pierced her head. Then the pimp locked the 21-year-old woman in a 3-by-5 foot dog cage overnight, […]
Prostitution or Sex Work
Sex work or prostitution is the selling of sexual activity for payment, which can be dangerous if coercive or unregulated.
To Catch a Killer, Give Amnesty to Sex Workers
In the week leading up to December 17, 2010–the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers— the remains of four women, all of whom were involved with sex work, were discovered on a beach in Long Island. Since the end of March, the remains of six more bodies have been found in the same area. The […]
Long Island Murders: Sex Trafficking Ring Involved?
The discovery of ten dead bodies in a marsh in Long Island, at least four of them women who had some involvement with the sex trade, has been making national headlines. Police and reporters are calling it the work of a serial killer, publishing a detailed profile of him in The New York Times today: […]
The “Art” of Exploiting Cambodian Sex Workers
Warning: Please be aware that clicking on many of the links in this post will lead to websites containing images that are NSFW and may be offensive and/or triggering. I consider myself fairly liberal when it comes to some of the most controversial 21st-century debates about sex. I’m not anti-pornography or sex work, as long […]
The Real Story on Human Trafficking
What exactly is human trafficking and how can we help stop it? One of the best people in the U.S. to answer such questions is Department of Justice-certified human-trafficking consultant Dottie Laster, who has trained more than 5,000 police officers on recognizing and combating trafficking. She hosts a weekly internet radio show, “Trafficked,” on Here Women […]
For Sex Workers, Recommendation #86 Will Go Down in History
Recently I blogged about how the United Nations’ Human Rights Council flagged sex worker rights in its periodic review of the United States’ human-rights record. Member state Uruguay recommended that the U.S. “ensure access to public services paying attention to the special vulnerability of sexual workers [sex workers] to violence and human rights abuses.” Within […]
Thanks to Uruguay, U.S. Sex Workers’ Human Rights Get Federal Attention
For the past few months, I have been honored to be part of a team of activists and researchers engaging in dialogue with the State Department about human rights abuses against U.S. sex workers, in response to a UN review of the human rights record of the United States. In light of International Sex Workers’ […]
What’s More Effective: Closing Your Purse or Your Legs?
A sex strike recently proposed in Belgium has ignited a debate about the efficacy of sex strikes. Proposed by parliament member Marleen Temmerman, the strike would be intended to break the eight-month political deadlock caused by a feuding Dutch-speaking North and French-speaking South. Though half-joking in her suggestion for spouses to withhold sex until their […]
Yes, Comment! Skins, Google Art, and High School Feminists
For us Ms. editors, by far the most rewarding part of the Ms. Blog has been reading the comments. Since we’re used to sending out a magazine into the void every three months and waiting with bated breath for letters to the editor, it’s been revelatory to hear back directly–instantly!–from Ms. readers. To be sure, […]