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Court-based research: collaborating with the justice system to enhance STI services for vulnerable women in the US http://t.co/3vEaFQVO

The fractal queerness of non-heteronormative migrant #sexworkers in the UK by Nick Mae http://t.co/X7oGFeDI

‘only 31% of the sample of indirect sex workers reported having been engaged in commercial sex in the last 12 months’

Old but good. Violence and Exposure to HIV among #sexworkers in Phnom Penh http://t.co/rkrRGiBa

Someone is Wrong on the Internet: #sex workers’ access to accurate information http://t.co/aMSXhygd

story

Sex Work is Decriminalised in Canada

Removal of criminal law removes the main barrier to sex workers achieving justice. It creates a space that can be filled by effective rights based policy and labour regulations and law. This is what happenned in the much touted example of New Zealand. But ‘decriminalisation’ is not a solution in itself, and it is not a solution if the gap it creates is filled with wrong policy and law. Good regulations and policy don’t automatically kick in when criminal laws are removed – even in rich and well governed countries, let alone where regulatory systems generally are not well organised. The process

SEX WORK IS LEGAL IN BANGALDESH

Brothel evictions last year sparked angry protests The Bangladeshi High Court has ruled that prostitution as a livelihood is not illegal. Lawyers say the judgement is highly unusual because it makes Bangladesh one of the few Islamic countries which do not ban prostitution. This judgement means that prostitutes in Bangladesh now have the legal authority to practise their trade. The judges made their comments as the court was ruling in a case brought by over 100 sex workers who have been in homes for vagrants since July last year, when two brothels on the outskirts of Dhaka were closed down

Police Assault Sex Workers and Get Caught Red Handed Taking Money from Sex Worker

A significant police backlash is being felt by sex workers around the country following human rights events for the International Sex Worker Rights Day on March 3rd. In Johannesburg, Sisonke Sex Worker Movement national co-ordinator Kholi Buthelezi had her hands full with sex workers calling her for help “the day after the march in Johannesburg I went from Germiston back to the city taking statements from sex workers who were harassed or arrested”. 27 Sex workers were arrested and released with a R300 fine in Germiston while in the City sex workers were harassed and one was assaulted. Ms Buthelezi

Independent Commission on AIDS and the Law

“I urge all countries to remove punitive laws, policies and practices that hamper the AIDS response… Successful AIDS responses do not punish people; they protect them…We must ensure that AIDS responses are based on evidence, not ideology, and reach those most in need and most affected.” Ban Ki Moon The UN has established an Independent Commission on AIDS and the Law to develop actionable, evidence-informed and human rights based recommendations for law and policy reform, which will facilitate supportive national legal environments. The Commission will focus on some of the most challenging legal issues in the context of HIV, including

Improvements in the evidence base but where is the will to end AIDS?

World AIDS Day provides us with an opportunity for reflection – to remember those who we have lost and to look forward, to consider what still needs to be done if we are to tackle HIV. In terms of scientific advances and political commitment this year has been a very mixed bag. Many of us were delighted when the HPTN 052 study found that antiretroviral treatment prevents the sexual transmission of HIV among heterosexual couples in whom one partner is HIV-infected and the other is not. The study showed a 96 per cent reduction in risk of HIV transmission: A

PLRI links to Global News About Sex Work

This is a selection of some of the links to information about sex work published in the last months of 2010 by PLRI. To keep up with news about sex work, human rights and law around the world follow PLRI on Twitter. twitter.com/PLRI Argentina Documentary about murder of Argentinian sexworker rights activist Sandra Cabrera http://bit.ly/d1VAC4 Macedonia Rights Not Violence for Sex Workers in Macedonia http://bit.ly/eWxzLv Asia Pacific Witness blog about APNSW film advocacy for sex workers rights and challenging violence http://bit.ly/bdNsNo Cambodia: sexworkers http://blip.tv/file/1176895/ See also Human Rights Watch Report ‘off the Streets’ speak about violence trafficking and HIV. Uganda sex

The Joy of Books

Those of us with fast Internet access, a computer and time on our hands can become very reliant on the web to source information. But there is something gratifying about holding, reading and owning a good book. With that in mind we have compiled this list of books that we have found interesting over the years. We will add to this list and integrate them into the resources held on the site. Agustín, L. M. (2007) Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry, Zed Books Bishop, R.(1997) Night Market: Sexual Cultures and the Thai Economic Miracle,

Hungarian Court Rejects Mandatory Health Certificates for Sex Workers

Hungary’s Constitutional Court has annulled a legal provision requiring sex workers to provide a doctor’s certificate on the ground that it conflicts with article 17 of the 1950 New York Convention. The ruling is to come into force on December 31 this year. The reason given for its Monday ruling is that the certificate demanded by Hungarian law counts as a type of document which should be held by the sex worker, and this conflicts with UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. The legal provision annulled set

Contraceptive Used in Africa May Double Risk of HIV

By Pam Belluck for the New York Times, 3 October 2011. The most popular contraceptive for women in eastern and southern Africa, a hormone shot given every three months, appears to double the risk the women will become infected with H.I.V., according to a large study published Monday. And when it is used by H.I.V.-positive women, their male partners are twice as likely to become infected than if the women had used no contraception. The findings potentially present an alarming quandary for women in Africa. Hundreds of thousands of them suffer injuries, bleeding, infections and even death in childbirth from

African Sex Worker Alliance Statement

Delegates from the African Sex Worker Alliance (ASWA) and a church leader from Nigeria gathered in Pretoria from the 28th September to 10th October for a second historic meeting as a follow up to the first ever African sex worker lead conference in February 2009. A total of 40 Sex workers and 24 alliance partners committed to the human rights of sex workers from Southern, Eastern and Western Africa under went strategic review and human and health rights defense. We recognize and acknowledge the importance and necessity of an African human rights approach in redressing human rights issues among sex

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