Alliance féministe solidairepour les droits des travailleuses(rs) du sexe

Feuillets d'information de Stella / Stella's Info Sheets

Stella, l'amie de Maimie a produit une série de cartes avec les informations juridiques sur les lois actuelles liées au travail du sexe au Canada, transformées ici en feuillets d'information :
La loi et les clients
La loi et la communication
La loi, nos amies et nos familles
La loi et la publicité
La loi et les tierces personnes
Pouvoirs policiers et travail à l'intérieur
Arrestation et détention

Vers la pénalisation de l'achat de services sexuels en Irlande du Nord

L'Irlande du Nord s'engage vers le « modèle suédois ». Le 20 octobre, le Stormont, l'Assemblée législative, votait une proposition de loi contre « le trafic et l'exploitation des êtres humains » qui inclut la pénalisation de « l'achat de services sexuels ». Le texte doit encore passer deux étapes parlementaires, mais la forte majorité qui s'est dégagée – 81 voix contre 10 – laisse envisager son adoption. Même si la pénalisation des clients des travailleuses du sexe reste une mesure très controversée, pour l'auteur de la loi, Lord Morrow, et donc pour la grande majorité des député-es qui l'ont suivi, « le tarissement de la demande » serait une nécessité. Le ministre de la Justice de la province s'opposait à cette mesure, affirmant avec raison qu'elle est « inefficace pour réduire le trafic » et « susceptible d'accroître les risques » pour les travailleuses du sexe car « des femmes continueront de vendre et des hommes d'acheter ». Au Canada, un projet de loi similaire était adopté au début d'octobre et est en train d'être examiné par le Sénat.

Pushing prostitution further underground will not abolish it nor help sex workers. It will endanger sex workers’ lives and livelihoods

By the International Prostitutes Collective

Consenting sex is not a crime. Criminalising clients will not stop prostitution; it will push it further underground, making it more dangerous and stigmatising for sex workers.

Most sex workers are mothers, mostly single mothers driven into the sex industry by lack of economic alternatives to prostitution: unemployment, poverty, low and unequal wages. Many are young women trying to pay extortionate rents, university fees, debts.

Where is End Demand’s outrage at UK benefit cuts and sanctions which are hitting mothers and children hardest, at mothers skipping meals to feed their children or having to resort to food banks?

What they say about the Swedish model is misleading and hides the truth: 25% of Swedish single mothers now live in poverty compared to 10% seven years ago; sex workers who are mothers face losing their children; sex workers facing violence are now too afraid to go to the police for protection as the stigma of prostitution has increased.

L’industrie du sexe après Bedford : réforme juridique au Canada

Offerte par la Chaire conjointe en études des femmes à l’Université d’Ottawa et Carleton University les 26 et 27 mars à Ottawa, cette conférence maintenant accessible en ligne - 1ère, 2e, 3e (Valerie Scott ) et 4e (Catherine Healy) parties - porte sur le récent jugement de la Cour suprême invalidant trois articles clés du Code criminel portant sur la prostitution.

Outlaw Poverty, Not Prostitutes

This Carol Leigh's documentary of the 1989 World Whores' Summit in San Francisco features sex workers and activists from around the globe discussing human rights as they effect sex workers. Speakers include Margo St. James, Gail Pheterson, Gabriela Silva Leite, Norma Hotaling, Gloria Lockett, Tang Unchana Suwannanond, Dolores French, and others.

Sex Work is Work

Melissa Gira Grant, an independent journalist who has been writing and reporting on the sex industry for the past ten years, recently authored a book, Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work, in which she calls for an overhaul in the way we think about sex work. She talks about the history, the myths, and the criticisms of the sex industry and shares her perspective on how sex work is primarily about economic activity, and those who perform sexual labor shouldn't be criminalized or treated any differently than any other laborers trying to survive in our treacherous economic system.

Courtney Trouble - The Burnout

A 'day in Courtney's life' parallels her journey from phone sex to sexual representation/pornography as well as her political journey, interwoven with sex worker demonstrations, clips and photos from organizations listed here.

This music video reflects a personal and local story, and a political story that reaches out to individuals and organizations which resist discrimination and work towards social justice and human rights for sex workers. Many find a common voice in Courtney Trouble's frustration, pride and defiance.

Jasmine and Dora 4-Ever

Jasmine and Dora 4-Ever from Carol Leigh on Vimeo.

By Carol Leigh

In 2012 during the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, I met and interviewed Petite Jasmine with Pye Jakobsson from Rose Alliance of Sweden. Petite Jasmine was murdered one year later, a victim of the stigmatisation and legal discrimination that sex workers face. She was an amazing, beautiful, warm and inspiring person. Her observations were profound and her hopeful tone is haunting.

When Jasmine was murdered, a friend of our community, Dora Özer in Turkey, was also murdered, also because of stigma and criminalisation, and in a rash of escalating transphobia in Turkey. This video chronicles the efforts of our communities to memorialize Dora and Jasmine.

Government Moving Too Far, Too Fast on Prostitution Law Reform. Sex workers must be consulted, and consultation process expanded

By FIRST

As the Conservative government announces a national public consultation on prostitution law reform, FIRST, a feminist advocacy group for the rights of sex workers, warns that the government is moving too fast. They are urging the government to put in place an expanded consultation process that includes significant input from sex workers.

“The government has given the public only 30 days to provide input on this critical human rights issue,” said Esther Shannon, a FIRST spokesperson. “That’s far too short a time period for Canadians to weigh in on this complex issue, especially when sex workers’ lives are at stake. We know that bad laws can have horrific consequences, and that must never be taken lightly.”

Decriminalisation of Sex Work in New Zealand

This video outlines the process of successfully lobbying to decriminalise prostitution in New Zealand. The New Zealand Prostitution Reform Bill was passed in 2003. The NZ Prostitutes Collective was actively engaged in lobbying and writing submissions to Parliament as well as ongoing face to face submission processes. They have also been actively involved in research and evaluation of the post-decriminalisation environment with academics, the legal profession, the Ministry of Justice and the Police. They advise on liaison with the police as outreach workers for the sex industry, the transgender street working community and many other advocacy groups for sex workers. The NZ Prostitutes Collective has led the world in legislative reform and this is their story.

Related page: Research papers. Prostitution law reform in New Zealand, New Zealand Parliament, July 2012