Advocates fear the hard-won reform could be overturned if the LNP, which voted against the bill, wins government in October
Queensland parliament has passed historic legislation decriminalising sex work in the state, after decades of campaigning.
But advocates are concerned the hard-won reform could be overturned if the Liberal National opposition wins government in October. The party voted against the bill on Thursday evening.
Continue reading...Alex Chalk urges local council where racing festival takes place to stop granting licences to such venues
The presence of pop-up strip clubs at Cheltenham is making women feel “threatened and intimidated” at one of Britain’s biggest race festivals, the justice secretary has said.
Alex Chalk, the MP for Cheltenham, challenged the local council to stop granting licences to so-called sexual entertainment venues (SEVs).
Continue reading...Trial drew attention to violence faced by sex workers in city, where the cases of four women killed in 1990s remain unresolved
Police Scotland is examining several unsolved murders of women in Glasgow after the trial of the serial rapist and killer Iain Packer highlighted the horrific levels of violence facing sex workers in the city.
Packer was sentenced to at least 36 years in prison last Wednesday for the murder of Emma Caldwell in 2005 and a catalogue of other sexual and violent offences, including 11 rapes.
Continue reading...Michael Lacey, Scott Spear and John Brunst, all men in their 70s, created complicated system to try to outwit US government
Three former owners of the website Backpage, a site mainly known as a place where sex workers advertise their services, have been convicted for federal crimes including promoting prostitution and money laundering, the US Department of Justice announced on Friday.
The recently convicted trio, Michael Lacey, 75, Scott Spear, 72, and John “Jed” Brunst, 71, came to own Backpage in 2010. Since then, the government says, they encouraged sex work ads by creating a system for “johns”, or customers, to leave reviews about the sex workers they had engaged with. Website workers and an automated system filtered out words that made it obvious that sex was being offered in exchange for money.
Continue reading...Research reports vulnerable women targeted for grooming into sex work and calls for ‘gendered response’
Female drug users are at risk of being groomed into sex work and other forms of exploitation when they attend treatment programmes with men, according to new research.
Some women reported feeling vulnerable to “predatory males” in mixed groups where they were often outnumbered two-to-one by men, but said they were not given an option to access women-only treatment programmes.
Continue reading...Mexican authorities will seek to extradite Bryant Rivera of the Los Angeles area for the death of Angela Carolina Acosta Flores
US authorities have arrested a California man accused of killing three women in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and crossing back and forth across the international line after each of the deaths, which occurred over the course of nearly a year starting in 2021.
According to US court records, 30-year-old Bryant Rivera, a resident of the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, was arrested on 6 July on a femicide charge in the strangulation death of Angela Carolina Acosta Flores, whose body was found in a hotel room in Tijuana on 25 January 2022.
Continue reading...Home affairs select committee members criticise policy of working with businesses such as Vivastreet
Senior police officers have “cosied up” to “pimping websites” that allegedly allow trafficked women to be “raped multiple times a day”, MPs have said.
Dame Diana Johnson, the chair of the home affairs select committee, said it was “disgraceful” that police forces and the National Crime Agency (NCA) were engaging with businesses such as Vivastreet.
Continue reading...Some women are turning to escort work to meet basic housing costs, charities warn
Women are increasingly being forced to engage in “survival sex” because of the cost of living crisis amid worsening conditions for Britain’s most vulnerable.
Charities warn rising costs paired with years of underfunding mean women, including those with trauma and mental health issues, are having to turn to sex in exchange for housing or to meet other basic needs.
Continue reading...Review calls for ADF to develop ability to precisely strike targets at longer range and to develop stronger network. Follow the day’s news live
Plibersek v Joyce on Newspoll
In their regular spot on Sunrise, environment minister Tanya Plibersek and Coalition frontbencher Barnaby Joyce weighed in on those Newspoll results.
They’re very strong support numbers, and I tell you the reason is not based on polling but what people tell me when I’m out around the country.
People tell me that they’re pleased to see a government that is just getting on with the job, doing what we promised and they’re impressed that the prime minister is just sticking with what he said he’d do.
We don’t have an election tomorrow and that’s a good thing.
A lot of people are starting to focus now on issues such as the voice and saying, “I don’t feel comfortable with this.”
Continue reading...Government ‘broadly supportive’ as report recommends allowing for ads and scrapping of police powers
Queensland will decriminalise sex work after a long-awaited review recommended sweeping changes to the industry to combat violence, discrimination and exploitation.
A landmark review into sex work by the Queensland Law Reform Commission has made 47 recommendations, including scrapping the Prostitution Licensing Authority, repealing some police powers and allowing services to be advertised on radio and TV.
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Continue reading...Leeds city council letter accepting responsibility believed to be the first of its kind
Carrie* is no stranger to a legal challenge. In 2018, alongside other women, she won a landmark case against the Home Office when she challenged a requirement that prostitution offences, including those acquired below the age of 18, be disclosed under criminal record checks.
While Carrie, now 49, was giving a detailed statement to her lawyer dealing with this case, she described her time in care. Her childhood was dominated by neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation. It became clear to her lawyers that there was a second case – against the body responsible for the child protection services that failed her so badly: Leeds city council.
Continue reading...People in Ethiopian region turn to desperate measures after authorities stop 6 million people accessing their own money
Hunger in the besieged region of Tigray is pushing people to increasingly desperate measures as the authorities are systematically blocking and confiscating remittances needed by millions of people.
Banking services and all communications have been cut off to the state by the Ethiopian administration since last year, with 6 million people denied access to their own money.
Continue reading...Protest came before premiere of Holy Spider, based on story of man who killed at least 16 women in Iran
Protests about women’s safety have taken place at the Cannes film festival for the second time in a matter of days, after a group invaded the red carpet at a premiere of a film about the killing of sex workers.
About 12 women went on to the red carpet before the screening of Holy Spider, carrying a banner with the first names of 129 women killed in France since the last time the festival was held.
Continue reading...It is hard to protect yourself from HIV when having sterile syringes or condoms can lead to arrest: discrimination is restricting progress in eliminating HIV
Forty years after the first cases of Aids were discovered, goals for its global elimination have yet to be achieved. In 2020, nearly 700,000 people died of Aids-related illnesses and 1.5 million people were newly infected with HIV.
This is despite scientific and medical advances in the testing, treatment and care of people living with HIV.
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