sex workers

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Another Group of Nazi Victims Is Getting a Memorial

Sex workers in Hamburg were severely persecuted under Hitler's regime

(Newser) - Campaigners including church leaders in Hamburg have won approval for a memorial to honor a long-forgotten group of victims of the Nazi regime: sex workers. The memorial in Herbertstrasse, a street in the city's red-light district, will be modeled on the "stumbling stones" memorials with brass plaques honoring...

Texas Man Arrested in Serial Sex Worker Slayings

Oscar Sanchez Garcia, 25, allegedly killed 3 women over 4 months in Dallas

(Newser) - Another suspected serial killer has surfaced, this time in Texas. Oscar Sanchez Garcia, 25, was arrested Wednesday and will be charged with three counts of murder tied to the deaths of three women in Dallas from April through July. All three women were found stabbed to death near the Trinity...

For Sex Workers in Canada, a 'Historic Moment'

Nation's oldest sex-worker group unionizes

(Newser) - The Canadian Union of Public Employees has a new group under its wings, in a big first for labor rights in the nation. Vice reports that the Toronto-based Maggie's, the nation's oldest sex-workers organization, has unionized under CUPE, the first such push by sex workers to stand up...

OnlyFans' Creators Are 'Violated,' Not Empowered
Call OnlyFans
What It Is—a 'Pimp'
OPINION
Sep 7, 2021 12:24 PM CDT

Call OnlyFans What It Is—a 'Pimp'

Lawyer Catherine MacKinnon says creators on the site are 'violated,' not empowered

(Newser) - When OnlyFans announced a ban on explicit content , the ACLU warned it was stigmatizing sex work, "making workers less safe." The subscription site's decision to reverse the ban was therefore applauded on many fronts. But not by Catherine MacKinnon. "It is the sex industry that makes...

Berlin's Reopened Brothels May Disappoint

Erotic massages are allowed, but sex isn't permitted until September

(Newser) - Berlin's brothels are back open for the first time in five months, but there's a caveat: No sex allowed. While prostitution is legal in Germany, sex acts remain banned until September under coronavirus restrictions, reports AFP . At this point, clients—required to wear a mask and provide contact...

Switzerland to Sex Workers: You'll Need to Social Distance

Nation gives OK to prostitutes but still prohibits judo, boxing, wrestling, ballroom dancing

(Newser) - If you're a sex worker in Switzerland, you'll soon be back in business. If you're a judo, ballroom dancing, or boxing aficionado, you're going to have to wait a little longer. Bloomberg reports that the country's legal prostitution industry will be permitted to reopen on...

In New York, an Effort to Decriminalize Sex Work

'Sex work is work and should not be criminalized'

(Newser) - Some Democratic lawmakers hope to see New York become the first state to decriminalize sex work. "Anything that involved children or coercion are things that we feel very strongly need to remain in the penal code," but "sex work is work and should not be criminalized by...

Tumblr's Ban on Porn May Dramatically Change the Site

Also, some are confused about the term 'female-presenting nipples'

(Newser) - Tumblr made a big move Monday, one that the Verge says will "fundamentally alter how the service is used." In short: no more porn. CEO Jeff D'Onofrio explained in a blog post that the site will no longer allow adult content or even nudity, the latter with...

Goodbye, Red-Light District. Hello, 'Mega-Brothel'

Belgian city to move sex workers into abandoned hangar that's been renamed 'Hangar d'Amour'

(Newser) - A Belgian nonprofit wanted to turn an abandoned hangar in the city of Ostend into a maritime museum—but city officials have decided on an entirely different use for the site instead. A "mega-brothel" is more what they have in mind, in what they say is an effort to...

Prostitution Is Becoming the New Normal
Prostitution Is Becoming
the New Normal
in case you missed it
Jul 23, 2016 7:55 AM CDT

Prostitution Is Becoming the New Normal

'Vanity Fair' looks at increasingly common 'arrangements'

(Newser) - A big debate in the media these days is whether prostitution is, or should be, a legit profession. Witness two prior articles at New York ("Is Prostitution Just Another Job?") and the New York Times Magazine ("Should Prostitution Be a Crime?"). Now a piece at Vanity ...

France Makes It Illegal to Buy Sex

But prostitution remains legal

(Newser) - France just made it illegal to pay for sex, despite selling it remaining legal, the New York Times reports. According to the BBC , the law passed Wednesday creates punishments including fines up to $4,300 and classes about the horrors of prostitution for anyone caught buying sex. Supporters of the...

Margaret Cho: I Was a Sex Worker

And there's 'no shame in it,' she says

(Newser) - Apparently in response to public shaming of sex workers, Margaret Cho opened up on Twitter Thursday about her past in just that line of work, the New York Daily News reports. "Sex work is simply work. For me it was honest work. I was a sex worker when I...

Amnesty International: Decriminalize the Sex Trade

Group hopes recommendation will improve conditions for sex workers

(Newser) - In a move to stick up for what the head of Amnesty International describes as "one of the most marginalized groups in the world who ... face constant risk of discrimination, violence, and abuse," the organization voted today to recommend decriminalizing that group's line of work: prostitution and...

Police: Sex Worker Kills Guy Carrying 'Kill List'

West Virginia woman says Neal Falls, 45, turned violent

(Newser) - A West Virginia sex worker may have saved the lives of several colleagues by shooting a violent client in her home last weekend. Police say he could be a serial killer who planned to murder other sex workers, the Washington Post reports. The woman, whose identity is being held back,...

New in Zurich: $2.2M 'Sex Boxes'

Government facility could make life easier for prostitutes

(Newser) - Think prostitution should be legalized? Then check out what's happening in Zurich, where officials are set to open a $2.2 million facility so johns can take prostitutes into so-called "sex boxes," the Telegraph reports. The area will include a road where 40 prostitutes will be waiting...

Mass Wedding Aims to Save 'Village of Prostitutes'

Young Indian women destined to be sex workers head down aisle instead

(Newser) - A human rights organization yesterday held a mass wedding for young women in an Indian village where all the females are supposed to become sex workers. Eight young brides over the age of 18 were married to local men, and 12 underage girls were engaged at the event, reports Agence...

Teens: 'Craigslist Helped Turn Us Into Sex Slaves'

'Men paid to rape me,' says 17-year-old

(Newser) - Two young women are charging that Craigslist helped turn them into sex slaves after they were repeatedly "sold" against their will on the popular website. "Craigslist makes horrific acts like this so easy to carry out, and the men who arrange them very rich," said one of...

17 Stories