Spectrum News NY1
“The criminalization of sex work is what makes it dangerous." said Mariah Grant, director of research, organizing and advocacy for the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center. "It makes it so that people can’t operate freely, that they can’t go to the police and feel comfortable expressing that they’ve seen abuse happening or experienced it themselves because they’d be fearful of arrest."Decriminalizing sex work would allow for the creation of safety regulations to protect both sex workers and buyers from exploitation. If decriminalized, sex workers could safely report incidents of violence and sexual assault without fear of entering the criminal justice system themselves.
PROPnyc
Daily Beast
On Jan. 25, 1917, sex workers in San Francisco marched to the Central Methodist Church to meet with Rev. Paul Smith, who had organized a campaign to rid and protect the city from vice. This was the first sex worker-led protest in the U.S.Detroit Free Press
"This is a really wonderful thing that other jurisdictions should duplicate because across the country, Black folks ... and also trans and cisgender women all bear the disproportionate burden of criminalization," said RJ Thompson, a sex worker who is managing director of the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center, a national legal services and advocacy group.The Nation
“A lot of black cis women, gender-nonconforming people and trans women just don’t know that it’s possible for a black woman to sit in such a high position.” But Bruce adds that “there’s some challenges because historically, we know that she hasn’t been supportive of trans women in particular, and also not supportive of sex workers. I just feel like for us to see positive change in our communities, we need to see her also change.”The Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center condemns the arrest and detainment of sex workers, including individuals potentially experiencing trafficking, as part of Operation Autumn Hope.
The Sex Workers Project (SWP) and the Human Rights Project (HRP) stand in solidarity with all those voicing their outrage at the continued state violence perpetrated against African/Black people in the U.S.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
“Trafficking is a lot more complex than that,” said Rosie Wang, director of Legal Advocacy and Services at the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center. “Traffickers will force their victims to do criminal actions for them, like shoplifting and carrying drugs. They’re not eligible for relief because they’re not prostitution-related but they are trafficking-related.”© 2024 Urban Justice Center | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
