Women's Views on News |
- Open letter: pro sex work is pro pimps
- Comic to help tackle disability hate crime
- Broaden the spy-cops inquiry
| Open letter: pro sex work is pro pimps Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:31 PM PST
We, the undersigned, are survivors of the sex trade from many nations, including the United States. We are survivor leaders, activists and advocates. Many of us are direct service providers, working on the front lines of this issue to help people survive the sex trade and to support them in their difficult efforts to leave, should they be ready to do so. Through our combined lived experiences, we know the sex trade to be an arena where women are regarded as non-human commodities and used and traded accordingly. Everything we have personally witnessed, including in the lives of the adults and youth who we serve, has revealed to us that the majority of those within the sex trade are female and are disproportionately of color, in poverty, are educationally disadvantaged and hail almost always from the most marginalized groups in society. The Women's March and its supporters are being hoodwinked into listening to the minority of those who report neutral experiences within the sex trade and are being tricked into believing that to be "pro-sex work" is a human rights approach. This is not, in fact, a human rights approach, but rather an approach which perpetuates the status quo of women as commodified goods; i.e. men's property. It is a thoroughly anti-feminist stance. The Women's March was followed internationally with sister marches springing up as close as Vancouver, BC and as far away as London, England. The world looked to you for guidance and you led them astray. In your ignorance of this political issue you do not realize that "sex workers' rights" are synonymous with "pimps' rights". It is very apparent that you don't know the so-called movement you're supporting consider pimps 'sex workers' too. Don't believe us? — We couldn't blame you. It is thoroughly incredible. — So go and ask them. The movement you're supporting will be happy to tell you that pimps are 'managers' and that since they facilitate "sex work" they're "sex workers" too! Ultimately what you are doing is playing into the hands of male supremacy by providing a platform for those who benefit from prostitution (sex buyers, pimps, traffickers etc) and ignoring and erasing the sex trade survivors' movement, which exists to put an end to the wholesale dehumanization of women and girls in the global sex trade. We urge those drafting the Women's March policy position to educate themselves, to alter their stance on this issue, to disavow the sex trade, and to move toward a position which puts the voices of sex trade survivors front and center. We ask this in our own names, as women who survived, and in the names of those who tried to survive. Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce; Alisa Louise Bernard; Amber Richardson; Amy Andrews-Gray; Amy Smith; Angie Conn; Anna Rodriguez; April Chabot; Apryl Green; arianna di vitto; Autumn Burris; Barbara Amaya; BllliJo House; Bridget Perrier; Brittany Meyer; Cherie Jimenez; Cheryl Angle; Chong Kim; Christine Stark; Corina Hernandez; Daniell Read; Delores Day; Dina S.; Dr Lesley Semmens; Elizabeth Beckman; Elizabeth Gordon; Elle Snow; Emily Cooper; Erica Napier; Erin Graham; Erin Sweeney; Fiona Broadfoot; Hazel Fasthorse; Huschke Mau; Isabel Suarez; J Anderson; J c d; Jacqueline Homan; Jaimee; Jane Douglas; Jane Wolfe; Janet Cotgrave; Jasmine Grace Marino; Jeanette Westbrook; Jeri Moomaw; Jess Bear; Jessica Bahr; Jessica Silverman; Jewell Baraka; Jill Brogdon; Julia Anderson; Julka; Karen; Karen Cayer; Kathi Hardy; Kathy Bryan; Kristy Childs; Laurin Crosson; Lia Patris; Lierre Keith; Linda Oluoch; Mari íngeles Suíçrez; Marian Hatcher; Marie Merklinger; Marin Stewart; Marissa Kokkoros; Marjorie Saylor; Marti MacGibbon; Megan Lundstrom; Melanie Thompson; Michael Lovan; Monica Vida; Nancy Johnson; Ne'cole Daniels; Nic Van Dyke; Nicole Tynan; Noel Gomez; Pamela Rubin; Rachel Moran; Rae Story; Rebecca Bender; Rebecca Mott; Robert Frederick; Robin Miller; Robyn Bourgeois; Rosen Hicher; Sabrinna Valisce; Sarah B. F.; Shanna Parker; Sherri Erickson; Sierra Harris; Simone Watson; Spider Redgold; Tanja Rahm; Tess; Tessa Anne; Tom Jones; Trisha Baptie; Vednita Carter; Wendy Barnes; Windie Lazenko; Yohanna Ramirez.  |
| Comic to help tackle disability hate crime Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:17 PM PST
The comic, ‘Tackling Disability Hate Crime’, demonstrates examples of disability hate crime, and then gives advice on what you can do if you see someone experiencing it. This includes things you can do as well as reporting what happened to the police and using Keep Safe places. The comic was created by artists and Comics Clubbers at Dundee Comics Creative Space (DCCS) in collaboration with a group from Advocating Together Dundee and the Dundee Safe Place initiative. Dundee Comics Creative Space is a social enterprise and studio project developed by the University of Dundee in collaboration with The Rank Foundation, a grant-giving charitable trust, and the Dundee Place Partnership Scheme, a series of initiatives and projects aiming to encourage creativity in communities in Dundee. The aim is to provide educational workshops and creative opportunities for various age groups – mainly secondary school age but also primary 6 and 7 – and to encourage creative learning through comics. A team of facilitators work in the space and with young comics creators in the community, and welcome anyone with an interest in comics. Keep Safe is an initiative developed in partnership with Police Scotland and I Am Me Scotland to help elderly, disabled and vulnerable people feel safe within their community. It identifies suitable premises within the community that can become a safe place for someone who may feel threatened or vulnerable. Such premises are identified by displaying the 'Keep Safe/ I Am Me' window sticker. If you feel lost, scared or vulnerable when out in the community, you can go in to a Keep Safe place for assistance. Dundee is not only the home of Dundee Comics Creative Space, there is also the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies and the comics and anime festival Dee-Con. And Dundee University's Masters in Comics and Graphic Novels is the only course of its kind in the UK. Dundee is also one of only a handful of institutions in the world offering the opportunity to study comics at postgraduate level. The journal Studies in Comics is edited from within the course, and the University archive and museum service have been steadily building up a collection of original artworks by comics artists and cartoonists from the late 19th century up to today. The University also has its very own imprint, UniVerse, which publishes students’ work. Representatives from DCCS, Advocating Together, The Rank Foundation, Police Scotland, and invited guests were at the launch of the ‘Tackling Disability Hate Crime’ comic, an event which marked the culmination of the months of work that went into producing the comic. You can download a copy of the ‘Tackling Disability Hate Crime’ comic by clicking here.  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:05 PM PST
Four women deceived into relationships with undercover police officers have made a joint statement criticising the new Scottish review into undercover policing, and demanding a full Public Inquiry into the undercover policing in Scotland. Full statement from the four women: "One of the major concerns we have about the scope of the Inquiry into Undercover Policing is that the terms of reference are currently limited it to operations conducted by the police forces of England and Wales. It is very concerning that the activities of the Metropolitan Police's spies whilst in other countries are excluded. As women who had relationships with undercover officers, we spent time abroad with these men, whom we believed to be a friend and close partner. We know that Mark Kennedy's major operations involved G8 summits in Scotland and Germany, and it would make a mockery of the inquiry if these events were to be left out of its scope. Mark Kennedy spent further time with his partners, "Lisa" and Kate, attending protests and meetings in Ireland, Spain, France, Denmark, Iceland and Italy, he also spent time every year of his deployment on holiday with "Lisa" and friends in Scotland. Carlo Neri spent time with his partner, "Andrea", in Scotland and Italy. Mark Jenner spent time with his partner, "Alison" in Ireland, and Scotland. On all of those visits abroad, the men were being paid by the Police, using the characters created within the undercover units, working with activists from the UK in these countries, continuing their deceitful relationships with us wherever they went. Therefore it would allow police to cover up whole chapters of outrageous behaviour if the investigations into their conduct did not include their activities in these countries. The review into Undercover Policing set up by HMICS [HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland] in Scotland is an insult to those of us who were spied on there. It is the Police investigating the police, with the people affected by undercover policing being given no voice. Our experience would lead us to expect a cover up. HMICS is staffed with ex-police, some of whom will return to policing with the force they are examining, and some of whom actually have links to undercover policing in Scotland. It is also limited to events from 2000. Those of us who were spied on in Scotland before that date will not even be included. We call for a full Public Inquiry to get to the truth of what happened in Scotland, and in all the countries these undercover officers operated in. We call for everyone who was spied on to be given access to the police files held on them in all of these countries. These units were political policing units, akin to the Stasi of East Germany. They must be closed, and held accountable for their actions." Signed: 'Andrea', 'Alison', 'Lisa' and Kate Wilson.  |
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