Newsletters

SJN Newsletter #13: Will hearing more sex trafficking survivors’ voices change people’s minds about decriminalization? As a survivor, Ashley Chesney is confident that hearing the accounts of victims of sex trafficking will help people make up their own minds about whether or not to legalize or decriminalize sex work. She holds that position because she…

Are there differences around the pro decriminalization of sex work issue in Europe from the U.S.? Marjan Wijers brought an entirely new frame of mind to our discussion about decriminalization of sex work: She represents the European perspective. A few of the people I’ve spoken with from the U.S. have some understanding or collaborate with…

SJN Newsletter #12: Are there good ways to protect people who have been criminalized as sex workers? Kate D’Adamo says she works primarily “under the bright red umbrella of sex worker rights” in her Policy & Advocacy role for Reframe Health and Justice Counseling in Baltimore, Maryland. The organization of which she is a partner…

Do male victims of human trafficking and former sex workers need more attention and recovery programs? Russell G. Wilson describes himself as “a person with lived experience of human trafficking.” He is not the biggest fan of the term “survivor” and typically turns down opportunities to tell his story of being trafficked as a child…

This February, Ricci Joy Levy celebrated 20 years as one of the founders of Woodhull Freedom Foundation in Spring Hill, MD.  The focus of the organization’s mission includes “fighting censorship, eliminating discrimination based on gender or sexual identity or family form, and protecting the right to engage in consensual sexual activity and expression. We do…

  How are inaccurate definitions and understanding of legal terms impacting policy and legislative efforts to decriminalize or legalize sex work? Rochelle Keyhan, CEO and Founder of Collective Liberty, remains haunted by one particular case she litigated during her 6-year tenure as Assistant District Attorney, Family Violence and Sexual Assault (FVSA) Unit, Philadelphia District Attorney’s…

  Is sex work a viable job for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses? It’s a cold, blustery December day in Cleveland. Saturday, December 17, 2022 to be exact. Better known to Jeanne (pronounced jay-nee) Li and her fellow members of the Cleveland Sex Worker Alliance as International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.…

 Why is it important to retain correct definitions of ‘human trafficking’ in laws and new legislation? Bill Woolf can’t get into details about the lawsuit filed in October 2021 against his former employer because it’s not adjudicated yet, but he suggests that I Google it. So I do. Turns out that when he served with the…

Will funding small, sex-worker-led organizations facilitate the sex worker rights movement? Employed in various components of sex work for twenty years, Savannah Sly felt driven to step into a community organizer role roughly a decade ago. She had relocated from the East Coast to Seattle at a time when the Emerald City’s sex industry had…

SJN Newsletter #5: Does legalizing or decriminalizing sex work open the door for increased illegal sex activity? Alison Phillips and her business partner Dan Nash operate the Human Trafficking Training Center (HTTC) in Kansas City, Missouri. Their mission is to provide skill-based training for law enforcement officers in not only how to identify human trafficking…