Melissa Ditmore » Articles

A Holistic Approach to HIV Prevention Programming for Female Sex Workers

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:46 +0000

With recent epidemiology showing a continual rise in HIV rates among sex workers, now is the time to develop holistic, effective, and efficient programming.

Feminists Lose Ground Working With Social Conservatives On Trafficking

admin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:00:57 +0000

Many people are surprised to learn that some contemporary feminists work with Right-wing Christians on the issue of trafficking in persons – actions that sell out the rights of other women, particularly those who freely work in the sex trade.

The Eliot Spitzer scandal’s true victims

admin — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 23:00:47 +0000

The New York attorney general was disgraced for hiring escorts, but never went to jail – unlike the sex workers he prosecuted.

Ontario Set to Decriminalize Sex Worker Activities

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:00:31 +0000

On September 28th, 2010, in an unprecedented judicial move, an Ontario court struck down three provisions that criminalize activities related to prostitution. Prostitution itself is not illegal in Canada but ancillary activities like advertising and management are criminalized. Ontario Supreme Court Judge Susan Himel cited evidence that these laws contribute to a climate in which sex workers are unsafe because they are forced to operate in secrecy.

Sex workers deserve rights too

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:00:37 +0000

Since 2003, U.S. government funding to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been subject to an anti-prostitution clause forbidding the “promotion of prostitution” by grant recipients. There are few published articles about the effects of PEPFAR’s anti-prostitution policy requirement because discussing activities that are not clearly approved under the funding restrictions can jeopardize a program.

Review of “The Fever” by Sonia Shah

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:52:28 +0000

Vampire mania has taken hold and Sonia Shah’s The Fever goes back in time before Twilight and even Dracula to the first vampires: mosquitoes and their parasites. Shah tells a good story, and this story has everything from drama and risk to villains and exotic locations. The villain is malaria, the exotic locations cross the globe over the past millennia, and the drama and risk are life-and-death situations.

Report: Police abuse of Cambodian Sex Workers Made Worse by US Policies

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:05:39 +0000

A recent report by Human Rights Watch describes the abuse of sex workers by Cambodian police, who declared open season on sex workers in the wake of a new anti-trafficking law that criminalizes sex work. The new law was a response to the perennial threat of US economic sanctions against nations that are not seen to be ‘doing enough’ to combat trafficking in persons.

The sweep of modern-day slavery

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:32 +0000

As the global economy shrinks, human trafficking is on the rise – and it extends far beyond prostitution.

Trafficking Report: Less Sensationalism, More Reality

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:00:25 +0000

The State Department’s new Trafficking in Persons report suggests that the Obama administration will opt for evidence-based responses to trafficking over putting restrictions on women “for their own good.”

Sex and Taxes

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:33 +0000

Nevada’s innovative $5-a-time sex tax would have given something back to the state’s prostitutes.