Today's Specials - 1998

Menu last updated December 8, 1998
• Sex Workers Movement in Calcutta -- Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), Komal Gandhar and the HIV/STD Intervention Project. Reports on these exciting organizations sent to the Network of Sex Work Projects.

• Sexual Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Children By Penelope Saunders. Presentation at a Journalists' Seminar, New York City, November, 1998.
  "I did my best to present a balanced view about young people who are involved in the sex industry and to explain the current ways of speaking about 'trafficking in children.' In my paper I raised three points regarding self-definition, sexual exploration and age in relation to a labor framework...This is not intended to be a polished article, just my notes. The second half consists of some resources I distributed to the audience."

Specials from the November 14th update:

• Report: Bill C-397 -- Prostitution as a Dual Offence. From Superintendent R.G. Dicks, Officer in Charge, Burnaby Detachment, RCMP. Received by the City of Burnaby Community Policing Committee meeting, September 10, 1998. The Committee had requested a report on the effects of Bill C-397 should it become law. Superintendent Dicks recommends that the Mayor and Councillors support the bill. Burnaby City Council's decision to support the bill was reported in The Province, October 4, 1998.

  See as well the press release and a letter to Mayor and Council from Eric Lowther MP for Calgary Centre who tabled this private member's bill.

• Petitioning The House of Commons: A Practical Guide. An easy to follow guide to writing petitions regarding federal laws. Sent to Chris Bearchell at Maggie's, by MP Sven Robinson's office, September 1993.

• Seizure of Vehicles Proposed in Prostitution Related Offences: Government of Manitoba News Release, May 7, 1998. "Proposed amendments to the Highway Traffic Act would require police to seize vehicles being used for offences related to prostitution, Justice Minister Vic Toews announced today." Aussi en français!

• Prostitution and HIV/AIDS By Karen Bastow. HIV/AIDS Policy & Law Newsletter 1995: 2(2); Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.
  "Female prostitutes in particular are perceived as the bridge between an HIV-infected "underworld" and the "general population" (to be read as heterosexual white males). According to policy-makers and the media, the protection of public health justifies draconian legal measures and moral intolerance..."

• Final Report to Unaids: Police and Sex Workers in Papua New Guinea 1997.
  By Carol Jenkins. "A peer educator-based intervention for police, aimed specifically at reducing the frequency of gang rape of sex workers, was launched in mid-1996 as part of a larger intervention with sex workers."

• ILO Press Release. Sex industry assuming massive proportions in Southeast Asia Economic incentives and hardships fuel the growth of the sex sector: Migrant women, children are particularly vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation. Released simultaneously in Geneva and Manila - August 19, 1998.

• Bill 18, 1998: An Act to protect Children involved in Prostitution/Loi de 1998 sur la protection des enfants qui se livrent à la prostitution.

  Mr. R. Bartolucci (L./Sudbury). First Reading May 12, 1998. Second Reading May 28. Ordered referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development. Considered June 22. This private member's bill in the Ontario Legislature was the subject of public hearings by the Standing Committee on Social Development which were held in Sudbury, August 17; London, August 18; and Toronto, September 28,1998. The bill has been selected as a "Private Member's Public Bill."

• Walnet Traffic Report - July 1998. Walnet served a total number of 93,880 pages during the month of July!

Specials from the July 25th update:

• Check out SWAV Letters for responses to Vancouver's new plans for a john school and a "Shame the Johns" letter-writing campaign by Vancouver Police!

• It's Different for Boys: Reprinted from Whores and Other Feminists, Jill Nagle, ed., New York: Routledge, 1997. By J. Marlowe.

• The Vanguard of Sexploitation: Vancouver research hurts those it claims to help. A draft paper by Andrew Sorfleet handed out at the 10th Annual BC HIV/AIDS Conference, October 26-28, 1997.

• "Morals Cost Money..." Economics course in Women's studies. 1993-94. By Tomiye Ishida. A response to feminist stereotyping from research and personal experience.

• "Leather Man of the Month" Some scans of Danny Cockerline from Honcho Magazine on the Brisbane Bears website.

Specials from April 5th update:

• Sex Workers' Manifesto, First National Conference of Sex Workers in India, 14-16 November 1997, Calcutta.

• If Cops Want To Talk To You One of the first pieces published from Trials of the Sex Trade, this card outlines your rights when you are being interrogated or arrested. This is a Vancouver version from the Sex Workers Alliance of Vancouver.

• Updates to Memories of Danny include a photo album and a sound file of Danny's voice from his answering machine.

• Lots more clippings added to the Junger/Whitehead Inquiry listing.

• Vancouver News 1998. January - March in the Lower Mainland.

Specials from March 8th update:

• Redefining Prostitution as Sex Work on the International Agenda
  by Jo Bindman, Anti-Slavery International. With participation of Jo Doezma, Network of Sex Work Projects.

  An extremely important document that demonstrates how United Nations and global labour legislation can protect the human rights of sex workers. This document is humongus! -- 366K. 158 pages in print.

• Walnet Traffic Report -- Year End 1997. See also the Fourth Quarter 1997 report.

• Vancouver News 1997. See all the hot news from last year.