An INCITE! affiliate carefully unpacks the ways in which law and policy affects youth, especially LGBTQ and youth of color, in a response to Rinku Sen’s article in Colorlines. “There are no simple answers,” comments the INCITE! affiliate and collective of radical women of color, queer people of color and Indigenous people who identify as people in the sex trade. The INCITE! affiliate response illustrates that “current ways of thinking about trafficking and the sex trade make LGBTQ youth invisible” and that New York City’s Safe Harbor Act fails youth, and builds a critique of Rinku Sen’s depiction of the “simple solutions” offered by GEMS (a New York City based program for girls).
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April 21, 2011, Amy Lieberman of Womens ENews described public art actions in New York City which raised awareness about Recommendation 86. Lieberman describes how advocates are “pushing for safer conditions on the ground that will make it easier to detect people who are coerced into transactional sex.” The full article includes a photo of advocates from SWOP-NYC and quotes from key service providers in the area.
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The Red Umbrella Project is calling for an amnesty for Long Island sex workers until the killer is found so that sex workers can step forward and provide information about the case without fear of arrest.
SEX WORKER GROUPS RESPOND TO LONG ISLAND MURDERS (New York)
Sex Workers Action New York (SWANK) and Sex Workers Outreach Project NYC (SWOP-NYC) are dismayed that four more bodies were discovered on Long Island earlier this week. Police believe that a serial killer is responsible for murdering at least eight people found on a remote Suffolk County beach since December. Reports indicate the murder victims were in the sex trade. As sex workers and allies, SWANK and SWOP-NYC mourn the lives of these individuals and extend our sympathies to their families and communities.
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