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DOJ Drops Appeal of "Prostitution Pledge" Injunction

By Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor

July 22, 2009 - 7:00am

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The Justice Department has dropped its appeal of an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the controversial "prostitution pledge" in US Global AIDS Policy.  Advocates hope this signals an intention to fundamentally change the restriction.

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Trafficking Report: Less Sensationalism, More Reality

By Melissa Ditmore

June 23, 2009 - 8:00am

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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."


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Gates Foundation Program to Fight HIV in India Wasted, Says Forbes India

By Emily Douglas

June 17, 2009 - 3:17pm

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Forbes India today evaluates Avahan, the $258 million Gates Foundation HIV prevention initiative on the ground in India. And the program doesn't fare well.

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Good News On U.S. Anti-Trafficking Policy

By Katherine Franke, Columbia Law School

April 2, 2009 - 7:00am

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The White House's appointment of Luis de Baca to be the head of the Trafficking In Persons office suggests that it appreciates the importance of a harm reduction approach to the problem of trafficking.

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Harm Reduction Lessons for Reproductive Justice

By Amanda Allen, Law Students for Reproductive Justice

March 23, 2009 - 7:00am

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Harm reduction is a public health philosophy that emphasizes individual safety, regardless of lifestyle choices, over prohibition. How can this approach make sex work safer?

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Sex Worker Advocates Score Victory Against Stigmatization in India

By Meena Seshu

March 3, 2009 - 10:30am

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Sex workers rights advocates have reason to celebrate this International Sex Workers Rights Day. Last week, an amendment that would have further stigmatized sex workers failed in the Indian Cabinet.

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Promoting the Female Condom in India: A New Approach

By Micah Steffes, RH Reality Check

March 2, 2009 - 3:47pm

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Last month at a New Delhi youth festival aimed at raising awareness for sexual health (dubbed Project 19), volunteers led onlookers in a game of female-condom-first-impressions. Combating the idea that safe sex can be unsexy, especially in the case of the female condom, they instead promote it as fun and pleasurable, and in some cases, as an "erotic accessory."


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"Homeland" Security Under Napolitano, Key Player in Fight Against Trafficking

By Katherine Franke, Columbia Law School

February 18, 2009 - 12:40pm

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Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and her team are important players in setting a new agenda for fighting human trafficking. But we have reason to be concerned about how they'll do it.

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Resisting the Sex Panic: Sex Workers Struggle for Evidence-Based Regulation in Nevada

By Melissa Gira Grant, RH Reality Check

February 10, 2009 - 8:00am

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In rural Nevada, the possible expansion of the brothel industry has sex workers hoping to be given a central role in governing their own industry, rather than being seen as at-risk women who require protection from themselves.

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Anti-Sex League Favors "Purity" Over Women's Health

By Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check

January 27, 2009 - 8:00am

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Should anti-trafficking organizations be allowed to receive US funds to serve trafficking victims, while refusing to use that money to provide contraceptive services or information? A new ACLU lawsuit says no.

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