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Proposition
K, San Francisco, November 2008:
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS RELATED TO PROSTITUTION AND
SEX WORKERS
The
Results
You probably
heard that Prop K didn't win, but we are very proud that 140,173
people (updated 12/1/08) voted for us and we secured 41% of
the votes.
In a crucial
way we are winning, because we clearly demonstrate that sex
workers are in the forefront of the political process. Our
coalition has been very strong!
In 2004
Measure Q in Berkeley secured 36% of the vote, so as you see
we are ascending. It is clear that in the long run sex workers
rights and participation is rising. Decriminalization is happening!
There was an amazing response from sex workers, sex worker
groups and many allies including labor and human rights advocates
around the country, contributing, emailing, fundraising, phone
calls, and rooting for us! We had wonderful volunteers from
all quarters, and we made many new friends who will be supporting
us in the long run.
Thank you to all our donors and supporters. This meant so much
to all of us! You kept our spirits up and allowed us to mount
this campaign!
The elections for Board of Supervisors went in a liberal direction
so that portends good support for new plans!
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National
Public Radio:
Interviews Prop K Advocates
New
York Times: Supporters
of the measure say it is a long-overdue correction of a criminal
approach toward prostitutes, which neither rehabilitates nor
helps them, and often ignores their complaints of abuse.
The
Economist: Regulating the Sex Trade, The Oldest Conundrum
The
DA, The Police and SAGE: A Lucrative Partnertship
Yes
on K is the Christian thing to do
Barbara
Walters Argues for Prop K!
Sadie
Lune I Want You Poster Prop K Poster, at Museum of Modern Art
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PROP
K Updates
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VOTE
YES ON PROP K!
For
more info, to volunteer or endorse, email:
info@yesonpropk.org
Donate
to YesOnPropK.org |
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Click
here to view Proposition K Flyers
Progressive Civic
Leaders Endorse Proposition K
Op-Ed, San Francisco
Chronicle
Decriminalize
Prostitution: Vote Yes on Prop K
San Francisco
voters have an opportunity on election day to reduce violence against
women and improve the health of sex workers and their clients. Voting
yes on Proposition K to decriminalize prostitution - to prohibit
the city from arresting prostitutes - will make it easier for sex
workers to report violence to the police and improve public health.
The decriminalization of prostitution was the main recommendation
of the citywide San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution more than
10 years ago. A recent UCSF study found that 1 out of 7 sex workers
in San Francisco were threatened with arrest by police officers
unless they had sex with them, and 1 out of 5 reported that police
officers paid them for sex. Clearly, the policing of sex work is
problematic. Spending city resources on education and health outreach
to sex workers and linking them to the array of excellent services
in our city would be a much more humane and effective way to help
sex workers. In addition, those arrests do little: nine cases went
to trial last year, but there were no convictions. (more)
Prop
K Basics
Proposition
K as it will appear in the San Francisco Voters' Pamphlet 2008
Health and
Legal Professionals Support Proposition K
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Tamara
Ching, Long Time Transgender Activist and Health Consultant Endorses
Prop K: Ballot Pamphlet 2008 |
End
Jail Abuse of Prostitutes; Voluntary, Not Mandatory Social
Services
As
a San Francisco native who has been providing social services and
outreach to indoor and street-based sex workers of all genders and
ages for over 13 years I know that regardless of how sex workers
got to their current situation being criminalized is a social injustice
with serious public health consequences. Prostitutes are victims
of abuses including rape, robbery, exploitation and poverty. NONE
of this gets better when prostitutes or trafficked victims are criminalized
and sent to jail. (more)
California
STD Controllers’ Association: Support Community health and
HIV Prevention
National
Lawyers Guild: Current laws/enforcement make it harder to stop sex
trafficking and child prostitution
USPROStitutes
Collective: Save womens lives, stop enforcement of damaging prostitution
laws!
Government
Response
Public
Defender's Analysis
Media Reports
NPR:
Associated Press-San Francisco Weighs Decriminalizing Prostitution
"It will allow workers to organize for our rights and for our safety,"
said Patricia West (more)
Decriminalize
Prostitution-Vote Yes on K
San
Francisco Chronicle
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sex
Work is Not a Crime
San
Francisco Chronicle
Monday, September 10, 2008
Women's
Rights: Will Sex Workers Find Dignity with Prop K?
Jen Nedeau Change.org,
October 27, 2008
"...a first step in condoning sexual empowerment and the definition
of sexuality beyond the confines of heteronormative puritanical values.(more)
ABC
NEWS Website: Story on Prop K
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Woodhull
Freedom Foundation: Affirming Sexual Freedom as a Fundamental
Human Right
Sex
Worker Rights Are Human Rights
WFF Newsletter, October 2008 by Dr. Carol Queen |
Should
Prostitution Be Legalized?
Alternet: Sex and Relationships
Saturday,
July 30, 2008
Ballot
measure to decriminalize prostitution divides liberal San Francisco
Los Angeles Times
September 15, 2008
BeyondChron
on Progressives and Prop K
BeyondChron.org
August 20 - 21, 2008
How
Phony Poll by Sunny Hostin of CNN Manipulated Vote!
Opponents
of Prop K Use Lies and Fear Tactics to Sway Voters
Audo/Video
National
Public Radio: Interviews Prop K Advocates
| YesOnPropK.org
Advocates on Associated Press TV |
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Barbara
Walters Argues for Prop k on The View (3 minutes in)
excerpt from
The View (forward 3 min) 10/22/08
Barbara Walters: You talk about freedom of choice. It's a very
sad choice to have to make... They are not going to spend the
time and the energy of the police trying to arrest them, going
through court... I'd never been to Holland and there's a whole
street of the Red Light District and the so called ladies of the
evening although I think it's in the daytime too, whatever, they're
smiling and they are talking and it a big tourist attraction and
its regulated....
Sherri Shepherd : I think you are forgetting the fact that these
women who are smiling or joking with you, there's someone who
they are giving their money to
Barbara Walters: Or maybe it's just themselves, but it's their
choice.
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---------------Sadie
Lune says: Vote Yes on Prop K
YesOnPropK.org
Advocates on Associated Press TV
CNN:
Decriminalizing Prostitution
MyFox
25, Boston Discusses Prop K: Entertaining chatter about Prop K
San
Francisco Bay Guardian Interviews with Prop K Proponents
Leigh
on The
O'Reilly Factor 7-23-08
Cindy
Sheehan Speaks For San Francisco Decrim Initiative
Prop
K Proponent, Maxine Doogan and others in KFOG Interviews
Prop
K: General Info
Proposition
K: Text
Proponents Argument
YesOnPropK
Calendar: Fundraisers and Projects to Support Prop K
Resources/Reference
Documents
Legal
California
State Bar Association Endorses Resolution for Decriminalization of
Prostitution
APLE
Hawaii Prostitution Law Reform Reference
San
Francisco Task Force on Prostituton Final Report
Action Alerts
US
PROStitutes: The Facts About Prop K
ICE
Raids in San Francisco: Stop the Deportation and Scapegoating of
Sex Workers 10/23/08
SWAP Fees, racism, criminalization: Petition to support
local women
Trafficking
Victims Protection Act: Victory in Senate
Health, Safety
and Human Rights
Trafficking
and Anti-Violence
Prop
K To Suppress Trafficking and Prevent Child Prostitution
Decriminalization Supports Anti-Trafficking Efforts
Behind
The Moral Panic
GAO
Critiques Bush Administration Anti-trafficking Policies
Report
on San Francisco Johns' School
"Existing
laws should be used to address violence against sex workers and trafficked
persons without criminalizing sex workers" Sex Worker Project
at Urban Justice, New York
HIV and Sexual
Health
Breaking
news: Secretary General of the United Nations Calls For Sex Workers
Rights to Combat AIDS/HIV
Mexico
AIDS Conference 2008: Sex Workers, HIV and Human Rights
British
Medical Journal: Protection of sex workers-Decriminalisation could
restore public health priorities and human rights
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Research
for Sex Work: Violence Against Sex Workers and HIV prevention |
Social
Services and Harm Reduction
British
Psychological Society: No Mandatory Treatment
Social
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Religious
Repugnance Obscures Need for Sex Work Decriminalization by Rev.
Rita Nakashima Brock
Casting
Stones: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and the United States |
Soros'
Open Society:The right of all sex workers to live free and healthy
lives.
FIRST(Canada):
Feminists Support Sex Worker Rights
New
Zealand Decriminalization Materials
New
Zealand Prostitution Reform Act 2003
New
Zealand Decriminalization "It's not like we've done away
with all the problems. But when it was illegal, the laws were always
there to compound whatever problems a person already had."
5
Year Review of New Zealand Prostitution Reform Act:Act helps
health and safety of sex workers, report says
New
Zealand Prostitution Law Review Committee
Join
SWOP USA email List for Updates
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Endorsements:
Organizations
San
Francisco Democratic Party
Harvey Milk Democratic Club
National Lawyers Guild
California STD Controllers' Association
Coalition For Labor Union Women (CLUW)
Young Workers United
San Francisco Bay Guardian
San
Francisco Bay View: National Black Newspaper
Richmond District Democratic Club
HIV
Democratic Club
Trafficking Policy Research Project
San Francisco Green Party
PODER, People Organzing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights
La Raza Centro Legal
San Francisco 4 Democracy
The
Gray Panthers
San Francisco Tenants Union
Libertarian Party of San Francisco and Libertarian Party of California
San Francisco Bike Messengers Association
Bay Area Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World
Sex Worker Outreach Project
Axis of Love Women's Collective
The Lusty Lady Theater
Movimiento Por Una Amnistia Incondicional
Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Affordable Homeownership Alliance
Community Resources Action Project
Individuals
Margo St. James, founder COYOTE
Robyn Few, founder SWOP-USA
Jeffrey D. Klausner, MD, Associate Clincal Professor of Medicine,
AIDS and Infectious Diseases, UCSF*, President of the California
STD Controllers' Association
Marjan Wijers (LL.M, MA) former policy officer and project leader
of the Dutch Foundation Against Trafficking in Women, former president
of the Experts Group on Trafficking in Human Beings, established
by the European Commission
Priscilla Alexander, former consultant on sex work and HIV at the
World Health Organization*
Naomi Akers, Executive Director, St. James Infirmary*
Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, Jake McGoldrick, Chris Daly, Tom Ammiano
State Senator Carole Migden
Assemblyman Mark Leno
Renee Saucedo, La Raza Centro Legal
Gary Virginia, Past Member, SF Human Rights Commission LGBT Advisory
Committee*
Rev. Paul Fairley, Metropolitan Community Church*
Rev. Lea Brown, Senior Pastor, Metropolitan Community Church*
Cindy Sheehan for Congress
Linda Richardson, SF Human Rights Commission*, Steering Committee
member Southeast Neighborhood Jobs Initiative Coalition*, Chair of
the Land Use, Planning and Transportation Committee of the Bayview
Hunters Point*
Rachel West, US Prostitutes Collective
Mike Denny, 2003 candidate for SF Mayor
Dennis Peron, author of Proposition 215
Mesh Mong Irizarry Director, Idriss Stelley Action & Resource Center,
ISARC*;Director, Education Not Incarceration, SF Chapter, ENI_S*;Director,
Black&Brown Equitable Drug Policies Coalition, BEDPC*
Dylan Vade, Esq. co-founder, Transgender Law Center*
Greg Shaw, past president, Harvey Milk Club*
Dr. Joseph Kramer, PhD.
Starchild, former candidate San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Carol Leigh, AKA Scarlot Harlot
Mark Sanchez, Eric Quesada, and David Campos for Dist 9
Michael Bornstein, Former Executive Director, San Francisco Democratic
Party
Laura Spanjian, Rafael Mandelman, Arlo Hale Smith, Democratic County
Central Committee
Howard Grayson, Emily Drennen, Lou Fischer, Democratic County Central
Committee Candidates
Phil Berg, Libertarian candidate for Congress (District 8)
Kevin Peterson, Libertarian candidate for Congress (District 12)
Eric Garris, AntiWar.com*
Susan Stryker, Filmmaker, Historian and Transgender Rights Activist
Mira Ingram of Marijuana Offenses Oversight Committee*
Carol Queen, sex educator, co-founder of Center for Sex and Culture*
Avaren Ipsen, PhD., lecturer on Critical Theory, University of California
at Berkeley, focus on Sexuality, Religion and Class, Author of 'Sex
Working and The Bible,' London, Equinox Press, 2008.
Veronica Monet, sex educator and author
L. Neil Smith, Novelist
ZITENG, Hong Kong sex workers rights organization
Michael Aldrich, former Training Coordinator, Califormnia AIDS Intervention
Training Center*
Espinola Jackson, former candidate for Supervisor (District 10)
Catherine Cusic, Vice-President, Harvey Milk Club PAC
Tamara Ching, Health Educator and Transgender Rights Advocate
Armando Quintana, Sex Worker Legal Aid, Los Angeles
Michelle Aldrich, former President, AIDS Prevention Action Network*
Jill Brenneman, Survivor of Human Trafficking, Sex Worker Rights
Activist Program Host Talk Radio XXBN
*Title for identification purposes only. Does not imply endorsement
or policy of the named agency or institution.
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