June 9, 2021 by Maggie McNeill
It was not just that their perspective was discarded. Their perspective wasn't even heard. - Ro Khanna
Torture Chamber
...in...March 2014...19-year-old Nimali Henry was booked [into the St. Bernard parish jail] on charges of simple battery, disturbing the peace and unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling...she was living with a rare...blood disorder and...in desperate need of her medication...[but] did not have [it] with her [when arrested and screws made no effort to obtain it for her]...Two days later, other [prisoners tried] to...talk...to the guards on duty about her. In a...video from March 31, 2014, Nimali [can be] seen stumbling and...barely [able to] walk as...guards [shout "stop faking!" at her]. Later that same day, another video shows her lying on a prison bunk with no mattress covered with what appears to be nothing more than a blanket...[she] died hours later...[as the direct result of] jail...[staff refusing to obtain] her medication and [intentionally leaving her] in excruciating pain for 10 days. The[y]...never [even] called an ambulance....St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann [called the willful murder a "]shortfall[" and]...declined....to look at the video [because "he does not want to see anyone...die in jail"]...Four jail workers pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges...Andre Dominick...Timothy Williams...Lisa Vacrella and Debra Becnel...
What the story doesn't tell you: St. Bernard dramatically expanded its jail around 1990 so it could make money warehousing human beings for other parishes who lacked the room to cram any more people into their own cage stacks.
Don't Take My Word For It (#541)When a "study" makes silly claims like this, look for the reasons:
...Some researchers...seem obsessed with the idea of proving that sex work isn't gendered and that women pay for sexual services in increasing numbers...from men...This...claim [is]...based on the number of profiles on [adult service websites, but]...most of these male-owned accounts have no feedback which suggests that they're not escorts, but fantasists who set up a profile pretending to be an escort as part of their fantasy. They're attracted to the idea of anonymous sex as well as the misguided belief that someone would be interested in pursuing them sexually and even paying for the privilege. Men who typically pay for sex are turned on by the idea that someone might want them enough to offer them money for it. The male-owned profiles which do have feedback often have it because they pay for sex, get feedback from sex workers, then switch their profile around so it looks like women have paid for their services....client posing is commonly known amongst sex workers; if sex workers had been consulted on the research, that claim would have been contested...
This is an excellent article which explains a number of other silly "study" claims as well.
Full of Themselves (#831)Racist persecution of massage parlors is a popular pastime for California "authorities":
Uncommon Sense (#898)...the [victim of California] officials[' crusade against mundane businesses they ludicrously defamed as] "an organized crime sex trafficking ring operating across California" has been sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in state prison...Jing Chiang Huang was also ordered to pay $557,391 in [back taxes] to the California Franchise Tax Board [thus revealing the true motive behind the joint pogrom]...by federal, state and local [cop shops]...More than a dozen [employes] were [arrested and deported] in the process, according to a press release [calling the violence "rescue"]...
The Spanish high court says the government has no power to suppress a sex worker union:
Imaginary Victims (#902)Spanish sex workers have the right to form their own union, the Supreme Court ruled...overturning an earlier court decision ordering [its] dissolution...OTRAS...was discretely set up in August 2018 but was [attacked] three months later by...[prohibition]ist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez....and [his Swedish-criminalization cultist followers even though the law clearly states] that sex workers "have the fundamental right to freedom of association and the right to form a union"...
A celebrity accomplished what do-nothing "safe harbor" laws couldn't:
...in...April of 2020...Ohio's governor...grant[ed] the release of a 22-year-old...Alexis Martin...[from prison] after Kim Kardashian visited [her there]...after six years, five months and 13 days...she...wi[ll]...be...track[ed by ankle monitor]...every second...[and] on parole, being [spi]ed on and drug tested until at least2034. Her record w[ill] always show a murder conviction, [with] all the limitations [that] bring[s]...
The article has some good information, but you'll need to pick around the wads of ugly prohibitionist propaganda and chunks of infantilizing, agency-denying language as you would pick around slimy green things in a casserole that's otherwise edible.
Rough Trade (#923)
In the US, the victim would've been arrested:
Jessie Campos was found guilty of raping a sex worker in a [New Zealand] brothel in late 2018, and sentenced to three years and nine months in prison...he was made aware on several occasions a condom was legally required and he agreed to use one...but...the[n]...removed [it]...The woman indicated he had acted inappropriately and made him put the condom back on. Without her knowledge, Campos again removed the condom and ejaculated inside her. The woman ran to her manager's office and the police were called...Judge Stephen Harrop...rejected the defence claim that the stealthing was not premeditated and that cultural factors [Campos emigrated from the Philippines] were relevant to the sentencing...
Yes, this is rape. No, I don't want to "discuss" it.
Even journalists are beginning to recognize what a huge backfire FOSTA was:
Sex workers have gained the backing of a small group of Democratic [politicians] after...being [entirely] shut out of the policymaking process [for decades]. The turning point was...FOSTA...also referred to as SESTA...which was [intended] to punish online platforms facilitating [sex work]...Despite the best efforts of sex workers to dissuade [politicians], the bill passed through both chambers easily...in 2018..."until very recently [no politician] wanted to be seen as facilitating...or encouraging sex work," said Mike Stabile...of...the Free Speech Coalition...[anti-FOSTA politician Ro] Khanna [said]...his colleagues "didn't even want to take meetings because of the possible images or pictures" with sex workers that could have been taken. Stigma also hurts [civol rights] organizations' funding because consumers of pornopgraphy are "embarrassed" to publically back them, says sex worker and writer Cathy Reisenwitz...
