It's a misnomer to say you can criminalize one part of the transaction and not criminalize the entire transaction. For example in Sweden, where the law was passed in 1999. Those laws didn't actually decriminalize people who sell sex; they… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
I went to college in Amherst and lived in Northampton for many years and we had our quaint little feminist sex toy shop that somehow made it in town and wasn't scandalous. But you still got the vibe once in awhile that this didn't used to be okay. That twenty years ago women would have come in saying, "You can't… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share
We hear from sex workers who have through their own volition become media figures, or have despite their own wishes become media figures. Like… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
One person was basically saying that feminists aren't interested in criminalizing prostitutes, that they don't want to do that. I responded that whether or… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
Our feelings alone don't change what happens with the police, what happens in jail, what happens when someone tries to go to the welfare office, the unemployment office, or any kind of state agency where a criminal record comes up for prostitution. How we feel about the commodification of sexuality and violence doesn't actually translate to those people's lives. A… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share
It's actually not much of a risk to say, "I don't think we should put sex workers in jail." That's a decent, normal thing… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
In the current situation with criminalization, we've created situations where sex workers have very little power and control over their lives. Increasing one group… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
Almost everything I've learned about journalism has been from other friends who are journalists, taking advantage of the money I hope they don't think… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
I remember being in high school in the '90s, and even then somehow hearing about the the Canadian Supreme Court's Butler decision which was… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
Kristin Gwynne has been writing some great stuff about the sexually violent element of "stop-and-frisk." This isn't just "turn out your pockets." This is… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
In New Zealand, sex workers are regarded as workers, as people who are members of the community, people who have a stake in the… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
Even at legal brothels, sex workers have very little power and control over their workplace. They might have power with their customers on a… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
I've moved away from writing about and describing actual experiences of sex work, whether mine or anybody else's, because the culture is obsessed with… — Melissa Gira Grant Copy Share Image
