The Best Sex Work Writing of 2017
We rounded up the year's best writing, reporting, and research on erotic industries, those who work in them, and how they're getting screwed by U.S. authorities and laws.
We rounded up the year's best writing, reporting, and research on erotic industries, those who work in them, and how they're getting screwed by U.S. authorities and laws.
The good news? Many whose lives they tried to ruin are now off the hook.
The bill would gut Section 230 and make sex advertising a federal crime.
A related measure would open digital platforms to liability for past crimes committed by users.
The city council is considering a mammoth package of new rules that threaten Tampa bathhouses and those who visit them.
"Around the corner, there's a family neighborhood that's decorated for Christmas," a local television station reports while airing her photo.
An investigation would've taken months, so Larksville Police decided to skip that part.
"Bikinis can convey the very type of political speech that lies at the core of the First Amendment," writes federal judge.
Their slogan? "Make American Fucking Awesome Again." But DeVille's real mission is to challenge stereotypes about sex workers.
The city earns more than $2 million a year grabbing more than 1,800 vehicles.
John Stossel confronts a prostitute, a pimp and an anti-prostitution crusader.
Department of Homeland Security
The fate of the popular adult ad platform remains unclear after a raid on Eros' North Carolina servers.
Massage-parlor panic is crushing small businesses, civil liberties, and people's lives. Here are eight examples from October.
A right to engage in prostitution seems like "a natural extension of Supreme Court precedent," says judge.
Hear from the real victims of this cruel FBI charade.
This week has a lot of people wondering "who's the Harvey Weinstein?" of their industry. For sex workers, the answer is all too often a local cop.
Judge says Bay Area cops accused of sex crimes might not have known that Oakland teenager "Celeste Guap" was underage.
"We don't have enough space for them," said sheriff.
A new bill would remove all criminal penalties in the District for buying or selling sex.
A new porn platform for women claims to promote ethical, feminist smut while pirating clips and stealing from sex workers.
Congress moves to grant Trump administration vast new policing powers, because "sex trafficking."
City worries bikini hot dog stands could be next.
There was no trafficking victim here-just a couple attempting private sexual activity with another consenting adult. But Maryland cops don't care.
Prostitution and porn during the 1970s focus of new series.
The state will continue to pursue money-laundering charges against Carl Ferrer, Michael Lacey, and James Larkin.
Hope Zeferjohn's role was limited to chatting with the "victim"-who was never actually trafficked-on Facebook.
Like all things 2017, an old urban legend takes an even more ridiculous turn.
In one case, a person whose legal identity was listed as male was arrested for sitting at a bus stop while "dressed as a woman" and carrying condoms.
The "Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act" would not stop sexual exploitation. But it could blow up the legal framework that supports the internet as we know it.
AG Josh Hawley's "new evidence" against the U.S. company is actions carried out by foreign contractors for foreign websites.
The law must be followed, even if breaking the law actually makes people safer.
What Korean sex workers "were doing could not be called consensual because they were being paid," Val Richey tells The Seattle Times.
Post says Backpage hired a contractor that catfished on foreign competitors' sites.
Making matters worse, the report concludes, was "the tone at the top."
Studies showing an ostensible link between watching porn and committing rape are full of flaws.
A batch of frightening new bills take aim at all sorts of civil liberties under the guise of stopping sexual exploitation.
These are the tools of pornographers, "sextortionists," and human traffickers, Sessions told a police conference this week.
Naturally, they're portraying it as a success.
New laws are under debate, but the practice is more common than you think.
Former Oakland cop Brian Bunton is one of dozens of area police officers who've been implicated in the sexual exploitation of "Celeste Guap."
That's 332 times as many sex workers arrested in the stings as people indicted on federal charges involving a minor.
Maria Navarete says police told her "shut up, you have no rights" as they handcuffed and pinned down her and her children.
"Hot Girls Wanted" producers purport to care about sex workers' well-being but mock their privacy concerns.
"It's like we lack enough empathy to understand the choices of others, and therefore deprive them of agency."
Former NYPD officer Michael Rizzi is accused of running an upscale prostitution service and its 50 related websites.