Search Results for: prostitution

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, published a statement on Wednesday calling for the UK government to take “urgent action” to end all forms of violence against women and girls. The UK government invited Alsalem to visit the country after labeling violence against women and girls a “national threat” [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the state of Tennessee on Thursday seeking the invalidation of a law criminalizing “aggravated” prostitution citing the discriminatory impacts of its elevated penalties on those convicted of prostitution if they are HIV positive. The lawsuit also seeks expungement of state registries related to the law’s enforcement [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday in O.G. and Others v. Greece that Greece violated the right to respect for private life of HIV-positive sex workers. Greece imposed blood tests on Greek sex workers and publicly disseminated their personal data upon the order of a prosecutor in 2012. The ECHR unanimously identified two [...]

Dutch police arrested a 55-year-old Syrian refugee on Friday in the town of Druten in the province of Gelderland on suspicion of crimes against humanity, including complicity in torture and sexual violence in Syria during the civil war. This is the first time that the Netherlands has accused someone of committing crimes against humanity. The [...]

The European Parliament passed a resolution against the decriminalization of prostitution on Sunday. The resolution, titled European Parliament resolution of 14 September 2023 on the regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights, stated that EU member states have an obligation “to promote an inclusive society [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday upheld a law that combats online child sex trafficking called the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA). The case is an appeal from the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Circuit Judge Patricia [...]

Maine Governor Janet Mills signed a bill into law on Monday that partially decriminalizes prostitution in the state. Legislative Document (LD) 1435, called An Act to Reduce Commercial Sexual Exploitation, amends existing law to remove all references to prostitution. Instead, the new law criminalizes commercial sexual exploitation, which is a Class E crime carrying a maximum penalty [...]

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Tuesday that it was sanctioning two South Sudanese officials involved in conflict-related sexual violence. The two officials, General James Nando and Governor Alfred Futuyo, were added to OFAC’s specially-designated nationals list for South Sudan, which blocks their access to any US assets and [...]

Japan’s national legislature passed groundbreaking revisions to its sex crimes laws Friday. The House of Councillors, the upper house of Japan’s National Diet, voted in favor of changes to Chapter 22 of Japan’s Penal Code. Chapter 22 concerns crimes of obscenity, forcible sexual intercourse, and bigamy. The changes include increasing the age of consent from [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Friday released a report highlighting numerous human rights violations in Myanmar two years after the military coup. The report states: Myanmar’s conflict landscape has changed dramatically, highlighting concerns for the protection of civilians. By late 2021, and throughout 2022, violence intensified especially in the [...]