US PROStitutes Collective and Sex Worker Outreach Project USA are hosting Catherine Healy
Dear Friends,
We are excited to announce that the US PROStitutes Collective (US PROS) and Sex Worker Outreach Project USA (SWOP) are hosting Catherine Healy, member of the New Zealand Prostitution Law Review Committee [1], on a visit to San Francisco . Catherine was appointed to the Committee by the Minister of Justice and was a key member of the broad based coalition which achieved the decriminalization of prostitutioni in New Zealand in 2003.
Catherine comes to San Francisco from London , where she spoke at the House of Commons and various meetings around the country, at the invitation of the Safety First Coalition (chaired by the English Collective of Prostitutes – ECP). Her tour transformed the debate on prostitutioni in the UK so that decriminalization, as practiced in New Zealand , is now discussed as a viable option. A packed meeting in Parliament was attended by over 10 Lords and Ladies and inspired them and many others to vigorously oppose a government Bill which proposes compulsory “rehabilitation” for sex workers and measures to criminalize men who buy sex.
We are also glad to announce that Niki Adams, spokeswoman for the ECP, will be accompanying Catherine on her visit to the San Francisco Bay Area and can tell us more about these groundbreaking events.
Catherine and Niki will be arriving in San Francisco on February 5 and leaving on February 12. US PROS and SWOP USA along with SWOP NORCAL will host a reception – time and date to be announced. We will post a schedule of events and hope to see you all there. For more info please emailrachelwest [at] crossroadswomen [dot] net or info [at] swopusa [dot] org
Robyn Few Rachel West
Sex Worker Outreach Project US Prostitutes Collective
[1] The Prostitution Law Review Committee is an eleven member Committee appointed by the Minister of Justice. Nominations to the Committee were provided by the Ministers of Justice, Health, Police, Commerce, Local Government and the Minister of Women’s Affairs in consultation with the Minister of Youth Affairs and the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective.
