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The pathological hatred Trump inspires on the left and the quasi-religious devotion he commands on the right reflect tensions within American democratic culture. File Photo

It’s the ‘Donald disease’ that’s making us sick

With the 12 specialised key population clinics in South Africa funded by the US government, and now shuttered, getting treatment at government clinics has been difficult, if not…

Two-way street: Reality show This Body Works for Me follows the lives of seven South African sex workers. Photo: Supplied

A candid look at sex work

Thandeka, who has been working in the sector for 13 years, says a new reality TV series is edifying

Researchers say transactional sex will become more common because of a rise in climate change-related droughts and floods. (A.Davey)

Taken by storm: Why climate change makes transactional sex more common

Because it involves one partner who provides the other with a reward in exchange for sex, it’s not an equal power relationship

Allan Heta Cleaver has been a sex worker for 40 years. His work life changed when his home country of New Zealand made his job legal 20 years ago.
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How sex work changed after two decades of decriminalisation in New Zealand

When sex work is not a criminal offence, workers are much safer because they can report crimes against them to the police

How sex work is regulated strongly influences how safe workers’ jobs are. In South Africa, where laws make it illegal to buy or sell sex. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
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Job rights, better healthcare and taxes: What life could look like for SA sex workers

Mia Malan interviews Deputy Justice Minister, John Jeffery, and United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, about what’s next for sex workers

The lived reality for women in South Africa is they get turned away at our police stations. They are told that domestic violence is a family matter. They are sent from one office to another. If they do actually get someone willing to open their case, the case files disappear into delay

Decriminalising sex work can protect sex workers – and everybody else – from gender-based violence

Evidence from other countries suggests South Africa could see a drop in rapes and sexually transmitted infections for everyone if the bill goes through

Saying no to the decriminalisation of sex work does not defend the dignity of any adult who chooses to sell sexual services.

The government is finally listening to sex workers

They need to be able to work in a legal system that does not punish them for making a living

Sex work is still illegal in democratic South Africa

Sex work in South Africa: A history of ineffective laws

Sex workers were seen as a source of disease, then as enabling interracial relations. Sex work is still illegal in democratic South Africa

Sex work is still illegal in democratic South Africa

Citizens have until 31 January to comment on bill decriminalising sex work

The proposed new law is aimed at affording sex workers better working conditions, access to health care and remove the discrimination and stigma against them

Aside from the economic benefits, urgent decriminalisation is needed to ensure constitutional rights of the country’s estimated 153 000 sex workers. (John McCann/M&G)

Ten reasons why South Africa must decriminalise sex work

Aside from the economic benefits, urgent decriminalisation is needed to ensure constitutional rights of the country’s estimated 153 000 sex workers

Hotspot: In search of work, Kenya’s beach boys, who sell jewellery and other wares, are drawn into sex tourism and trade. Photo: Dan Baciu

Kenya’s beach boys fall into sex tourism, trafficking

In the face of their families’ poverty, young men, persuaded by the prospect of wealth or education, travel to Europe with their older female sponsors only to be trafficked for sex

Desire: People protest outside Thailand’s ministry of digital economy and society after it banned the adult website, Pornhub, at the end of last year. The site recorded 33.5 billion visitors in 2018. (Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

Exploitation rules global porn industry

Porn stars and sex workers are badly treated — they should be protected by the law

NSFW: The tricky business of OnlyFans

In an increasingly digital world, OnlyFans has given online creators a new way to make money on their own terms

Covid and conflict: When schools close because of the pandemic, and poverty forces girls and women into sex work, pregnancies surge.  (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

Cameroon’s twin crises create surge in teen pregnancy

When conflict and Covid-19 disrupt schooling and devastate the economy, girls drop out, and teen pregnancies rise

Laverne Cox as seen in the new Netflix documentary, ‘Disclosure’. (Ava Benjamin Shorr/Netflix.)
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The things Hollywood taught us to think about trans existences

Disclosure, a Netflix documentary examines the world’s transphobic legacy as portrayed in film and television from as early as 1901

Aside from the economic benefits, urgent decriminalisation is needed to ensure constitutional rights of the country’s estimated 153 000 sex workers. (John McCann/M&G)

Police treat sex workers like they are ‘nothing’

Those on the street say that the usual abuse has intensified under the lockdown