Iceland recently made headlines with the latest project on its allegedly progressive agenda: a nation-wide ban on pornography. No stranger to proscribing activities related to commercializing sex, Iceland has already passed laws banning printed pornography, prostitution and stripping, and has done so all in the name of feminism. Rattling off the standard laundry list of…
Between YouTube videos sparking Middle Eastern riots, and the Westboro Baptist Church continuing its ministry one hateful protest at a time, recent headlines have illustrated the unique place that Free Speech rights occupy in American society and jurisprudence. While these particular examples of expression are obviously disturbing to many, it is just such offensive speech…
Amber Hollibaugh, Jeffrey Montgomery and Esther Perel To Be Honored The Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance is pleased to announce the 2012 recipients of the Vicki Sexual Freedom Award. The Vicki Sexual Freedom Awards recognize individuals who have made landmark contributions to the sexual freedom movement. This year Woodhull is proud to honor three heroes of the…
I’ve got some great news to share with you! As you know, Woodhull joined our allies in testifying in Florida in favor of House Bill 367, prohibiting the use of restraints (shackles) on incarcerated women in labor, delivery and recovery. (Our testimony is here.) We’ve been working on this for two years and today –…
Sex trafficking—the real thing, not the political consumer product or object of sloganeering—involves kidnapping or manipulating someone out of their community, forcing them to engage in sex acts somewhere else, and not allowing them to leave at will. It’s horrendous. It’s not simply prostitution, not even underage prostitution. It’s not making porn films, even under [...]
Woodhull’s Executive Director Ricci Levy and Policy Advocate Elisabeth Fernandez-Kimmel both offered verbal testimony against Bill 19-567, the Prostitution Free Zone Amendment Act of 2011, at a hearing on January 24, before the D.C. Council Judiciary Committee. Also testifying against the bill were the local ACLU, GLAA, DC Trans Coalition, Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive, Best…
I was interviewed about this on Public Radio yesterday. Since it’s a subject I hadn’t given a lot of thought, I prepared by reading up on it just a bit. And I was shocked. It’s actually against the law to touch yourself sexually—in private—if you’re in jail. Sounds barbaric, doesn’t it? OK, you’re behind bars, [...]
President Obama has joined President Bush in opposing the widest possible access for Emergency Contraception (Plan B). And he’s done it for the two worst possible reasons: emotion and “common sense.” After years and years of dishonest stalling, the FDA has finally recommended that minors get complete over-the-counter access to Plan B. In a rare [...]
People in the state of Mississippi just spent a few cool millions of dollars arguing about how many fetuses can writhe on the head of a pin. That is, they just voted on a ballot measure that would decide the simple question of when life begins. How many textbooks, hepatitis shots, firefighter salaries, and fresh [...]
Coinciding with the horrors of Halloween, this is Pornography Awareness Week. Sponsored by groups including Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Morality in Media (MiM), the goal of the week is “to educate the public about the extent of the pornography problem and what can constitutionally be done about it.” These are powerful groups lobbying [...]
Sex work refers to a wide range of activity where sexual interaction is explicitly exchanged for something of value.
WSFA firmly believes that human beings possess a fundamental right to develop and express their sexuality.
Sexual Health is a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well being in relation to sexuality.
Sexuality and faith are two of the most deeply important and deeply personal aspects of human identity.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are entitled to the realization of the full spectrum of their human rights.
Civil rights are one sub-set of human rights that exist equal to and interdependent with multiple fundamental human rights.
Grounded in the human rights framework, reproductive justice refers to all of the conditions necessary for all people to enjoy reproductive freedom.
Every human being deserves access to medically accurate and inclusive information about sex and sexuality.
