Tamar doesn’t usually make it into Sunday School flannelgraph sets. Her story in Genesis 38 is messy, scandalous, and uncomfortable for anyone who wants the Bible to be a neat moral guidebook. She was Judah’s daughter-in-law, widowed twice, promised security but denied it, and ultimately forced to take matters into her own hands.

In New Orleans, Calvin Duncan - a man who spent 30 years incarcerated for a murder conviction later vacated - has just been elected clerk of criminal court. His victory isn’t just historic; it’s a reminder that the people most harmed by the criminal legal system often understand its failures better than anyone else. 

There’s a story making headlines again - a powerful man, a teenage girl, and a media cycle eager to flatten everything into a tidy narrative about “trafficking.” But when you read past the outrage and into the details, something else becomes painfully clear: this isn’t a story about sex work.

Every few years, the anti-trafficking field releases another report diagnosing its own dysfunction. The Safehouse Project’s recent white paper is the latest to outline the emotional toll of the work, the predictable cycles of vicarious trauma, low wages, inconsistent leadership, and the churn that destabilizes survivor support. 

If you’ve ever heard Rehab’s name in church, it almost always comes with a label:  “Rehab the prostitute.”  Out of all the things she did, all the roles she played, the one word attached to her forever is her occupation.

As we move toward December 17 - the 22nd Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - we remember those we’ve lost and honor the fight that continues.

Say the name Bathsheba, and most people picture a beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop, luring poor King David into sin. She’s been cast for centuries as the biblical seductress - the woman who tempted a man after God’s own heart.

Let’s talk about hunger.

If you grew up in church, you probably remember the Samaritan woman from John 4—the one who meets Jesus at a well, has “five husbands,” and is living with a man who isn’t her husband. Cue the Sunday School whisper: immoral… loose… fallen.

What if the power to end violence wasn’t locked inside a politician’s office or a police budget - but sitting right in your hands?

When people hear the name Mary Magdalene, the mental Rolodex usually lands on one of three words: prostitute, fallen, sinner.

When you give to SWOP Behind Bars, you’re not just donating — you’re investing in someone’s comeback story. You’re helping people move from surviving to thriving: from waiting on a bunk in county jail to stability, from a DOC number to a driver’s license, from isolation to connection.

Ever wonder where your donation actually goes? This week, we pull back the curtain on what “funding justice” really looks like—from commissary deposits to reentry kits—and how every dollar fuels freedom, not surveillance.

When you hear the name Delilah, you probably picture the ultimate seductress - the sultry femme fatale who batted her eyelashes, whispered sweet nothings, and single-handedly brought down Israel’s strongest man.

When it comes to “bad girls of the Bible,” Eve takes the crown as the original troublemaker. She’s the woman who - according to centuries of sermons, paintings, and pop theology - single-handedly ruined paradise.

When systems fail us - and they often do - it’s community that saves us. Before there were grants or corporate sponsorships, there were friends passing envelopes under cell doors, commissary money pooled together, or a ride to a court date given without question.

Let’s skip the polite economic euphemisms and call this what it is: we are headed straight for the mountain, and the seatbelt light just came on. Inflation’s not cooling; it’s calcifying. Wages haven’t caught up, rent’s still a blood sport, groceries feel like luxury items, and if you’ve tried to buy a used car lately, you know it’s giving “end times barter system” vibes. 

Myth #10: Ending Demand Will End Sex Work “End demand” laws—often marketed under the more palatable name of the Nordic Model—are...

This myth is the flip side of the “glamorous and easy” narrative—the belief that all sex work and pornography are simply harmless fun, no different than any other form of adult entertainment.

Myth 8: Criminalization Protects Vulnerable People This myth frames laws against sex work as protective measures for vulnerable...