When we talk about ending violence against sex workers, one of the most powerful tools we have isn’t another round of policing or another set of restrictive laws - it’s decriminalization.

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. 

Heads up: this one’s messy, hard, and urgent. Charlie Kirk - 31, political firebrand and cofounder of Turning Point USA - was fatally shot at Utah Valley University while doing a Q&A about, of all things, gun violence. His last words to a crowd of 3,000 were literally “gun violence” before a single shot from a rooftop ended his life.

Myth #4: Sex Workers Can Just “Get a Real Job” Reality: Many already have other jobs. Barriers like discrimination, criminal records,...

We want to give credit where it’s due: More To Her Story, a youth-led feminist platform, was one of the first to sound the alarm on a deeply disturbing change in the 2023 U.S. State Department Human Rights Reports - the complete erasure of any dedicated section on women’s rights.

This myth isn’t just about who people imagine when they hear the words “sex worker.” It reflects who feminism has historically chosen to see and who it has chosen to leave out.

Reality: Evidence from New Zealand and parts of Australia shows the opposite—decriminalization can improve safety, reduce exploitation, and increase cooperation with law enforcement for actual trafficking cases.

We bring you facts, figures, and context - not only so you can hold your own at the next policy meeting, but also so you can dismantle lazy arguments at the dinner table, on social media, or even in the comment section of that “concerned citizens” Facebook group your aunt keeps inviting you to.

This week, the national conversation once again spiraled around the so-called Epstein “client list.” The same question resurfaced:Where is it? Who’s on it? When will it be released? And just like every other time, the obsession with the list revealed more about the public’s craving for spectacle than their actual commitment to justice.

The sex worker rights movement has long explored how the public—and too often, the courts—struggle to grasp the realities of exploitation, especially when it hides behind wealth, consent, or celebrity. We’ve written about coercion, manipulation, and the blurry gray lines that survivors are expected to define in black and white.

On July 2, 2025, a Manhattan federal jury delivered a split verdict: Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking, but convicted on two counts under the Mann Act—transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution. The public reaction was swift and polarized. Some called it justice served; others saw it as yet another reminder that wealth and fame insulate men from real accountability.

In what could be seen as the most expensive DUI in Massachusetts history, Karen Read was found Not Guilty this week of second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.

For years, prisons were called “crime schools” because people learned more about how to survive in the underground economy than how to build a stable life.

Good morning, Red Umbrella fam. Hope your coffee is strong and your boundaries stronger, because this weekend delivered a full-course meal of carceral nonsense, QAnon fever dreams, ICE agents crashing into elementary school zones, and a grown man throwing himself a military parade for his birthday.

There’s a version of feminism out there that wears a pussyhat, clutches her pearls, and still calls the manager when a sex worker speaks at a panel.

This past weekend, Los Angeles found itself at the epicenter of a fierce showdown: thousands hit the streets in defiance of ICE raids and...

Education is often sold as the golden ticket—the “way out,” the “great equalizer,” the shiny ladder out of poverty. But for women who’ve...

No mother should have to write a letter to her child from prison.

Community-led services and support for incarcerated women being released from prison are grounded in one radical belief: that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. Rather than imposing top-down programs that often miss the mark, grassroots organizations across the country—many founded and led by formerly incarcerated women—offer holistic, peer-based support that centers dignity, autonomy, and lived experience.