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“Belgian Government Will Intervene In Cases Where Prostitutes Refuse Sexual Acts Too Often.” That headline, at a website called The Publica, certainly caught my attention. A new law in Belgium, the website claims, will enable “pimps to punish” sex workers “if they refuse sex more than 10 times in a six-month period. The Belgian Parliament voted for the law on May 3, with 93 in favor, zero opposed, and 33 abstentions.”

Others have taken upthis story with similarly salacious and critical tones.

As you might suspect, the truth is much less disturbing than these reports suggest. In fact, the law in question is aimed at protecting sex worker rights and autonomy.

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Δ Decriminalization Takes Hold

First, some background: Belgium decriminalized sex work in 2022making it an outlier in the European Union. While some other E.U. countries have legalized prostitution, their systems are highly regulated, leaving it a crime to sell or pay for sex acts in all but certain narrow circumstances (such as working in a licensed brothel or having a professional sex work certificate). Other E.U. countries have decriminalized selling sex in some circumstances but still criminalize paying for it.

Belgium decriminalized not just selling sex but also paying for sex and working with sex workers. That last bit is important, as it allows sex workers to pay people for ancillary servicessuch as security, administrative work, and accountingwithout making those people criminals.

It’s “important to note that it has never been illegal in Belgium to offer or pay for sexual services. Belgium’s policy was to slowly make sex work disappear, by making it impossible to perform the job in a normal and safe way by criminalizing all third parties,” according to the Belgian Union of Sex Workers (UTSOPI). “Those third parties are landlords, owners of rooms, bankers, lawyers, drivers…” Even employers were criminalized, “making it impossible to work legally in a brothel.”

Decriminalized third parties might also include folks that have historically been referred to as “pimps” or “madams”words carrying a lot of loaded implications but essentially referring to anyone who helps a sex worker find customers or otherwise manage their business.

Doing any of this in a violent, abusive, or coercive way is still a crime, of course. As UTSOPI notes: “If an accountant charges abnormally high fees to the sex worker for the sake of him or her being a sex worker, or if a third party demands sexual services in exchange for the delivery of services, then they are liable to prosecution.”

A big part of what Belgium is doing now is trying to bring sex workers into “social protection” programs and employee benefitsthings like unemployment compensation, maternity leave, and Belgium’s version of Social Security.

The decriminalization law was a first step to making sex workers eligible for such things. The second step was the law the country passed at the beginning of Maythe one that The Publica makes sound like a horrifying, dystopian mess. In fact, the measure had the support of the Belgian sex workers union.

Needless to say, Reason is generally critical of expansive welfare-state benefitsand of detailed labor regulations that invite the government to insert itself into workplace regulations. So nothing that I’m about to say is meant to suggest that there are no legitimate critiques of this new law. The point is to make it clear what the new legislation does, and why; any criticisms should proceed from the real law, not from fantasies. The Right to Refuse

Under the decriminalized system, sex workers could be self-employed, and they could hire third parties to help them in various ways. They could also be freelance workers in an establishment run by someone else. But sex workers could not themselves be employees.

Under the new law, “sex workers will also be able to work under an employment contract, thus gaining access to social security: pension, unemployment, health insurance, family benefits, annual vacation, maternity leave,” according to UTSOPI. “At the same time, the law ensures that sex workers in the workplace are protected against job-related risks and conditions are imposed on employers.”

As part of this balance, the law imposes obligations on both businesses that employ sex workers and on sex workers who work for those businesses. One of the conditions on employees is that refusing sex acts more than 10 times in a six-month period allows an employer to request government mediation.

But the law also explicitly protects the right to refuse specific customers, sex acts, etc.

It stipulates that “every sex worker has the right to refuse a client,” that “every sex worker has the right to refuse a sexual act,” and that “every sex worker has the right to interrupt a sexual act at any time.” It also says that “any sex worker has the right to perform a sexual act in the manner they wish” and that “if there are dangers to the sex worker’s safety, the sex worker may refuse to sit behind a window or advertise.”

If a sex worker invokes any of the five rights listed above, “the sex worker is protected from dismissal or other adverse action by the employer,” notes UTSOPI. Boundaries Go Both Ways

In reality, this law is explicitly drafted to stop prostitution businesses from punishing workers for exercising agency and setting boundaries. But employers must have some redress if the refusals are frequent enough to cause problems. Since firing or disciplining employees for exercising refusal rights is generally forbidden, this is where the mediation clause comes in.

“If a sex worker exercises the right to refuse more than ten times in a six-month period, the sex worker or the employer may seek the intervention of a governmental mediation service,” according to UTSOPI. “That service will assess if there is anything wrong with the working conditions, if there is a problem in the employer-employee relationship. The service can also offer professional reorientation possibilities.”

As you can see, saying that the new law allows “pimps to punish” sex workers for refusing sex acts is misleading. For starters, we’re not talking individual “pimps” (a one-person sex work business cannot legally hire employees) but registered businesses that have contracted as a sex work employer and taken on all the responsibilities that entails.

One of the slogans of sex worker rights campaigners is sex work is workit’s a job, just like other jobs, and sex workers deserve the same dignitty and rights. But that has to go both ways. And employees of other jobs can’t repeatedly refuse to do what they were hired to do without encountering at least some sort of intervention.

In this case, the “punishment” is merely having to try and work out a mutually agreed-upon solution. And either an employer or employee can trigger this mediation. A sex worker whose repeated refusal to accept customers or sex acts stems from broader issues with what their employer is expecting can themselves request mediation to try to work this issue out.

Or they can quitwithout any sort of notice period required and without forfeiting their right to unemployment benefits.

Self-employed sex workers are obviously not subject to the mediation requirement here. Nor are those who work for someone else as non-employees (as independent contractors or freelancers or whatever you want to call it). But sex workers who are independent contractors are also not guaranteed job protection if they refuse.

Far from being some sort of crazy scheme that denigrates sex worker consent, the new labor law is designed to protect sex workers’ autonomy and protect them from violence, exploitation, and privacy invasions, too.

Some of the employr obligations under the new law include a requirement that each room where sex acts take place be equipped with an alarm button and that sex worker unions and support groups be allowed to access sex workplaces. And sex workers can work under hospitality contracts that don’t mention sex work.

Far from granting too much power to sex work employers, the new scheme seems, overall, to grant government too much say in the employer-employee relationship. The good news is that sex workers who want to work in such a system can, and sex workers who want to work outside such a system can. Under decriminalization (unlike legalization), staying out of the more managed system isn’t against the law. More Sex & Tech News

Artificial intelligence hits search results, chaos ensuing… Google’s turn toward AI-powered search results is starting to be felt by news outlets and is likely to have impacts that spread much wider. “The shift stands to shake the very foundations of the web,” warns The Washington Post in whatalasis not an overstatement.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signeda measure making the minimum age to work in a strip club 21 years old.

Read James Czerniawski on the new AI bills in the Senate: Today, @amyklobuchar is marking up several bills related to #AI and #Elections in Senate Rules. Scott Blackburn and I submitted written testimony to the committee explaining how the proposals are deeply flawed. A quick thread ????https://t.co/oz6WBRRUwl

— James Czerniawski (@JamesCz19) May 15, 2024

North Carolinians talk to lawmakers about porn.

It is not going to be difficult for teenagers to get around age verification laws. Today’s Image Decriminalization rally in Washington, D.C. | 2019 (ENB/Reason)

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UK

Eight arrests in connection with two separate terrorism investigations

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Eight arrests in connection with two separate terrorism investigations

Eight men have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in two unconnected terrorism investigations.

In one operation on Saturday, counter-terror officers arrested five men, four of whom are Iranian nationals. All are in police custody.

The Met said the arrests related to a “suspected plot to target a specific premises”.

In an update shortly after midnight, the force said: “Officers have been in contact with the affected site to make them aware and provide relevant advice and support, but for operational reasons, we are not able to provide further information at this time.”

It added officers were carrying out searches at a number of addresses in the Greater Manchester, London and Swindon areas in connection with the investigation.

It said those detained were:

• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Swindon area
• A 46-year-old man arrested in west London
• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Stockport area
• A 40-year-old man arrested in the Rochdale area
• A man whose age was not confirmed arrested in the Manchester area.

More from UK

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This is a fast-moving investigation and we are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated.

“The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter.

“We understand the public may be concerned and as always, I would ask them to remain vigilant and if they see or hear anything that concerns them, then to contact us.

“We are working closely with local officers in the areas where we have made arrests today and I’d like to thank police colleagues around the country for their ongoing support.”

Terror arrests in separate investigation

Police also arrested three further Iranian nationals in London on Saturday as part of another, unrelated counter terror investigation.

The suspects were detained under section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.

Read more from Sky News:
Pictured: Boy killed in fire – 14 children arrested
Lady Gaga puts on biggest-ever show for free

Home secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement: “I want to thank the police and our security services for the action they have taken to keep our country safe.

“Protecting national security is the first duty of government and our police and security services have our strong support in their vital work.”

She added: “These are serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats.”

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Pro-crypto Democrats pull support for stablecoin bill in last minute

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Pro-crypto Democrats pull support for stablecoin bill in last minute

Pro-crypto Democrats pull support for stablecoin bill in last minute

A group of US Senate Democrats known for supporting the crypto industry have said they would oppose a Republican-led stablecoin bill if it moves forward in its current form.

The move threatens to stall legislation that could establish the first US regulatory framework for stablecoins, according to a May 3 report from Politico.

Per the report, nine Senate Democrats said in a joint statement that the bill “still has numerous issues that must be addressed.” They warned they would not support a procedural vote to advance the legislation unless changes are made.

Among the signatories were Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Andy Kim — all of whom had previously backed the bill when it passed through the Senate Banking Committee in March.

The bill, introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty, is formally known as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.

Related: Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Senate prepares to vote on stablecoin bill

The Senate is expected to begin floor consideration of the bill in the coming days, with the first vote potentially taking place next week.

The bill has been championed by the crypto industry as a landmark step toward regulatory clarity. However, the Democrats’ about-face reflects growing unease within the party.

Although revisions were made to the bill after its committee approval to address Democratic concerns, the lawmakers said the changes fell short. They called for stronger safeguards related to Anti-Money Laundering, national security, foreign issuers, and accountability measures for noncompliant actors.

The statement was also signed by Senators Raphael Warnock, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ben Ray Luján, John Hickenlooper and Adam Schiff.

Pro-crypto Democrats pull support for stablecoin bill in last minute
A copy of the statement. Source: Alex Thorn

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Angela Alsobrooks were absent from the list, who co-sponsored the bill alongside Hagerty.

Despite their objections, the Democratic senators emphasized their commitment to shaping responsible crypto regulation. They reportedly said they “are eager to continue working with our colleagues to address these issues.”

Related: US banks are ‘free to begin supporting Bitcoin’

Crypto needs a stablecoin bill

On April 27, Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, criticized the US Federal Reserve for quietly maintaining a key anti-crypto policy that favors big-bank-issued stablecoins, despite relaxing crypto partnership rules for banks.

Long explained that while the Fed recently rescinded four prior crypto guidelines, a Jan. 27, 2023, statement was left intact in coordination with the Biden administration.

The guidance, according to Long, blocks banks from engaging directly with crypto assets and prohibits them from issuing stablecoins on permissionless blockchains.

However, Long noted that once a federal stablecoin bill becomes law, it could override the Fed’s stance. “Congress should hurry up,” she urged.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

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UK

Pictured: Boy killed in Gateshead industrial estate fire – 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter

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Pictured: Boy killed in Gateshead industrial estate fire - 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter

Tributes have been paid to 14-year-old Layton Carr who died in a fire at an industrial estate.

Eleven boys and three girls, aged between 11 and 14 years, have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the incident in Gateshead on Friday. They remain in police custody.

Drone view showing the aftermath of a fire at Fairfield industrial park at Bill Quay, Gateshead
Image:
Police were alerted to a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area

Firefighters raced to Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area shortly after 8pm, putting out the blaze a short time later.

Police then issued an appeal for a missing boy, Layton Carr, who was believed to be in the area at the time.

In a statement, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.

Layton’s next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers, police added.

Pic: North News and Pictures
Image:
Layton has been described as a ‘beautiful soul’

A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.

Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”

One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”

Another added: “My boy ❤️ my baby cousin, my Layton. Nothing will ever come close to the pain I feel right now. Forever 14. I’ll miss you sausage.”

A third said: “Rest in peace big lad such a beautiful soul taken far to soon my thoughts are with you Gee stay strong girl hear for u always.”

Read more from Sky News:
Eight arrests in connection with two terrorism operations
Compensation scheme scrapped for child sexual abuse victims

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”

She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.

They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.

A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.

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