Juhu Thukral is a leading expert on the rights of low-income and immigrant women in the areas of sexual health and rights, gender-based violence, economic security, and criminal justice. She is a founder of numerous ventures supporting women and LGBT people, and has been recognized as one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century 2012.” Ms. Thukral is the Director of Law and Advocacy at The Opportunity Agenda, where she leads strategic communications and policy initiatives on economic, immigrant, and gender and sexuality concerns. Prior to this, Ms. Thukral was the founder and Director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, where she continues to act as a Senior Advisor. She founded the Sex Workers Project in 2001, after recognizing the strong need for an organization that protects the legal and human rights of sex workers. She is also a founding Steering Committee member of the NY Anti-Trafficking Network. In 2010, she co-founded the Women’s 21st Century Salon.
Today, more than 20 years after Hill first came on the national stage, we better understand that gender justice is not only about women’s rights in opposition to men and their privilege—it encompasses the full spectrum of gender and sexuality.
We continue to push President Barack Obama to recognize trafficking for what it is and not get mixed up in the politics of advocates who are not as focused on addressing the climate of fear and coercion endured by so many workers around the world.
Vacating convictions laws are a step in the right direction for survivors of trafficking. Ultimately, however, creating fair working conditions and ending abuses in low-wage industries will ultimately do far more to end trafficking in persons and protect the human rights of workers in vulnerable situations.
Laws like the so-called “anti-prostitution pledge” in US policy may sound benign or acceptable but actually have negative repercussions for marginalizing groups. The U.S. government has sent mixed signals about how it enforces the pledge, but leaving it to political winds in a time of desperate need and economic crisis is dangerous.
An analysis of U.S. public opinion research on core reproductive justice values and issues reveals conflicting attitudes on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and the rights of LGBTQ persons.
