Pivot Legal Society

"[Some men] think that by rejecting strip clubs and the women who perform in them, they’re being 'better men' than their forefathers by not 'objectifying women'.... Breaking: You can respect women and enjoy strip clubs." https://www.insidehook.com//straight-men-can-enjoy-strip-c

"An hour of that four-hour shift was spent just waiting for customers and she earned $150, less than a third of what she would have made pre-pandemic." https://www.reuters.com//strippers-are-back-job-covid-rul/

"Why are policing killing or injuring our members? What have you done about it? We are calling on these officials to be accountable for these shootings." https://thetyee.ca//Why-Do-Police-Keep-Shooting-Nuu-chah-n

I was being robbed and humiliated, all kinds of terrible things. Here I’ve found some calm and peace that I can regroup, and try to take a breath and start over again. https://thetyee.ca//Canada-First-Shelter-Sex-Workers-Provi

Some want to live indoors but can't afford market housing and don't want to live in supportive housing or SROs, where residents are surveilled and their tenant rights trampled on by non-profit service providers. https://www.straight.com//homeless-people-living-in-camper

Some of us couldn’t talk our loved ones off the edge... Meanwhile, the police and the City are using the moment of somebody in crisis as a 'feel-good' story... It just seems like they're co-opting someone’s pain to promote their services. https://www.thestar.com//toronto-police-city-called-out-fo

All SFU and UBC students, faculty, and staff: Check out this panel featuring Pivot staff Meenakshi Mannoe discussing transformative justice and how we can shift from the current approach of criminalization, police and prisons. More info below: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sexualized-violence-and-transfo

"Gentrification relies on the police to remove the poor from public view by any means available to them, whether through harassment, arrest, brutality, or murder, in order to create a more favourable climate for investment. But with nowhere to go, poor people find ways to remain, survive, and resist." http://thevolcano.org/2021/01/21/jj-bean-war-on-the-poor

"We believe we can build a society that values human and other-than-human life and the land, and we commit to shifting away from using badges, guns and cages to manage inequality." Please consider signing on to this letter demanding safer communities for all by divesting from policing and prisons! #Defund https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSfhGAsyW1_naWEGrO/viewform

We cannot end the marginalization and victimization of all sex workers without also fighting transphobia, racism, [whore] stigma, the criminalization of drug use and xenophobia. https://truthout.org//ending-violence-against-sex-workers-

Remembering our friend and comrade, Ron. We love and miss you. Rest in power.

"... Our findings show that the vast majority of participants have negative interactions with police, which discourages them from seeking medical assistance at future overdose incidents." https://www.sciencedirect.com//a/abs/pii/S0955395920303777

We want to see people who want to get better get the treatment that they need, and it’s not available in smaller communities. More assistance, more health dollars allocated to small communities would definitely be a benefit. https://www.citynews1130.com//fort-nelson-records-sharp-s/

"... As we begin 2021, we need the resolve and creativity to mitigate the potential harms of interventions like isolation, so that the act of preventing one tragedy doesn’t lead to another." https://www.macleans.ca//canada-counts-its-dead-much-too-s

With overdoses continuing to rise across the country, these findings highlight the urgent need for clinical research to evaluate the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids as adjunctive treatment to OAT to address the escalating opioid overdose epidemic. https://vancouversun.com//cannabis-could-reduce-fentanyl-u

TGEU Trans Day of Remembrance 2020: Fighting for our futures Via 2020 Trans Day Of Remembrance "Vancouver" Closed Captions included. ... [CONTENT WARNING: the video contains brief descriptions of violence and oppression.] This year, on the Trans Day of Remembrance (#TDoR2020), we remember and honour trans and gender-diverse people whose lives were taken away from us. We must never forget that behind every name stands a life fully lived. A person who fought and laughed. Who supported others. A person who loved and was loved. Today, we remember and mourn those we lost. We honour their legacies every day. We fight for our futures. Learn more on tdor.tgeu.org Read our joint statement for TDoR on tgeu.org/joint-statement-tdor-2020" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKUzv08QGjU

In 2020, we hosted dozens of presentations/workshops to our peers and allies, reaching over 10,000 people. We couldn't do this without people like you championing our work. Donate today to keep our work sustainable. Your gift will be matched up to $5,000 www.pivotlegal.org/donate

Today marks #TransDayOfRemembrance, an annual event memorializing the hundreds of people murdered each year due to anti-trans & anti-sex worker bigotry & violence. Join Vancouver TDOR Organizing Committee tonight for a PHYSICALLY-DISTANCED march, memorial or both - in-person or via live-stream. #vanpoli https://linktr.ee/TDORvancouver

Action Alert: We need provincial leadership to take seriously the harms caused by criminalizing people who use drugs. Tell John Horgan to listen to expert advice and formally request a criminal code exemption from the federal government to decriminalize drug possession for personal use in Government of British Columbia. We need decriminalization now! https://act.leadnow.ca/save-lives/?source=fb

The fact is, people are dying in greater numbers than ever. So, yeah, there’s been progress, but it’s just not enough. It’s not courageous enough. https://vancouversun.com//can-we-reduce-drug-overdose-deat

Following Mayor Kennedy Stewart's announcement yesterday, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and Pivot Legal Society release a statement of support for a Vancouver motion to fully decriminalize people who use drugs, and caution against partial decriminalization: By only partially decriminalizing we’re going to end up with the same problems: people staying poor and over-policed. ~Jon Braithwaite, VANDU Board Member and Secretary https://www.pivotlegal.org/vandu_pivot_joint_statement

"Over the past two decades, tenants have been repeatedly evicted because the buildings are in such poor repair and the city says many of those evictions have been illegal." https://thetyee.ca//Two-Decades-Now-Vancouver-Serious-Prot