Tell the Department of Health and Human Services How the Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath Harms Sex Workers

We need your help by Tuesday, December 22

Note: This is very time sensitive! Please take the simple action of reading and signing a letter (can be done electronically by individuals and organizations, within the US and internationally) by Tuesday, December 22nd.

As many of you know, the anti-prostitution loyalty oath (APLO) is a regulation that has been part of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003 (aka “Leadership Act”) which requires non-governmental organizations and health service-providers receiving that receive funding through the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to sign an oath opposing prostitution and sex-trafficking. “Opposing prostitution” manifests in a peculiar way that essentially blocks life-saving services that sex workers once received through US funded organizations around the world.

The APLO is being reviewed by the Department of Health and Human Services, and we have the opportunity to sign on to a really great letter and submit comments on the harm that the APLO does. The letter, which you can read here, was drafted based on comments from the Brennan Law Center and the Open Society Institute, as well as several other groups that support and advocate for the human rights of sex workers.

You can sign on as individuals through the Change.org petition I created here.

The turn around on this is tight – if you want to sign on to the letter, send your name and organizational affiliation (if any) by TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22. The comments will then go to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at the Office of Global Affairs.

Thank you!

-Dacia

Annie Sprinkle and Kimberlee Cline on KPFA

We’re on at 1:10:00

KPFA December 17th Interview with Annie Sprinkle and Kimberlee Cline

Arrest the Violence: Human Rights Violations Against Sex Workers in 11 Countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia

From Aliya Rakhmetova of SWAN.

Dear all:

To mark December 17, the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers, the Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia is releasing its new report, Arrest the Violence: Human Rights Violations Against Sex Workers in 11 Countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report is based on interviews with more than 200 male, female and transgender sex workers between 2007 and 2009 and chillingly documents widespread violence and discrimination against them, particularly by state actors.

According to Rebecca Schleifer of Human Rights Watch’s Health and Human Rights Division:
Arrest the Violence is the first piece of research done under the leadership of sex workers to document human rights violations they face across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Sex workers throughout the region report that they face verbal and physical abuse, including beatings, kidnapping, and sexual violence, by police and private citizens. Sex workers also report that police confiscated condoms as “evidence” of sex work, and subjected them to mandatory HIV testing.
These are not isolated incidents. The physical, sexual, and verbal violations of sex workers’ rights are part of a pattern of abuse by police and in the community that is documented throughout the region.
It is my sincere hope that this report will serve as a catalyst to awaken the broader human rights community to the importance of documenting and denouncing human rights abuses against sex workers, and working with sex workers to end these abuses.

To access the report, please follow the links below.

Questions or comments may be directed to SWAN@TASZ.HU.

Sincerely,
Aliya Rakhmetova
Coordinator Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN)

Police identify remains, look for link to ‘Green River Killer’

(CNN) — The remains of an Oregon teenager missing for more than 25 years were recently identified by authorities, and police are looking into whether she might have been a victim of Gary Ridgway, known as the “Green River Killer.”

Police believe Ridgway could be responsible for the death of Angela Marie Girdner because her body was found within a mile of the remains of two other women that Ridgway admitted killing, the county sheriff’s office said. Those bodies were found in Washington County, Oregon, near Portland. The bodies of Ridgway’s other 46 victims were found in the Seattle, Washington, area.

The most prolific known serial killer in U.S. history, Ridgway is serving 48 consecutive life sentences. He has denied involvement in Girdner’s death, as well as that of Tammie Liles, whose remains were found near Girdner’s.

More CNN.com 12.16.2009

The Green River case takes its name from a river south of Seattle where Ridgway began dumping his victims in 1982. Most of the women were prostitutes. Ridgway has said he targeted prostitutes “because I thought I could kill as many as I wanted without getting caught.” He said he killed because he hated prostitutes and didn’t want to pay them for sex, and claimed he killed so many women he had a hard time keeping them straight

.

SWOP East Radio on XXBN International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 17, 2009 2 PM Eastern Listen to the Show

In honor of International Day to end Violence against Sex Workers Jill Brenneman and Renegade Evolution discuss progress and set backs facing Sex Workers Rights Movements all over the world. From laws to social attitudes, allies to enemies, the personal to the political, a lot of change has happened in the last 365 days, so please join us and feel free to call in at 646.200.3136 regarding this topic.

Presented by SWOP East Nuanced Humanism

Woman Dies in 107-Degree Cage in Prison: SWOP Remembers Marcia Powell

For Immediate Release

Contacts: SWOP-USA 1-877-776-2004 ext 2

Liz Coplen- SWOP-Tucson Peggy Plews- Arizona Prison Watch
info@swop-tucson.org freemarciapowell@gmail.com

Woman Dies in 107-Degree Cage in Prison: SWOP Remembers Marcia Powell- International To Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

On Friday December 18th sex workers from around the country are gathering to remember Marcia Powell, a woman considered mentally impaired by the court, who was incarcerated for solicitation of oral sex and sentenced to over two years in prison. On May 20, 2009, Marcia Powell died after being left in an uncovered outdoor cage in 107-degree heat at Arizona’s Perryville women’s prison. Sex workers and prisoners’ rights activists rally at the Arizona Department of Corrections as part of a series of events in conjunction with the 7th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

Tucson, Arizona December 15, 2009 -December 17th is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This event was created by Sex Workers Outreach Project, SWOP-USA (http://www.swopusa.org), a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy.

In 2009, sex workers from around the globe met gruesome deaths and endured unspeakable violence. Some died at the hands of a solitary perpetrator; others were victims of serial “prostitute killers.” While some of these horrific stories received international media attention, other cases received little more than a perfunctory investigation. Many cases remain unsolved, sometimes forever.

On Friday December 18th, SWOP-Tucson calls on sex workers and other activists from around the country to gather in remembrance of Marcia Powell, a woman considered mentally impaired by the court, who was incarcerated for solicitation of oral sex and sentenced to over two years in prison. On May 20, 2009, Marcia Powell died after being left in an uncovered outdoor cage in 107-degree heat at Arizona’s Perryville prison for women. Attention to Powell’s death revealed that this type of confinement was routine; women were left in these cages regularly.

“Marcia was the victim of dual forms of injustice, as a sex worker and as a prisoner,” said Liz Coplen of SWOP. “The prohibition of prostitution results in selective prosecution that puts some of the most vulnerable in our society at the mercy of a system that robs them of their basic respect and dignity.” For decades efforts to curb sex work have not only failed to reduce incidences of prostitution, but they have corrupted our justice system resulting in selective enforcement, racial profiling and inhumane treatment of those who don’t have the financial resources to fight back.

Violence against sex workers is epidemic and rarely taken seriously. The criminalization of prostitution legitimizes this abuse so that sex workers are the targets of violent crime with little recourse. Incarceration is not a solution to the issues of poverty and security that some sex workers face. As the death of Marcia Powell in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) shows, prison sentences can include the most extreme form of neglect and abuse. As a result of an internal investigation, 16 people were disciplined. A criminal investigation, ongoing at the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, will determine whether criminal charges should be filed in her death. See “AZ corrections workers disciplined in inmate death,” Associated Press, 9/22/09 (http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/22/3302271-az-corrections-workers-disciplined-in-inmate-death) ; “Inquiry: Inmates often left in sun-exposed jails,” Arizona Republic, 9/25/09 (http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2009/09/25/20090925powell0925-CP.html).

On December 18th, noon, SWOP, Arizona Prison Watch and Friends of Marcia Powell are gathering at the Arizona Department of Corrections in Phoenix for Marcia and other prisoners, and sex workers everywhere, as we call for respect for human rights.

To see full letter submitted to AZ Department of Corrections here: http://www.swopusa.org/files/December18thLetter.pdf

What: Rally-Remembering Marcia Powell and other prisoners and sex workers
When: Friday, December 18th, 2009, 12 Noon
Where: Steps of the AZ Department of Corrections, 1601 West Jefferson St. Phoenix, AZ 85007

On December 17th SWOP-Tucson, is presenting two events in Tucson:
http://www.swop-tucson.org/?page_id=4

A performance art/art installation called “No Human Involved (NHI),” 5- 6 PM at El Presidio Park,160 West Alameda Street, in Tucson, AZ and a “Memorial Ritual and Vigil” 6:30 – 7:30 PM at El Tiradito Shrine, a national historic site at 354 South Main Avenue in Tucson, AZ.

Visit SWOP USA’s website at http://www.swopusa.org/dec17 to find a December 17th event in your town.

2009.National.Release.Letterhead

Privacy for Sex Workers.

The guy in charge of Firefox just called out Google, saying, stop using their search.  Why would he do that? Because Google’s CEO said:

If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.

But can’t we just trust in “I have nothing to hide?”.  NO.  Privacy is way more than what some company collects about you.  Privacy is The right of an individual to choose what personal information is given to who and when. So, think about your privacy, and what you want it to be, then SHARE that information with people.  Let people know what your privacy level is.  Do you want your partner to dish about your latest happenings to their friends?  Do you trust person X to know about your Sex Work, but don’t want them to tell anyone else?  The clearer and more open you can be about your privacy, the more it can be respected.  But back to this whole Google privacy issue:

So the Firefox guy says use Bing, which is Microsofts search.  I actually have some different thoughts. If you must have google search, there are ways to make it more private.  But there are search engines dedicated to Privacy, like ixquick.  Also, sites like Zuula and Hakia have reasonable privacy policies. I think I like Hakia’s front page better, but from a privacy perspective ixquick is definitely the queen.

But what about Google’s other services?

I’d recommend Riseup or Yahoo Mail if you need free email.  Otherwise for some money try something like hosted Zimbra, I use a company in the UK. (I like the idea of my email being outside of the US.  Then the govt’s have to beg each other for access, and for what I do, I can’t see them caring enough).

Instead of Google Docs, try Zoho.  Instead of Google Analytics (which is on the short list to being banned in Germany), try Yahoo Analytics.

I sadly have no alternative to Google Maps  (There is Yahoo Maps, and Microsoft Maps, but they don’t really compare).

But, EVERY web company today (yes including Facebook, twitter, etc) all collect everything they can about you, to use for advertising, etc.  Google is by no means the only one.  However, Google’s privacy policy is HORRID.  Most of the others at least attempt to have one, and think about privacy.

So what can you do?

For every Privacy tool you use, there is a trade-off. There are things like TOR for the uber-private (and lots of tools to help integrate it into your browser experience easier). But for those of us that don’t need or want something quite so heavey handed, you can try some of these tools which I blatantly steal from Jah-Wren Ryel:

• Adblock Plus [mozilla.org] – general catch-all to block things like doubleclick and the million other trackers
• CookieSafe Lite [mozilla.org] – for fine-grained control of what sites can set cookiesNoScript [mozilla.org] – for fine-grained control of what sites can use javascript and flash
• Redirect Cleaner [mozilla.org] – for removing those “bounce links” that a lot of sites use to track you when you follow a URL off their site, with the cleaner you go directly to the destination URL
• RefControl [mozilla.org] – for clearing out or rewriting the referrer URL – prevents sites from knowing where you came from when you clicked a URL to their site, sometimes helpful in accessing poorly ‘restricted’ content
• Targetted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out [mozilla.org] – sets special cookies that sites may choose to obey to say “don’t profile me” since these TACOs are not unique-per-user, I figure it can’t hurt although it probably doesn’t do anything
• User Agent Switcher [mozilla.org] – Lets your browser identify itself as a different browser – this is very important
• Ghostery [mozilla.org] – Informational Only – tells you what tracking sites may be tracking you on any given page (does not block them, and you get false alarms on sites where NoScript blocks javascript, but it is still good for situational awareness)
• Better Privacy [mozilla.org] – Blocks new stealth “super cookies” in Flash and DOM Storage Objects. VERY IMPORTANT.

One more thing before I wrap up about privacy, what about this Do I need a second pre-paid phone to do sex work?

NO, but you probably want one anyway.  It won’t do anything to hide you from the police.  If you want to hide from the police, you need to do a lot of things differently.  If it’s just around Sex Work, the cops almost certainly don’t care about your legal identity until after they bust you.  But, it’s great way to keep stalkers and others from tracking down your legal identity.

Privacy is WAY more than just keeping your browsing information from Google, but it was a great excuse for me to write about the larger issues of privacy.  I encourage you to think about what you want known about you, both online and off, and then share your boundaries or your own personal Privacy Policy with others, so that there is a greater chance of it being respected. I certainly don’t know all the answers.  Do you have great tips on privacy?

Talk Radio XXBN partners with SWOP East for Live Coverage of International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

Please Join SWOP-East on XXBN, www.xxbn.net Thursday, December 17 2009 from 9 to 10 PM Eastern as we take part in the activities of IInternational Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This will be a live call in program featuring SWOP East members, live reports from other events worldwide, analysis, opinions and the voices of sex workers on this important day. Sex workers, sex worker rights supporters, and advocates for ending violence against sex workers are encouraged to participate.

To Join in go to www.xxbn.net or call 646.200.3136 to hear the show live or to be a call in guest.

If you would like to confirm a live report that you would like to air on this show, please email Jill Brenneman via the SWOP East contact page for more details!

We look forward to sharing this event with you.

SWOP East Nuanced Humanism

There ya go Donna Hughes. You’ve saved the Carolina Panthers Mascot from potential trafficking

Donna Hughes may finally have a victory she can cite.

The New England Patriot’s mascot was arrested in Rhode Island for hiring an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute on Craigslist. With the Carolina Panthers coming to town this week, one could only imagine what heinous perpetrations the New England Patriots mascot may have had in mind with the Carolina Panthers mascot. Which is ironically a ki….. umm cat.

Well, there ya go Donna, there would have been cross border traveling as I can personally attest that the Carolina Panthers play their home games in North Carolina, and I have no doubt the Panthers Mascot would have been brought across state lines via aircraft with many young women, ironically called the Carolina TopCats who are likely to be scantily clad at game time.

I’m certain Donna Hughes would argue, all the indicators of human trafficking are there,,,,,, There is cross border transportation, young women dressed as cheerleaders, even many men who will play with their balls on Sunday.

But thanks to her efforts, this may have been thwarted.
MSNBC

From MSNBC “Don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to say it; Pat the Patriot, beloved mascot of the New England Patriots and inspiration to Boston-area children since 1960, has been arrested in a prostitution sting. But it gets worse: Evidently Pat was caught answering a naughty ad on Craigslist. Placed by a policeman in Rhode Island.

Rumor has it that local prostitutes called Pat by his other nickname, “The Revolutionary Minuteman.” They did not mean it as a compliment”.

Read More

Public Service Announcement for December 17th

SWIRL was kind enough to send in a PSA for December 17th.  Most college/independent radio stations are happy to play PSA’s, some more mainstream stations sometimes will.  So why not try emailing this to your local radio station?  Also good for webcasts, podcasts, etc.

MP3: PSA

Text (transcription): December 17th, is International Day to end Violence Against Sex Workers, This event was created to call attention against sex workers all over the globe it was originally thought up by Annie Sprinkle and started by the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River killer in Seattle WashingtonInternational Day to end Violence Against Sex Workers , has empowered sex workers in over 100 cities around the world to come together and organize against discrimination and remember victims of violence. During the week of December 17th, sex worker rights organizations will be staging actions and vigils to raise awareness about violence that is commonly committed against sex workers.  visit www.swopusa.org/dec17 to find out about an action or vigil in your area or to help organize one.  Again that’s www.swopusa.org/dec17.

SWOP National Call To Action Int’l Day To End Violence

What: Protest Rally: Marcia Powell’s death, AZ Department of Corrections.
When: Friday December 18th, 2009 NOON
Where: AZ Department of Corrections
1601 West Jefferson St.
Phoenix, AZ 85007

Sex Worker’s and allies are coming together in front of the AZ Department of Corrections on December 18th, as part of International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers, an annual event to call attention to violence committed against sex workers all over the globe. Marcia Powell was a prisoner of the State of Arizona who collapsed and died from heatstroke last May after being locked in an outdoor cage and ignored for four hours in 107 degree heat.

You are invited to join us in Tucson, Arizona on December 17, 2009 (performance art/public installation and a candelight vigil) and in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2009 (protest rally on the steps of the Arizona Department of Corrections).

Bring red umbrellas, to stand in solidarity! Signs are welcome.
Sex Worker Rights are Human Rights!

For more information: visit: www.swopusa.org/dec17 or call 877-776-2004 x 2

Badge for December 17th

Everybody is welcome to use this badge at their blogs, sites, newsletters, etc. Please link back to: http://www.swopusa.org/dec17

Here is a quick copy/paste version:

<a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://www.swopusa.org/dec17″><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1911″ title=”Dec 17th” src=”http://deepthroated.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/dec-17th2.jpg” alt=”" width=”170″ height=”170″ /></a>

Networking for December 17th

If you haven’t already done so, please submit your event details here.

Find events in your city here.

San Francisco: Sex Workers Host A Remembrance Gathering & a Solidarity Stroll

For the 7th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

Contact: Kimberlee Cline

Phone: 877-776-2004 ext. 2

Email: press@swopusa.org

This December 17th marks the 7th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Events are being planned in over two dozen countries and in dozens of cities. In San Francisco, sex workers Annie Sprinkle and Kimberlee Cline will host a remembrance ritual and a solidarity stroll down Market Street.

This annual event was created in 2003 in response to Gary Ridgway a.k.a. the Green River Killer’s trial and his brutal statements about choosing prostitutes because he could “get away with it.” Many believe that the Green River Killer did in fact get away with it in the Seattle area for over 20 years because of law enforcement’s disinterest in solving the murders of prostitutes and society’s general acceptance of violence against sex workers.

“If the victims had been teachers, nurses or secretaries or other women, I suspect–as Ridgway did– that the killer would have been caught much sooner.” Says Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D. a former prostitute and adult film star of twenty years, turned sexologist and artist. “While I personally feel that I came out of the sex industry a winner, I’m aware that there are those that aren’t as lucky as I was and are real victims of bad laws, whore-phobic hate crimes, rape and worse. It’s so important to remember those people, and to let the public know we care and we need and deserve safer working conditions.”

Sex Worker positive songs.

I’m always intrigued when I hear a sex worker positive (or mostly positive) song that becomes widely famous.  These artists are like sex worker rights activists, but aren’t part of the larger sex worker movement, which makes me sad.  I’d love to get people like Wyclef Jean to get even more down for our cause, and change minor little issues with their music.  Take this one for example:

For mainstream music, this is unbelievable right? Except the part where Hope says:

Take me away from here, so far
Where they ride horses, no cars
No more stripping in bars
Me and you ‘Clef, against the odds

Right there, it’s the pretty woman stereotype.  Sex worker rights activists clearly have an issue with this stereotype being pushed down our collective throats.  Certainly some of us want out of the business (whatever form of sex work), but we don’t need you in a white horse to come save us.  We are empowered human beings, capable of making our own destinies, even if we had our knight on a white horse fantasies as a little girl!

Do others have sex worker positive music?  Please share!  It would be great on March 3rd to have sex worker positive music at an event!

Accu-Weather on Prostitution….. Huh?

Well, I can’t say that I ever thought of this or expected to see it. But Accu-Weather, yes, that Accu-Weather, the one you hear on radio forecasts, you know, “here is Joe Bastardi with the, Accu-Weather Forecast on 99.9 FM, The Fan”, etc,,, Yes, that accuweather.

Somehow they are now discussing prostitution…… Perhaps this explains penguin prostitution?

Friday, November 27, 2009
Prostitution Link??

From Accu-Weather Meteorologist Brett Anderson

When I first glanced at this article I just shook my head. This is a bit of a stretch, right?

Anyway, according to GMANews.TV, some women in poor, coastal countries are being driven into sex work due to climate change. More

Rights, Not Rescue: Dutch Org Mama Cash Hosts Conversation about Sex Work

This post was written by Dutch feminist Marije Janssen and originally published on the International Women’s Health Coalition blog Akimbo.

On November 10th, international women’s social change fund Mama Cash packed the house at the culture and politics center De Balie in Amsterdam for Rights, Not Rescue. The evening-long event about sex workers rights had an interesting selection of international guests. Although I follow the work of Mama Cash closely, it was a pleasant surprise for me to learn that they so actively take a stand in the current debates surrounding sex workers and their position in society.

The second pleasant surprise was to see how many people and experts showed up from the Netherlands and beyond to take part in the discussion. My guess is that about 100 people were there, filling all the chairs and stairs.

While entering the hall a short film played on the screen. It was ‘I am a sex worker’ a short piece which came out of the first Speak Up media training, a unique training for sex workers on how to deal with the media, organized by Sex Work Awareness in New York.

After a powerful introduction by Nikki McIntyre, the executive director of Mama Cash, Mama Cash founder Marjan Sax introduced the guests of the evening: Ruth Morgan Thomas (Scotland), Pye Jakobsson (Sweden), Marianne Jonker (The Netherlands) and Macklean Kyomya (Uganda). Each woman is an expert on sex worker issues in her own country, and each is dealing with both similar and different problems when speaking up about sex worker rights.

Something that became very clear during the discussion was the ways in which the Swedish model, which criminalizes the client, and treats the sex worker as a victim, dominated European political discourse in the past decade. While protests in Sweden against the law are getting louder and louder, it seems like its ghost finally entered the Netherlands this past year with the new law proposed by Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin: a law that criminalizes clients and forces sex workers to register with the government to do their work legally.

While this proposal is designed to fight trafficking, panellists agreed that this wasn’t the best approach. Traffickers will be the first to register their women; if they can force them to work, it isn’t difficult to force them to register as well. And by criminalizing clients and asking them to check the registration of the sex worker they are visiting, you might take away the only lifeline these women have to the outside world, as Ruth Morgan Thomas stated. If you take that away, you are hurting the most vulnerable group of sex workers there is.

To make a difference and speak out, sex workers need to organize. Macklean Kyomya talked about the problems she dealt with and is still dealing with as she set up the Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA) in Uganda. She needed to gain confidence with the sex workers in her country and learn how to run a good organisation without proper funding. Although the United States is a major source of funding for HIV prevention work, it restricts funding to rights-based sex worker support organizations in two different ways, via the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Although PEPFAR supposedly promotes a balanced approach, until recently it required that one third of funding to an organizationbe spent promoting abstinence. Now, with the reauthorization of PEPFAR, if funding for abtinence-only education is less than 50% of prevention of sexual transmission funds, then a report justifying why is needed. PEPFAR also contains an Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath (APLO), which requires organizations receiving US HIV/AIDS assistance to formally pledge their opposition to prostitution and sex trafficking. The APLO also prohibits organizational activities that promote or support the legalization or practice of prostitution (“promote” and “support” are broadly defined), with no distinction between privately and publicly funded programs.

In Europe people are very active. Forming trade unions is a possibility; there are eight countries in Europe that accept sex workers trade unions branches in pre-existing unions. But it’s difficult to establish human rights also because the stigmatization that sex workers deal with, even when being organized in a trade union. When in a trade union, sex workers still face different (and mostly unequal) treatment due to the nature of their work.

I was shocked to hear that Dutch government provided 50 million euros for a program to get women out of sex work, but took away funding for almost all the organizations that are providing guidance, help and information for sex workers in the field. Despite the financial challenges faced by organizations represented on the panel (and many of the experts in the audience), the energy in the room was inspiring. There was no bitterness, but the will to move forward and connect was palpable. steer cultures and governments away from the idea that sex workers are always victims of traffickers, of their conditions, of society. As Ruth Morgan Thomas stated in her concluding words: ‘Give us the right to say yes. This automatically gives us the right to say no as well’.

Marije Janssen is a feminist with a key interest in sexual rights and diversity. This interest is reflected in all of her work, if it’s writing for feminist magazine Lover or organizing an event about countermovements in sexuality. Learn more about Marije on her website (mostly in Dutch)

See more photos of the event on Mama Cash’s Facebook Fan page.

serial killer targets “a certain profile of a woman”

I am so upset.  Again, women have been assaulted, raped and murdered by a serial killer: Again, the “justice system” has turned a blind eye.  A blind eye to a women who was “bleeding and injured” because she wasn’t “credible.”  Read: a prostitute.

While this article does not use the exact term “prostitute,” nor does anyone in the interviews, we can read @#&*#!

Advocates fear that sensitivities including shame, checkered backgrounds and mistrust on the part of the women he tended to befriend might make it tricky to learn of more victims…

…Another woman, 43-year-old Tanja Doss, told The Associated Press two weeks ago that she was attacked by Sowell in April at his home and escaped the next morning. She said she didn’t tell police because she felt her past conviction on a drug charge made it unlikely they would take her seriously.

Any other survivors need to know “no matter what walk of life you chose, were actually pushed into, you’re still a person. Don’t give up on people that sometimes choose a different path of life, as they call them ‘throwaways’,'” Davis said…

…Sherri Smith, who works with churches in the Sowell neighborhood and has encouraged rape victims to seek help, said some might be hesitant for fear of being seen as “a certain profile of the women” that he allegedly targeted.

I feel sick to my stomach.  For all of those who adhere to armchair feminist theory that supports cracking down on prostitution in order to “save” women, for all of those who supposedly want to protect women from harm by lobbying for legislation to police them more, and for all those who try to silence the voices of sex workers who demand a right to safety by way of decriminalization, you should know that you efforts amount to this:

It soon emerged that a prosecutor declined to file charges after a woman fled Sowell’s home last December, bleeding and injured, because she wasn’t considered credible.

Read the whole article from the Huffington Post HERE

Also, an article from the NY Times, where “Nobody did anything because she is a girl walking around the streets.”

Open Invitation to the Int’l Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

In 2009, sex workers from around the globe met gruesome deaths and endured unspeakable violence. Some died at the hands of a solitary perpetrator; others were victims of serial “prostitute killers.” While some of these horrific stories received international media attention (Boston, Grand Rapids,  Tijuana, Cape Town, Sussex, Moscow, New Zealand and Hong Kong, just to name a few), other cases received little more than a perfunctory investigation. Many cases remain unresolved, sometimes forever. In fact, most violent crimes against sex workers remain unreported. Stigma and criminalization facilitate this violence; when sex work is criminalized, prostitutes can’t turn to the police for protection without risking prosecution themselves.

Each year, December 17th marks the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Last year’s event in Washington, D.C. was a big success and this year, sex workers and their allies from across the U.S. will gather together in Arizona to remember and honor sex workers who, by virtue of their profession, have been victimized  – including rape, assault and murder.

You are invited to join us on December 17-18, 2009 in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona to honor their memory.  This year is especially poignant for us in Arizona because in May, 2009, Marcia Powell, an inmate at the Perryville women’s prison outside of Phoenix who was serving 27 months for prostitution, died when she was left outside in a holding cage in 107 degree heat without shade, food or water. Marcia Powell’s death is not only a travesty of justice and a failure of the prison system, but bring into sharp focus the unjust nature of current anti-prostitution laws which continue to oppress sex workers everywhere. We are outraged and saddened, and we ask for your participation in putting an end to the violence.

To learn more about the IDEVASW events in Arizona, please click here or visit SWOP-Tucson.  If silence is the voice of complicity, then your presence in Arizona this December will be a powerful message for justice to be heard across the world.

_________________________@@@_____________________

IDEVASW Event Schedule – Arizona

December 17, 2009 – Tucson

5:00 – 6:00 p.m. “No Human Involved” Event

El Presidio Park, 160 West Alameda Street, Tucson, AZ.

Performance art/art installation with the theme, “No Human Involved.” The central image will be a physical representation of the Perryville Prison which will honor Marcia Powell and sex workers everywhere who have been victims of violence; a performance piece/die-in and live music.

6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. “Remembrance Memorial”

El Tiradito Shrine, 354 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ.

Join us in remembering and honoring sex worker who have been victims of violence. Live music, performance poetry, ritual, candlelight vigil and refreshments. El Tiradito is a national historic shrine dedicated to the “castaway sinner” and holds a special place in the hearts of Tucson sex workers.

December 18, 2009 – Phoenix

Political Rally at the downtown Phoenix offices of the Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections to protest current anti-prostitution laws and prison conditions. Did you know that in Arizona, a fourth conviction is a mandatory Class 5 felony with 180 days of prison for consensual sex between a client and a sex worker? Please visit http://swop-tucson.org for more details. Volunteers are needed to organize this day!

For more information or to volunteer, please email info@swop-tucson.org

Sex Workers and Unpersons.

I haven’t written here in a while.  I spent the last few months in a wheelchair, and then healing from being in the wheelchair, and now being sick the past month and finally getting treated for pneumonia.  But I’m coming out of that now, and I’m moving forward.  These experiences has given me so much to be thankful for!

I’m thankful that I’ve had the privilege of making more friends that do disability activism, so that I can learn from their community, and their amazing strengths.  I’m thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to really experience being in a wheelchair, however briefly, and how much I truly loved being an non-person, versus being less than a person. I’m thankful that I had the experience of being violated from their good intentions and grabbing my wheelchair and pushing me across the street without my permission or desire.

But really, I’m thankful for the huge amounts of self growth and new relationships I’ve been able to form.  And I’m so so so very glad I got to watch this video:

The video is all about being an unperson.  I was amazed at the similarities that Sex Workers share with Amanda Baggs’ experience of being an unperson.  Some of the quotes I really resonated with:

“Being an unperson means being at the mercy of the theories other people have about you”.

“An unperson can’t tell about beatings, rape, torture and murder, if  she does, she will not be believed”

“An unperson knows that the law will never come to his aid, not the way it does for real people”.

But, for all the similarities that we have, we have some very strong differences, one is that we can be selectively “unpersons”.  We have the choice of being in the closet about our Sex Work, and when in the closet, we don’t have to face being an unperson.  (Unless you get arrested by the police and they paste your picture all over town, or put you on TV like they have been known to do.)

I’m thankful for learning about my fellow brothers and sisters who are struggling for basic human rights.  Our struggles are different (and sometimes vastly different), but we have similarities and I hope that all of us can come together around the things we have in common, and respect each other’s differences.