Got Something to Say???

~Desiree Alliance Presents~

In partnership with BAYSWAN, Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA, SWANK, H.I.P.S. Different Avenues, COYOTE, Best Practices Policy Project, $pread Magazine, St. James Infirmary, Harm Reduction Coalition, PONY, SWOP-Chicago, SWOP-Las Vegas, SWOP-Los Angeles, SWOP- Northern California, SWOP-Arizona, SWOP-Portland, & SWOP-EAST

“Pulling Back the Sheets: Sex, Work and Social Justice”

July 2008 Chicago, IL

Deadline for submissions: Friday March 21st, 2008

Email submissions to: dasubmissions@yahoo.com  or call: 1-866-525-7967 extension 702 for assistance.

All presentations will be considered, and confirmation will be provided by April 11th for all submissions.

The Desiree Alliance is a diverse, volunteer-based, sex worker-led network of organizations, communities and individuals across the US working in harm reduction, direct services, political advocacy and health services for sex workers. We provide leadership development and create space for sex workers and supporters to come together to advocate for human, labor and civil rights for all workers in the sex industry.

This convergence will create space for dialogue between hundreds of sex workers and their allies to share their personal experience and skills, identify workers’ most pressing needs, share training and networking skills for developing solutions, and to collaborate on strategies for social and political change on local, state, national and international levels.

We prioritize sex worker leadership in creating an informed, cooperative community. We invite proposals for workshops and presentations addressing social, cultural, economic, political and strategic issues related to sex work. All backgrounds, experiences, and genders are part of the social justice movement towards the human rights of sex workers, therefore we emphasize diversity among our organizers, presenters and participants.  Your presentation is an opportunity to share your skills, as both a sex worker and an activist, so that we may bring together our collective knowledge and experience to empower our movement.

We come to this conference because we believe sex workers have the solutions.  You are the expert.  Come share it with others.

A Proposal should include:

Title for your presentation

Affiliation with an organization or social justice movement you’d like to have listed

A short paragraph with your background and experience in sex work or the sex workers rights’ movement

A one paragraph summary of the workshop or presentation (four to eight sentences)

The time frame needed to present, whether 15 minutes, half-hour or an hour.

Please include whether or not you will need any technical support, such as a projector or AV, etc.

We are accepting practical workshops from all genders and working backgrounds including, but not limited to the following subjects:  Advocacy/Outreach, Court Support and Solidarity, Fundraising/Grant-writing, Self-Defense Training, Planning for Retirement, Protecting Our Families, Health & Safety Issues, How to Run a Business, Direct Services, Substances in the Workplace, Strategies for Alternatives to Criminalization, Policy Reform, Grassroots Organizing, Building Community, Labor Organizing, Lobbying, Media Training, Wellness Leadership from Sex Workers, Technical Training for the Web, Marketing Strategies for Organizing and Sex Work, Screening Clients, Policies related to Sex Work and, Bridging International Sex Work Communities, Workshops about Clients, Allyship with the Prison Reform Movement, Impacts of Criminalization and Incarceration on Our Community, John Schools, Impacts of End Demand and Anti-Trafficking Policies, Media Advocacy Toolkits, Federal Law and Sex Work, Issues Specific to Trans Sex Work Communities,  Organizing and Communication: Issues of Class, Race and Gender in Sex Workers Rights Movements, Resisting Oppression, How to be an Ally to…. Sex Workers.

Desiree Alliance is a Project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a 501(c)(3) non-profit.Visit us at: http://www.DesireeAlliance.org