The gig is up. The government now admits that they don’t see any difference between trafficking victims and sex workers. They see both as criminals; women who refuse to conform. Poor women that refuse to live in poverty and become homeless. Mothers that struggle to pay their rent and feed their kids are all seen as criminals. Services should never have required anyone to prove that they were a victim. Services should be for all people who are living in poverty. However, the government invented the trafficking narrative so they wouldn’t have to provide any services for sex workers and they only had to pony up when it came to legal services for victims. - Bella Robinson
Support: RI HB 5354
H 5354 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019 HOUSE RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY THE HEALTH AND SAFETY IMPACT OF REVISING COMMERCIAL SEXUAL ACTIVITY LAWS
Philadelphia Free Press On: #IDTEVASW
"We, as one global community renew our commitment to solidarity on December 17,” said Melanie Dante, former sex worker who was one of the organizers at the Philadelphia events this year. "December 17 Events aim to raise outrage at violence against sex workers and strengthen sex worker communities and responses to the systematic, daily violence and exclusion sex workers experience.” Philadelphia Free Press. Article by David Block
Remembering Robyn: Whore Mother Patron Saint Of Prostitutes
Robyn Few (October 7, 1958 – September 13, 2012) was an American sex workers' rights activist who worked for the decriminalization of prostitution, against violence targeted at sex workers, and, generally, for the improvement of sex workers' working conditions. A former prostitute, she founded and directed the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOP-USA), and helped organize the annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. She was born in Paducah, Kentucky. She advocated the complete removal of prostitution from criminal codes. - WIKIPEDIA
2019 FEATURE: Sex Workers Are Human Resources.
JAN 10 • Thank you so much for your fair and balanced coverage of the 15th Annual IDTEVASW. Since 2012 SWOP and SAFE have strived to stand up and speak out in Philly on issues specific to stigma and gratuitous violence against sex workers. Folks are always amazed at how hard and painful this event is to do, yet in the end how truly blessed we are to be able to come together to do it. Many households in most areas of Greater Philadelphia, if not all of PA, are touched somehow by this issue. Talking about sex work and prostitution is hard. Living in shame and silence is harder. D/17 is not fun, though it is full of love. Truly. We are here because we have been there, and we care. Our voice is their voice. Thank you for covering the memorial. Words cannot even express the gratitude I feel right now. Philly is proving we got LOVE!
IDTEVASW 2018
The date of December 17th was selected for the observance because it was on that date in 2003 that Gary Leon Ridgeway, the notorious Green River Killer, was sentenced for his crimes. “Between July of 1982 and January of 1998 Ridgeway was responsible for the deaths of dozens of women and girls in King County, Washington, the county that includes the cities of Seattle and Tacoma. Many of his victims were prostitutes and others marginalized by society, such as runaways. Ridgeway was sentenced to 48 consecutive life terms for his crimes plus 480 additional years; a plea agreement eliminated the possibility of the death penalty. The first International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers was observed on the day he was sentenced and utilized art as sublimation through the conflicting emotions of relief, grief, anger and fear.
The Red Sand Project
At the intersectionality of sex work and trafficking are the people who lived it and no longer fit any of the definitions others are creating except by saying: We too are here. Photo of Mistress Lilith, Miss Gabrielle Monroe and M. Dante sharing some love taken by Blind Filmmaker David Block at the 15th Annual International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers (IDTEVASW) at Thomas Paine Plaza Philadelphia.
Instrument of Crime: Condoms, Prostitution, Prosecutors and Public Safety in Pennsylvania
Instrument of Crime: Condoms, Prostitution, Prosecutors and Public Safety in Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Convention Center 106AB
Presentation: Friday 10/5/2018 10:45 AM
Outlawed in California, New York, and Washington D.C., since 2012 Pennsylvania prosecutors have been using Comstock Act era tactics in an effort to detain prostitutes to combat trafficking. Is charging individuals for Instruments of Crime (IOC) effective policing tactic in ending human trafficking; or is contributing to challenges in addressing important public health risks surrounding HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and sexually transmitted diseases? Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are combining forces for important advocacy work to draw attention to these practices.
NSWP On: Including Sex Workers In Diversity Protocol
NSWP has created an assessment tool for Including sex workers in your organization’s diversity protocol
Advocates for Sex Workers Send Open Letter to Allegheny District Attorney Stephen Zappala Opposing Criminalization of Condom Possession
The letter notes that criminalizing condoms “has a chilling effect on Pittsburghers' willingness to carry and use condoms, especially those who are most vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS and other STIs including women and men of color, LGBTQ people, young people, victims of trafficking, and people in the sex trades.”
Dear District Attorney Zappala
The Sex Worker’s Outreach Project (SWOP) Pittsburgh is disappointed in the District Attorney Zappala’s response to the open letter we and several other organizations (including ACLU of Pennsylvania, Women's Law Project, #SurvivorsAgainstSESTA and Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania) opposing several practice that endanger the citizens of Allegheny County: 1.) police and prosecutors’ practice of citing condom possession as evidence of intent to engage in prostitution-related crimes, 2.) police seizure of condoms and other contraceptives, and 3.) the practice of adding the more severe possessing-instrument-of-crime (“PIC”) charges under 18 Pa.C.S. § 907 when defendants are charged with prostitution.
Industry Night Playlist
Missed the Meet & Greet hosted earlier in Spring by Eris Absinthe & I at Kung Fu Necktie? You can still listen to the awesome music the Absinthe Drinkers organized for us!
In San Francisco: Policies Prioritizing Sex Work Safety
US PROS Collective | The US PROStitutes Collective (US PROS) is a multiracial network of women who work or have worked in different areas of the sex industry. Founded in 1982, US PROS campaigns for the decriminalization of prostitution and for justice, protection and resources so that no woman, young person or man is forced into prostitution through poverty or violence.
Worker Survivor Community Archive 
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