Activist Briefing: Trafficking and the Olympics
Posted on | January 24, 2012 | No Comments
When: 10:30 AM THURSDAY 26 JANUARY
Where: Centre for Possible Studies (nearest tube: marble Arch)
Contact: Xanthe Whittaker – 07901 335 613
Email: xanthew@gmail.com
Overview: Global Alliance Against Traffick of Women (GAATW) have produced a fantastic report, What is the Cost of a Rumour, that debunks the myth that large sporting events generate an increase in trafficking. In London, in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, we know that this logic has affected sex workers and their workplaces – we have seen raids and brothel closures as a result of this perceived threat and that is likely to continue and increase in the lead-up to the Olympics.
As sex worker rights activists/migrants rights activists/feminists we need to know the facts so we can the myths and have the confidence to argue against these ideas that lead to policies and practices that make our working lives harder and will leave a legacy that seeks to justify practices like raids, closures and rehabilitation orders.
Presenter: Julie Ham (GAATW) – Julie coordinated this research examining the impact of ‘demand’-based discourses on the rights of sex workers. She is based in Canada and has worked for GAATW since 2007. She holds a Masters degree in social work, and Bachelor degrees in psychology and social work, with an emphasis on anti-oppressive practice. She has worked with community-based research projects and community-based organisations in Canada working with and for women in sex work, immigrant and refugee populations, women substance users, low-income populations, and anti-violence organisations.
Admission: ALL WELCOME
More information: What’s the Cost of a Rumour report
>>>PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY<<<
Symposium: ‘Deviant’ Policy Paradigm: Sex as Work; Entertainment and Leisure
Posted on | January 17, 2012 | No Comments
12.30 – 16.00 Wednesday 8th February 2012
Venue: Room 248, Grove Building, Swansea University
Learn about the findings from an ESRC funded project on lap dancing
- Initial findings April 2011 and Visual Summary Findings
- Dancers Talk about Working Conditions
- Special Reports from Leeds Social Science Institute
Chair: Dr Tracey Sagar
Confirmed contributors:
Dr Teela Sanders, Leeds University
Rosie Campbell, Leeds University
Debbie Jones, Swansea University
Dr Nick Mai, London Metropolitan University
Louise Clark, Gibran UK
Emma Harris, Gibran UK
Nicola Evans, Cardiff and Vale UHB Service Planning
The symposium is free, and supported by the Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology and the School of Law in association with the Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice
To book a place please phone 01792 602037 or e-mail t.l.m.sanders@leeds.ac.uk
LSHTM: The Olympics and Trafficking: Myths and Evidence
Posted on | January 17, 2012 | No Comments
Date: Wednesday 25 January 2012
Time: 5:45 pm
Venue: John Snow, LSHTM, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
Type of event: Presentation
Speaker(s): Julie Ham, GAATW, Marlise Richter, International Centre for Reproductive Health, Ghent University, Joanna Busza, LSHTM
Chair(s): tbc
Abstract: In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games, concerns have been raised about the possibility of an increase in trafficking for sexual exploitation linked to the event. Similar rumours were circulated prior to other international sporting events, including the World Cup in Germany and South Africa, the Olympics in Athens and Vancouver, and the US Super Bowl. Yet once the fans go home, the media loses interest, and little is heard about the consistent lack of evidence for any rise in sex trafficking. Recent research demonstrates that anti-trafficking measures put into place in a range of countries have proved irrelevant, or harmful in cases where sex workers become increasingly criminalised and unable to access health and social programmes. As the 2012 Olympics come to London, this seminar will review the international evidence on trafficking, sex work and sports events, consider public health implications, and ask to what extent police and local authorities here in the UK are basing their policies on evidence.
Discussion Panel: Nivedita Prasad, Ban Ying Counseling and Coordination Center against Trafficking, Berlin Catherine Stephens, International Union of Sex Workers, London Georgina Perry, Open Doors, NHS Service for Newham, Hackney & Tower Hamlets
Refreshments will be made available at the end of the presentation.
Admission: Free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.
Contact: Joanna Busza
Email: Joanna.Busza@lshtm.ac.uk
More information: http://www.gaatw.org/publications/WhatstheCostofaRumour.11.15.2011.pdf
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/events/2012/01/the-olympics-and-trafficking-myths-and-evidence
Protected: Teaching and Organising Board
Posted on | January 16, 2012 | Enter your password to view comments.
ESRC Festival of Social Sciences: Migrants in the Sex Industry
Posted on | December 6, 2011 | No Comments
x:talk was invited to present our research, Human Rights, Sex Work and the Challenge of Trafficking at an ESRC event hosted by London Metropolitan University on Mon 31 October. We gave an overview of the findings and recommendation from our 2010 report, followed by some analysis and research that looked at how anti-trafficking policies have been playing out since our research was done. Download the recent Briefing paper ESRC Presentation for more information and summary of our follow-up research work.
X:Meet – A Sex Worker Social Space
Posted on | November 16, 2011 | No Comments
The next X:Meet: happening at 8pm on Tuesday 21st February
Venue: Gloucester Place, Marble Arch, Central London
Call: 07914 703372 for the address
X:talk invites you to come along and just… hang out at X:meet. Just a roomful of people who know how it is to do whatever it is you do. We are sex workers of all kinds and we come together to chill out together, bitch about stuff that is getting us down, or share stuff that makes us happy. The illegal nature of some sex work and the stigma surrounding the whole sex industry can leave us isolated. Some of us find it difficult to talk honestly about our work to our friends outside the industry or our partners. Sometimes even if we have great people close to us, it’s still fun to meet new people in our industry.
Maybe you’ve got questions or networky-type stuff: maybe there’ll be someone in the room that knows the answer. Maybe you’ve got something to share or say: maybe there will be people who can listen and understand. Maybe you just want to have a glass of wine and make friends.
This is a space we can create together. Maybe one day down the line we’ll decide it’s going to be… a book group, or something where we watch films and eat pizza together. Maybe it’ll get political, and people will want to do things about the problems sex workers face to do with the law (or maybe not). Maybe we’ll do… a stitch’n’bitch… or a wrestling club (?!). It’s really open to moving in whatever directions people want to take it in. We’re going to start with some cups of tea (or glasses of wine) and maybe some biscuits and cake, get chatting and see where it takes us.
The X:talk project organises free English classes for migrant sex workers. X:meet is open to ALL sex workers to get involved.
About the xtalk project:
Our project is open to people who sell sex or sexual services – including workers in brothels, escort agencies, outdoors, flats, independents, bars, on the phone or internet, strippers, dancers, models, porn stars and glamour models. We respect people’s choices or circumstances about continuing to work in the sex industry or exiting the industry.
As workers in the sex industry we are often denied a voice, we are considered only passive victims, we are taught to be ashamed of our work, we are made invisible by discriminatory laws that illegalise our work and us, and we are spoken for and about but rarely are we allowed to speak for ourselves. As migrants even more so. Sometimes our voices are not heard even amongst each other because we don’t speak the same languages.
The x:talk project is a sex worker-led workers co-operative which approaches language teaching as knowledge sharing between equals and regards the ability to communicate as a fundamental tool for sex workers to work in safer conditions, to organise and to socialise with each other.
We understand language to be a politically and socially charged instrument of power, which we aim to teach critically and thoughtfully according to the specificity of our classes. Our English classes are organised to create a space where sex work as work can be openly talked about and does not have to be concealed or hidden. Through providing such a space we aim to challenge the stigma and isolation attached to our profession while at the same time we guarantee confidentiality and respect for those involved.
Why are Sex Workers and their allies occupying Wall Street?
Posted on | October 28, 2011 | No Comments
By: Melissa Sontag Broudo and Penelope Saunders
In the last four weeks, many have been wondering what has driven people to Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and bring attention to the economic situation that has developed in our country. Critics have argued that so many issues are being discussed and that so many disparate groups have joined forces, that the occupation has no cohesive message, purpose, or goals. As our group of sex workers and allies stood in solidarity with our fellow revolutionaries Wednesday, October 5th at the rally at Foley Square in New York, it was apparent that we were included in that critique or question. What were we doing there? What was our purpose? What was our message? And how do sex workers’ rights connect to the larger OWS movement? Those of us who were there, or who are active in the sex workers’ rights movement generally, have no doubt about how we fit within OWS and how OWS fits within our movement. United, in solidarity, with everyone coming together in Zuccotti Park and in all the plazas nationwide, we can bring about greater change. After the rally, we decided to highlight the points that bring together our intersecting movements and realities. We, as sex workers and allies, have joined OWS because:
Sex workers, people in the sex trade and people affected by anti-prostitution policies (such as trans communities, youth) are deeply oppressed by the economic inequities that exist within our society. As the OWS slogan goes, we are the 99%, with 1% of the country’s wealthiest owning 40% percent of the country’s wealth [see these and other facts about economic disparities here]. These disparities are highlighted and magnified across racial, gender, ethnic, geographic, and other lines. Many sex workers and people in the sex trade are from economically marginalized and oppressed groups and seek to address their economic needs through a wide range of sexual commerce. The criminalization and stigmatization of many forms of this work only compounds the economic and social disempowerment that many already have faced and is a deep form of injustice (that is punishing people for their desire to provide for themselves, their communities and families).
Sex work is work, and thus we as the sex workers’rights movement are joining forces in solidarity with other labor rights’ movements. The idea that sex work is work has been a critical rallying cry for sex workers all over the country and world. The United States lags in recognizing sex workers as a labor force and creating an environment in which sex workers may fight for and establish their rights [in India and Brazil, for example, there are strong and powerful voices for the sex worker labor movement: e.g. Durbar Mahila Samanoy Samityin India and Davida in Brazil]. Participating in OWS allows us to be seen – and heard – as a workers’ rights movement and to gain ideas and momentum by linking visions and strength with fellow workers.
The NYPD must be held accountable for the abusive practices they utilize against those they perceive to be politically powerless, including sex workers, street vendors, people who are living at or below the poverty level, people of color, transgender people, and others.Sex workers and their allies have long known what some are just finding out at OWS: the NYPD often utilizes harsh, ineffective, inhuman, and downright degrading tactics to subdue and control those without power. Sex workers have been and continue to be targets of police abuse. Police demand sexual favors, perpetrate physical violence and refuse to take rape and assaults against the sex work community seriously. The ability of our community to come out and join forces with others to fight against this is critical and will hopefully create positive and empowering change.
Because sex workers have critical roles to play in making this movement more accountable in regards to racism, sexism,transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, and the stigmatization of various activities. M, an organizer and former sex worker, notes that, “many sex workers exist at the intersections of marginalized identities and are contributing to the dialogues among protestors as our movement takes this opportunity to confront oppressions within our ranks.” We hope to be able to provide this awareness about how various identities interrelate and intersect with multiple systems of oppression relating to race, gender, heteronormativity, the prison industrial complex, and other issues to other activists and to the general public by our presence and voice.
Just like others who are coming to OWS, we each have our own stories and reasons for joining in solidarity. We hope to bring a distinct perspective to the OWS movement – and to solidify the sex workers’ rights movement as a critical labor force standing in solidarity with the 99 percent.
Quotes from Sex Workers
As a sex worker, I joined Occupy Wall Street because the issues that impact both myself and my community are issues that are affecting other workers: lack of affordable housing, healthcare, education, and childcare. I come to stand in solidarity with communities of color, immigrants, Indigenous folks, and LGBTQ folks who have remain disproportionately impacted by a system that has failed to provide justice, decriminalization, destigmatization, and the practice of fundamental rights.
- Hannah, a sex worker for over a decade
We’re participating at OWS because sex work is real work,and all workers deserve living wages, affordable housing, and healthy communities. Sex workers are a part of OWS’s cross movement dialogues at working groups, marches and teach-ins, inorder to build mutual understanding and work for broadbased social change.
-M, an organizer and former sex worker
I hope that my presence at OWS and the sign that I carry revealing myself as a sex worker and a person affected by the crimes committed on Wall Street, open up people’s minds to the possibility of including sex workers in the process of the people’s liberation.
- Andy, a male prostitute and organizer for sex worker rights
Occupations are at the heart of sexworkers’ rights movements. Think back to the Lyon occupation in France in the1970′s. Taking Times Square last Saturday was a full circle moment, given the history of sex work in Times Square,and the joined forces of corporate andpolitical interests that have displaced sex workers from not just Times Square butany public space. For sex workers, occupying public space is about economics as much as it is free speech.
-Melissa Gira Grant, writer and former sex worker
Penelope Saunders and Melissa Sontag Broudo are both representatives of SWOP-NYC and the Best Practices Policy Project. We are also involved in many other organizations working for the rights of sex workers. We would also like to thank SWOP-NYC and SWANK members for sharing their thoughts about OWS with us.
Sex workers’ potent voice
Posted on | September 9, 2011 | No Comments
this article originally appears here and is written by Thierry Schaffauser
Last week the Morning Star published an article with different takes on the sex industry.
In their majority they portrayed sex work as inherently violent and exploitative while defending its prohibition and the criminalisation of our clients.
Only the English Collective of Prostitutes expressed the voice of sex workers and those of unionised sex workers within the GMB was absent.
Thankfully, the Morning Star gives us now the opportunity to answer and have our say.
We can’t correct in detail all the inaccuracies and lies from the prohibitionists as they were too many.
If you are interested in reading the evidence, we encourage you to find it online at thierryschaffauser.wordpress.com.
Instead, we want to explain what difference sex workers’ unionisation can bring.
We are not hopeless victims who need rescue but real workers and real trade unionists. Since 2002 we have had our own branch within the GMB.
We are your comrades and we are your equals.
It is true that violence and exploitation do exist in the sex industries like they do in many other industries.
Some have tried over years to make us disappear with increasing prohibitionist measures but it never worked.
We are still there because we still need to earn a living and the violence against us is more important than ever due to increasing criminalisation.
We believe that the only way to fight efficiently against violence and exploitation is to organise our workplace and have our labour rights recognised in a decriminalised context.
Of course, decriminalisation won’t be enough. Nurses and bus drivers continue to suffer violence despite working in a legal environment.
However, with decriminalisation we could at last report crime to the police without being arrested.
This is the reason why the Association of Chief Police Officers supports decriminalisation too.
Organised within GMB sex workers can break their isolation and inform each other about potential dangerous men who pose as clients.
We can provide our members with the contacts of sex worker-friendly police officers who will take their report with respect and without investigating their migration status, potential drug use or tax registration.
We can provide contact with projects that can act as a third party in case sex workers want to remain anonymous.
The GMB can also provide free legal advice to its members and help them when they suffer discrimination, when they are victims of outing, harassment or any sort of problems.
GMB has won cases for members exploited in chat line factories and victims of abuse.
It has won cases for members who were outed in the media and sacked from their day job.
GMB can provide free training for its members who wish to find other jobs in other industries or to improve their skills and continue working in the sex industries.
For example, members of the GMB have created organisations specifically aimed at sharing skills among ourselves.
The X-Talk project provides free English classes for migrant sex workers.
The teachers have experience of working in the sex industries themselves and can thus provide a safe and non-judgmental space where the students won’t have to lie about their job, their work diary, or if they’re tired because they were working the night before.
The Sex Worker Open University is another project by members of the GMB sex workers’ branch.
Debates and workshops are organised during the week which include how to dance, massage, how to keep your emotional boundaries, self-defence, the history of the sex worker movement and many others.
This project is supported by Sertuc and the next one will be in London from October 12-16.
Last June, the first sex worker film festival was also supported by Sertuc LGBT network and attracted an important audience.
The whole Rio cinema in Hackney was full and all the tickets sold out.
This event showed how successful GMB sex workers can be at organising social gatherings where sex workers can meet and share information in solidarity.
In Hackney strippers organised within GMB and Equity have fought against the socalled “nil policy” which planned to close all Hackney adult venues.
GMB has helped to save more than 300 jobs including dancers, bartenders and security staff by opposing the policy with the support of the Hackney trades council, which our branch is affiliated to.
Despite some opposition occasionally still present within the labour movement, we have worked hard to convince our comrades that we deserve the same labour rights and the right to unionise.
We have attended many meetings and passed motions, for example at the LGBT TUC conference last year.
As a result, GMB sex workers can now proudly say that we have the support of the TUC.
This is important to us because we can use the model of the labour movement which has been the only successful one so far in the fight against violence and exploitation.
We don’t want to be helped and we don’t want pity.
We want your solidarity as comrades because we are part of the same working class.
Thierry Schaffhouser is president of GMB sex workers branch
Swou presents: Sex worker digital storytelling with scarlet alliance
Posted on | August 18, 2011 | No Comments
FUNDRAISER for the SEX WORKER OPEN UNIVERSITY:
WHEN: 22 August 2011· 19:00 – 23:30
WHERE: Resistance Gallery
265 Poyser Street, E29RF Bethnal Green
London, United Kingdom
Sex Worker Open University is thrilled to invite you to an evening in the company of Christian Vega, the electected National Representative of Male Sex Workers for the Scarlet Alliance, Australian National Association of Sex Workers!
At 7.30 pm, Christian will introduce the work and history of Scarlet Alliance, their successes and struggles in their fight for the human and labour rights of sex workers.
At 9pm, we will be presenting 4 short movies realised by australian sex workers in collaboration with ZERO-ONE-ZERO, digital storytelling collective!
The event will go on til midnight with Djs To Be Confirmed (yes thats her name 
)
Entrance £5 donation (£3 concession). No one turned away for lack of funds.
The event will help fund travel costs and renting costs for the Sex worker Open University events that will happen between the 12th and 16th of October 2011 in London.
Check out our Facebook event page
XTALK at London’s First Ever Sex Worker Film Festival
Posted on | June 16, 2011 | No Comments
