Comments on: a sex work activism education night

By: Shere Khan

Shere Khan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:31:19 +0000

“Sex Worker Activists Speak”, by Sequoia Redd?

Hell, you might just be a pioneer in this field.

I’d buy the book, but only if it had lots of pictures, and you didn’t suggest I wipe my ass with my HAND, instead of using TP. Who else but scat lovers would do that?!

By: Shaman Hawk

Shaman Hawk — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:45:04 +0000

It’s easy to start an activist group in a favorable environment, surrounded with like minded thinkers. True conviction to a cause is shown by being the lone wolf activist in an unfavorable setting.
Once you get started you will attract you’ll be able to show the positive sides of sex work and how the industry benefits a community.

By: sloth

sloth — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:56:49 +0000

you can use my latest blog post about sex work as a form of resistance for research:)

What are you trying to accomplish? Acceptance/Awareness, or unionization? Changing legislation? Or outreach to other sexworkers? There are many different facets of this type of activism. Lots of info. Maybe just having a conciousness raising circle would be a good place to start.

By: ted

ted — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:55:31 +0000

The Free Speech Coalition is another group you may want to contact for legal and other advice. Plus you may want to talk to sex workers who have already dealt with these types of issues. I believ there are groups in San Francisco who deal with this excusively( sorry I don’t recall their names).
Some books I would recomend for you to check out are: Bare…On Women, Dancing, Sex, and Power by Elizabeth Eaves, The Other Hollywood… The Uncensored Oral History Of The Porn Film Industry by Legs McNeil & Jennifer Osbourne with Peter Pavia, and The Happy Hooker by Xaviera Hollander(this may be a bit older but the lady had experience in the sex worker profession and in this and some of her other books she wrote about her experinces with the police both good and bad.

By: Serpent

Serpent — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:16:10 +0000

Girl, you should come to the Desiree conference this summer, meet all the sex worker activists from around the country and start a SWOp chapter down in FL!

http://www.desireealliance.org/conference.htm

SWOP-LV had an amazing resources page. You should definitely check that out- http://www.scapa-lv.org/resources.htm

Good luck!

By: Mariko Passion

Mariko Passion — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:53:06 +0000

Good Luck being the lone warrior in a sea of empty politics. I did that in LA and am still trying to do it..it’s important to do what you do and have a small group and slowly you will REALLY touch the lives of at least 30-50 folks over time. That’s not the army we need but it’s a lot still..

By: Vivian Da Silva

Vivian Da Silva — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:44:06 +0000

Congratulations on your projects! I think acknowledging sex workers’ rights adds a huge contribution to the activist dialouge. I hope you have a greta time structuring your workshops.

I’d like to suggest a workshop with a know-your-rights approach. A while back, a woman named Katya Komisaruk published her book “Beat the Heat: How to Handle Encounters With Law Enforcement” (AK Press, Oakland CA 2003) on how to prepare oneself physically and mentally with encounters with local law enforcement. She makes mention of various scenarios in the context of prostitution, busts and interrogation methods used by cops on sex workers. She also debunks many of the most popular myths in dealing with the police (ie: cops ARE allowed to lie/use drugs/have sex in order to bust you). I have been to many of Katya’s own workshops in the Bay Area and have seen her speak as a legal rep on behalf of sex workers. She is a great ally in every sense of the word.

Copwatch is another great resource for information pertaining to interacting with police and many of these tactics can be modified and used to assist escorts and street-walkers in some of their everyday experiences dealing with cops. You could ask any local ACLU rep if there are lawyers familiar with Copwatch in your city and area who would be willing to speak to you about coordinating a sex worker-friendly workshop.

Once again, good luck, sis!

-Vivian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:38:15 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by SequoiaRedd: ATTN SEXWORKERS: I need your advice! http://sequoiaredd.com/blog/2010/01/a-sex-work-activism-education-night/ (please RT!)…

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:22:26 +0000

Unfortunately I have no particularly useful input here, as I know very little about sex activism. But I would love very much to hear more about what you learn and how things go with this group.

By: Tweets that mention a sex work activism education night | Sequoia Redd -- Topsy.com

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:04:03 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SequoiaRedd, SequoiaRedd. SequoiaRedd said: ATTN SEXWORKERS: I need your advice! http://sequoiaredd.com/blog/2010/01/a-sex-work-activism-education-night/ (please RT!) [...]