Entries Tagged 'events' ↓

Newsday: Vigil to end violence against sex workers

Fox News:

Violence Against Sex Workers : MyFoxNY.com

On December 17, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers Marks One Year Since Bodies Discovered on Gilgo Beach

WHEN: Saturday, December 17, 2011 from 2 to 4 pm

WHERE: Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, 164 West 100^th Street near Amsterdam Avenue. 1, 2, or 3 train to 96^th Street.

WHO: Organized by sex worker support and advocacy groups the Red Umbrella Project and the Sex Workers Outreach Project New York. Attendees will be people currently or formerly involved in the sex trades and our friends, family, allies, and those concerned for our health and safety.

In December 2010, the bodies of four women, later identified as Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes were discovered on Gilgo Beach in Long Island, after the family of missing woman Shannan Gilbert insisted on a police investigation of her disappearance. The cases remain unsolved, and since December the remains of another six people have been discovered in the area. The Suffolk County Police Department, which is responsible for the investigation, believes that it is likely that there are multiple local killers who are preying on people who sell sexual services.

On December 17, 2011 people in the sex trade and the people who love and support us will gather at Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan from 2 to 4 pm to hold a vigil for the victims of the Long Island killers and the many other people killed every year because they trade sex and are vulnerable to violence. The event will feature community activist speakers, a candle lighting, and a reading of the names of people in the sex trade who have been murdered this year.

The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was first organized nearly a decade ago by sex workers in San Francisco to memorialize the people murdered by serial killer Gary Ridgway. Ridgway captured the attitude that cultivates violence towards sex workers: “I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.” At the event, we create a space that challenges this assumption by demonstrating that we have a caring community.

CO-SPONSORS
If you would like to become a co-sponsor, please email swank(at)riseup(dot)net.

• The Center for Constitutional Rights
• HOOK
• Latino Commission on AIDS
• NYC Anti-Violence Project
• Queering OWS (Occupy Wall Street)
• Paradigm Shift
• Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP)
• PONY (Prostitutes of New York)
• Positive Health Project (PHP)
• Sex Workers Project
• Trans Women’s Anti Violence Project
• Washington Heights CORNER Project
• VOCAL-NY

On Monday, August 1, Camila Guzman was found murdered in an apartment on East 110th Street in Harlem. Her tragic death demonstrates the prevalence of violence against transgender women in this country. Just last month, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) released its report Hate Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and HIV-Affected Communities in the United States in 2010 which documented 27 anti-LGBTQ murders nationwide. Transgender women made up 44% of the reported murders, while representing only 11% of total survivors and victims.This Thursday, August 11, Camila’s family, friends and community allies will gather to honor her memory. Take action with us in solidarity with all people affected by violence. Join us as we keep Camila in our hearts and move forward to end violence:
Vigil Location: 170 East 110th Street (between 3rd and Lexington Avenues), New York, NY
When: Thursday, August 11, 2011 from 6pm – 8pm
More Information: Facebook Event

Hosted by: Family, Friends and Community Allies of Camila Guzman, The New York City Anti-Violence ProjectTo endorse or help us get the word out, please contact Joyce Choi Li, Local Organizer at jli@avp.org!

*Co-Sponsors (list in formation):

• New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn
• Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
• Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito
• Audre Lorde Project
• Harlem Pride
• LGBT Justice Project/Make the Road NY
• Lambda Legal
• National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
• NY Trans Rights Organization
• New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• Powers Initiative
• Queer Rising
• Sex Workers’ Project
• SWOP-NYC
• Sylvia Rivera Law Project
• Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
• TransCEND Boston of the AIDS Action Committee

AVP encourages you to report violence, including hate violence, sexual violence or domestic/intimate partner violence to our 24-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline at 212-714-1141 where you can speak with a trained counselor or online on our secure reporting form.

Join us for the Second Annual Sex Worker Cabaret on Sunday, June 12, 2011!

Sex workers take the stage to tell their diverse stories through performance, narrative, puppetry, burlesque, comedy and more. This event starts with a curated selection of video works about sex work around the globe, and then features an all-star lineup of eleven performers.

Producers Sarah Jenny and Damien Luxe are proud to present this Sunday evening cabaret showcasing some of the most vibrant creative talent in the sex worker community. The cabaret is in homage to Annie Oakley’s Sex Workers Art Show (1997-2009) and takes place during LGBTQ Pride month, a time to reflect on the importance of community. Come listen to tales of self-determination, and bear witness to survival and celebration as sex workers eloquently — and at times raunchily — speak their truths.

With MCs Sarah Jenny and Damien Luxe and DJ Sirlinda!

WHEN: Sunday, June 12, 2011
TIME: DOORS @ 7:30PM, VIDEOS @ 8PM SHOW @ 8:30PM
TICKETS: $12 in adv. or $15 at the door (Click here to purchase tickets online.)
WHERE: Public Assembly, 70 N. 6th St., Brooklyn, NY

For more information, please visit www.sexworkercabaret.com

Wednesday, April 13
5-7pm
The Brecht Forum, 451 West St. (West Side Highway), betw. Bank and Bethune
Click here for directions

Free and open to the public

Dr. Smarajit Jana, one of the founders of the DMSC (Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee) in Calcutta, India, and his colleague, a member of DMSC’s organizing committee, are visiting the US in April, and will be speaking at the Brecht Forum on Wednesday, April 13, 5-7pm.

The DMSC is a collective forum of 65,000 sex workers and serves as a model of labor organizing within the sex worker rights community.  DMSC has been extremely successful in securing support for their work from the communist-led government of the Indian state of West Bengal, making the organization unique in the kinds of allies it has made in the course of doing its work.  However, opportunities for sex workers from the Global South to meet with fellow activists, like-minded scholars and allies in the Global North are few and far between, unlike the opportunities for networking among anti-human-trafficking activists, which abound, due to governmental support for the abolition of prostitution.  This exciting event will bring together sex workers’ and labor rights activists in New York with activists from India in a rich discussion on what’s happening, and what the way forward might be.

This event is sponsored by: the Sex Workers’ Outreach Project (SWOP)-NYC, The Brecht Forum, South Asia Solidarity Initiative, the Barnard Center for Research on Women, the Department of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a coalition of sex workers’ rights advocates in New York City.

Click the image to enlarge.

86 The Violence

SWOP-NYC New York Times Blog

Congratulations to SWOP-NYC members who received press from the New York Times blog today for this performance/action entitled 86 The Violence.

This year, the United States participated in a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) – a process set up by the Human Rights Council at the United Nations to assess the level of human rights in each country.  The U.S. received more than 200 recommendations and must now decide to accept or reject each recommendation. Recommendation 86 called on the Obama Administration to “…ensure access to public services paying attention to the special vulnerability of sexual workers to violence and human rights abuses.”  This is the first time the US has been internationally called upon to address its insensitivity to the long-neglected issues faced by sex workers.

To capitalize on this momentous opportunity, sex worker support and advocacy organizations from all across the country have organized to move government officials to agree to accept the recommendation.  As a part of our organizing efforts we have reached out to sex worker groups, academics, policy makers, community organizations, funders and NGO’s around the globe and received unprecendented levels of support.

For more information, visit 86 the Violence.

Check out the full album from the International Day for Sex Workers’ Rights Community Potluck on our SWOP-NYC Facebook Page!

International Day for Sex Workers' Rights

Share Your Sex Worker Pride this June at the Sex Worker Cabaret on June 12th at Public Assembly in Brooklyn!

APPLY TODAY >>> http://www.sexworkercabaret.com/

** Please Forward Widely! **

We are looking for cabaret acts of 3-7 minutes each for an early evening (7pm -11pm) event: burlesque, performance art, literary readings, comedy, video art, musical acts, etc. are all welcomed.

Diversity encouraged! All genders, bodies, ages, and talents welcome to apply. We are currently looking for proposals that would be, on some level, about sex work: whether it be a story about your favorite/least favorite client, a burlesque number to She Works Hard For the Money, or a more abstract interpretation. Preference is given to current/former sex workers (self-defined) but we will also consider topical submissions from allies, partners of workers, etc.

Please submit a short proposal by April 7, 2011 about the act you are interested in doing. If we don’t know one another, please send a link to your website, facebook, etc. or a link to a video.

Compensation: This is a benefit for…you! Some overhead costs need to be covered but after that, all money received from the door will be pooled and split among the performers. (Each act is a share in the pool; each video is a half-share) We ask that you help promote as the more people we bring in, the more money for the performers. We can help out of town performers find housing, but are unable to provide travel stipends. We are also looking for go-go dancers who would be compensated with part of the pooled funds — but also receive tips. Go-go dancing is 7pm-8pm and during intermission. You may apply to both perform and go-go. Please forward to anyone you think might like to be a part of this very special evening.

Deadline: Please submit your proposal by April 7th.

Questions? Contact: Sarah Jenny & Damien at producers@sexworkercabaret.com

http://www.sexworkercabaret.com/

This venue is wheelchair accessible.

Hosted by Audacia Ray
Happy Ending, 302 Broome Street between Forsyth and Eldridge, in New York City
Doors at 7 pm, reading from 8-10
21 and up – FREE

15% of the bar tab supports Speak Up! Media Training for Sex Workers

Starring: Richard Berkowitz, Erin Markey, Drew Deveaux, and Melissa Ditmore

For more information, visit the Red Umbrella Diaries webpage.