Entries Tagged 'SWANK' ↓
February 4th, 2012 — SWANK, training
What it would be like to employ simple business techniques to help you work healthier, safer, and happier?
Each month, SWANK hosts a free education series specifically geared towards supporting those in the sex industry. Every month, we will cover a new topic to support the growth of those in the industry. Workshops are only open to current and former workers.
Upcoming Workshops:
Work Smarter, Not Harder: A Sexual Health Workshop for Sex Workers, March 13, 2012, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Sex Worker Legal Training, April 10, 2012, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
For more information or to RSVP, click here!
November 22nd, 2011 — events, SWANK, SWOP-NYC
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 100th Street near Amsterdam Avenue. 1, 2, or 3 train to 96th 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
July 5th, 2011 — meetings, SWANK
SWANK meetings will now be held on the first Wednesday of the month at a new location. For existing members, please check your email for the new information.
November 28th, 2010 — events, SWANK, SWOP-NYC
Join us for a vigil and community speak out
When: Friday, December 17, 2010 at 7:30PM – 9:30PM
Where: Metropolitan Community Church of New York, Sanctuary (2nd floor), 446 West 36th Street, New York, NY 10018 btw 9th & 10th Aves. < http://bit.ly/dUenDt >
Who: Current & former sex workers, our allies, friends, families, and communities. This event is free and open to the public.
Join us in observing the 7th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
Join us in remembering those we’ve lost to violence, oppression and hate, whether perpetrated by clients, partners, police or the state.
We stand against the cycle of violence experienced by sex workers around the world. Recently in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council reviewed the human rights record of the United States during their Universal Periodic Review. Uruguay’s recommendation to the Obama Administration – to address “the special vulnerability of sexual workers to violence and human rights abuses” – is the moral leadership we have been waiting for!
Join us in solidarity to fight the criminalization, oppression, assault, rape and murder of sex workers – and of folks perceived as sex workers.
December 17, 2003 was our first annual day to honor the sex workers who were murdered by serial killer Gary Ridgway. In Ridgway’s own words, “I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.” (BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3245301.stm)
We come together each year to show the world that the lives of marginalized people, including those of sex workers, are valuable.
- Speakers:
- Audacia Ray, Red Umbrella Project & Sex Work Awareness
- Chelsea Johnson-Long, Safe OUTside the System Collective of the Audre Lorde Project
- Michael J. Miller, The Counterpublic Collective and PROS Network
- Readings
- Reading of the names of sex workers we have lost this past year
- Memorial for Catherine Lique by her daughter Stephanie Thompson and read by Sarah Jenny Bleviss
- Speak out: Bring poetry, writings or just speak your truth.
Light snacks, beverages, and metrocards will be provided.
The red umbrella has become an important symbol for Sex Workers’ Rights and is increasingly used on December 17: “First adopted by Venetian sex workers for an anti-violence march in 2002, red umbrellas have come to symbolize resistance against discrimination for sex workers worldwide.”
This event is co-sponsored by: Anti-Violence Project, Audre Lorde Project, Babeland, Counterpublic Collective, FIERCE, MADRE, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Peter Cicchino Youth Project, The Queer Commons, PONY (Prostitutes of New York), PROS Network, Red Umbrella Project, SAFER, Sex Work Awareness, Sex Workers Project, SWANK (Sex Workers Action New yorK), SWOP-NYC (Sex Workers Outreach Project), the Space at Tompkins, and Third Wave Foundation.
Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110788105658599
For events outside of New York, visit: http://www.swop-usa.org/dec17
April 19th, 2010 — SWANK, SWOP-NYC
SWOP-NYC is pleased to announce a partnership in solidarity with Uganda-based Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA).
You can learn more about WONETHA here and here.
Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA) is a Ugandan sex worker led organization established in August 2008 by 3 passionate and determined sexworkers who have faced harassment, insults, stigma, discrimination and arrest without trial by misinformed societies and who have been stirred into responsive action concerning the plight of other sexworkers in the same working conditions.
Macklean Kyomya, Daisy Nakato, and Zamu Namagembe, the three young women who founded WONETHA in August 2008 have all had experiences working in the commercial sex industry. Macklean, WONETHA’s Director, was struggling to pay her school fees when she followed the advice of her peers and found regular ‘sugar daddies’as a source of income. After witnessing the violent rape of her friend, she began to search for an organization that would guide and protect her. WONETHA’s programme coordinator Daisy contracted HIV from one of her first clients when she started working in a bar. During her years as a sex worker, there were many threatening exchanges between Daisy and her clients. After a particularly violent client, Daisy also went in search of a group that could help her manage her HIV and assist her in diversifying her income.
At different times, each of these women joined an organization that claimed to protect and empower commercial sexworkers, and assist them to find better sources of income. Social stigma issues were not addressed, each of the women was given different opportunities to continue their education, attend conferences, build advocacy and writing skills, reach out to other commercial sexworkers, and stand in solidarity with women late at night in Kampala’s brothels and streets.
However, this organization was headed by a man, and over time these women found that they were continuing to be exploited and manipulated by the male-headed administration. The staff would work, but were never paid on time. International donations were given to the organization to pay for the different needs of the target group, but none of the members ever received what they were promised. International funding for projects and programs was sent, but often disappeared. Many innovative ideas and opportunities were presented to the Chairperson but they were repeatedly shut down. Attempts to reform the leadership and management were made, but were never successful.
Through this time, the three women were connected by their commitment to improving the self-esteem of women sex workers and breaking the stigma around sexworkers.
Through their experiences, and with the support of many colleagues in the civil society community, these women decided to form an organization that would genuinely represent their dreams and aspirations of providing “a home and hope for marginalized women”.
VISION
“To unite sex workers; to improve our living and working conditions and to fight for equal access to rights so that sex workers’ human rights are defended and protected.”
MISSION
“To work with adult sex workers, organize sex workers claim their rights, call fordecriminalization of adult sex work; promote access to health, legal, and social services; and promote safer sex practices and sex workers’ health and well being.”
Problem Statement: Why focus on rights of sexworkers?
Rights Not Rescue: Sex workers are facing a health and human rights crisis in Uganda, yet very little is being done to protect their rights. Research done across Africa shows that the criminalization of sex work leaves sex workers particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse from law enforcement officials and the general public. Sex workers experience routine violence from police, including rape, physical assault, and having their genitals sprayed with pepper-spray.
In recent engagement of government by sex workers who are members of WONETHA to have sex work decriminalized, sex workers sought to claim their fundamental right to social and economic freedom, equality, dignity, and privacy.
Why decriminalization?
Firstly, decriminalization enables the sex industry to be regulated thereby reducing violence against sex workers and cases of human trafficking. It is the oppressors and those committing violence against women who want sex work to remain illegal. Secondly, where sex work is illegal HIV prevalence increases due to difficulties in accessing health care prevention initiatives.
In the New vision of 19th 05 2009 Dr Kihumuro Apuli, Director of Uganda AIDS Commission stated that HIV prevalence among sex workers is 50% and 10% are male clients between the age of (15-49). As a sex worker Organization we are deeply concerned that this situation is alarming despite Uganda’s role model image in previous years in the fight of HIV & AIDS.
WONETHA therefore upholds that for sex workers to fully enjoy all their labour-related rights and fundamental freedoms, sex work in Uganda must be decriminalized. Decriminalization will involve the removal of outdated laws which specifically criminalize sex work, enable sexworkers to operate under the same conditions as other workers, and access the same human rights. The sex work industry will be subject to the same laws which apply to all other sectors in Uganda, including existing labour legislation. Other benefits will include;
- Allowing sex workers to practice their profession openly without fear.
- Easier access to health care facilities without stigma
- Reducing the health and life dangers involved in the profession of sex work
- Allowing sex workers the protection and benefits of the law.
- More comprehensive health care services for sex workers, including those that address rape, sexual violence, mental health, substance abuse, care of sexworkers who are HIV positive, adolescent health, nutrition and antenatal care/maternal mortality.
- Freedom to contribute to national tax payment system therefore raising the sex workers self esteem.
WONETHA emphasizes that the current sex worker situation in Uganda calls for immediate action and if the government does not come out to act then Uganda will lose the battle on HIV/AIDS. As WONETHA we always say that if sexworkers are not safe then no woman is safe.
For more information contact:
Kyomya Macklean
Director
WONETHA-Uganda
P.O.Box 31762, Namirembe Rd, K’la
Tel: +256-414-667-730 / +256 -774-603-754.
Alt Email: wonetha@gmail.com/ kmacklean@yahoo.com
URL. www.wonetha.4t.com
April 9th, 2010 — SWANK, training
Save the date! May 12th!
SWANK Overdose Prevention and Response Training
Facilitated by Stephen Crowe, Harm Reduction Coordinator, FROST’D
LOCATION TBD, 7pm-9pm
Heroin (and other opioid) overdoses are a common cause of death among users, yet these deaths are often preventable through education, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and when possible, through the administration of Naloxone (Narcan). In this workshop, participants will start by learning the essentials of preventing opioid overdose deaths including prevention, recognition, and action. Participants will receive a certificate as Trained Overdose Responders and become qualified to train heroin or opioid users and colleagues at their own facilities on how to prevent an overdose. We will learn about fatal drug combinations, how to identify and respond to an overdose. Participants will practice overdose response, rescue breathing, and Naloxone administration.
RSVP: This event is open to any SWANK or SWOP-NYC member (you must have attended at least one meeting). Please RSVP by May 7th at 5pm to: sarahjenny@gmail.com
March 23rd, 2010 — events, SWANK, SWOP-NYC
Join the Silver SSW for a special event that is free and open to the public:
Best Clinical Practices and Policies for Sex Workers
Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Kimmel Center, Room 805
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=363773935307&index=1
Description:
The Spring 2010 Pride in Practice Identity/Expression Education Series
with The Office of LGBT Student Services and PROS Network
“Best Clinical Practices and Policies for Sex Workers”
-Learn About the “No Condoms As Evidence” Bill.
-How to be Competent, Sensitive Clinicians to a Population on the Margins.
-Find Out Which Providers, Resources, Organizations, and Agencies are Sex Worker-Friendly.
Moderator and Key Note Speaker:
Jo Rees, Adjunct Lecturer, NYU Silver School of Social Work
Guest Speakers:
Crystal DeBoise, Sex Workers Project, PROS Network;
Stephen Crowe, FROST’D, PROS Network;
Johannah Westmacott, Streetwork Project, PROS Network
March 23rd, 2010 — events, SWANK, SWOP-NYC
May TBA for SWANK/SWOP-NYC members: Opioid Overdose Responder Training
Spring TBA for SWANK/SWOP-NYC members: Sustainable Self-Care Retreat (Tentative)
June 6th for everyone: Sex Worker Cabaret Show
February 21st, 2010 — events, SWANK, SWOP-NYC
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10150258219245001&ref=nf
Join SWOP, SWANK and PROS Network on Wednesday March 3rd to celebrate International Day for Sex Worker Rights with a community potluck dinner!
Judson Memorial Church, 239 Thompson Street, btw Washington Square South and West 3rd St., Manhattan, NY
Subway: A,B,C,D,E,F,V to West 4th St.
7-10pm
Food will be provided, but you are welcome to bring additional dishes.
Please email Bhavana at bhavana.nancherla@gmail.com to let us know what you are bringing in advance.
Open mic: Bring your ideas, stories, poems and songs to share.
Metrocards will be available for those who need them.
October 21st, 2009 — events, SWANK
On Saturday, October 24th starting at 6 pm, UnionDocs (322 Union Avenue, Brooklyn) will host “Pay As You Go: An Evening of Sex Worker Shorts,” two programs of short documentaries produced by sex workers and their allies from around the world. Curated by activists and media makers Audacia Ray and Sarah Jenny Bleviss, the two programs of short films and a panel of activist media makers will explore the possibilities of documentary media for furthering the human rights of sex workers and reducing the stigma and violence that sex workers face.
Buy Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87133
The event will most likely sell out! We encourage you to buy tickets in advance!
Program Info: http://www.uniondocs.org/pay-as-you-go-an-evening-of-sex-worker-shorts
RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178066435849
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Pay As You Go:
An Evening of Sex Worker Shorts
Curated by Audacia Ray and Sarah Jenny Bleviss
Co-Presented by Sex Work Awareness and SWANK
in collaboration with Lila Dobbs of UnionDocs
Program 1: 6 – 7.30 pm
You Must Know About Me by HOPS and WITNESS. Macedonia, 2009 (18 mins)
“You Must Know About Me” features interviews with sex workers from Skopje, focusing on 3 main themes: Their family lives, the conditions they work under, especially the violence and discrimination they face from police officials as well as some clients, and lastly, the ramifications of a big raid that happened in November 2008. Several sex workers were arbitrarily arrested, held in detention overnight, forcibly tested for STDs and, to add insult to injury, unwillingly featured in national media that had been tipped off, and was waiting as they exited the clinic.
The Line by Nancy Schwartzman. USA, 2009 (30 mins)
A one night stand far from home goes terribly wrong. As the filmmaker unravels her experience, she decides to confront her attacker.
Told through a “sex-positive” lens, THE LINE is a 24 minute documentary about a young woman – the filmmaker- who is raped, but her story isn’t cut and dry. Not a “perfect victim,” the filmmaker confronts her attacker, recording the conversation with a hidden camera. Sex workers, survivors and activists discuss justice, accountability and today’s “rape culture.” The film asks the question: where is the line defining consent? THE LINE was completed in July 2009.
Workin Girl Blues by Damien Luxe. USA, 2009 (4 mins)
An experimental video considering the pluses and minuses of some jobs + a blues song.
VAMP: Sex Work Organizing in India by Audacia Ray & VAMP (with support of the International Women’s Health Coalition). USA & India, 2009. (10 mins)
The Sangli district in the rural south of India has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the country. This health issue has become the crux of a powerful sex workers movement that has risen up over the past twelve years, in which sex workers have become agitators for change in health systems and policy that affects them on the local, national, and international levels. VAMP, the sex work organizing project of the non-profit SANGRAM
In Our Own Image by Mandona Productions. USA, 2009 (19 mins)
What happens when sex workers become not just the subjects of media gaze, but reporters and publishers of sex trade news? This documentary short looks at $pread Magazine, an example of sex worker-made media, and discusses its aim to change the way media itself approaches sex work.
7:30 – 8:15 PANEL: Moving Image to Movement: Video as an Advocacy Tool
The widespread availability of the camcorder has morphed into the explosion of digital documentation via cell phones, flip cameras, and other devices. The much trumpeted “democratization of media” has about video as an advocacy tool for sex workers and others working for sexual rights and justice. The panelists, who are media makers, activists, and advocates, will discuss their successes and challenges in building advocacy campaigns based around video and other multimedia.
Violeta Krasnic is a human rights advocate, trainer for NGO management, and video producer. She is the Program Coordinator at WITNESS, an international human rights organization which uses video to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations and empowers people to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice, public engagement, and policy change. Videos she has produced have been screened at the US Congress, State Department, Council of Europe, United Nations, and at advocacy events worldwide. Most recently, she collaborated with Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS) in Macedonia to help produce video “You Must Know About Me,” calling for adequate investigation and prosecution of violence against sex workers committed by the police officers and third parties.
Damien Luxe is a multimedia artist, activist and performer from Brooklyn. She was involved in $pread Magazine from 2006 until 2009, taught media production workshops at the Desiree Alliance Conference 2007 and 2008, and performed in the SF Sex Worker Film and Art Festival in 2007. more at: axondluxe.com
Audacia Ray is a media maker and activist who is passionate about sexual rights. Audacia is the Program Officer for Online Communications and Campaigns at the International Women’s Health Coalition, an adjunct professor of Human Sexuality at Rutgers University, and the co-host of the monthly reading series Sex Worker Literati in New York. She is the author of Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing In on Internet Sexploration. Audacia is a former sex worker who was an executive editor at $pread magazine for three years and is a co-founder of advocacy organization Sex Work Awareness.
Nancy Schwartzman is a filmmaker and activist working for over thirteen years to create community solutions to combat sexual violence and promote public debate. Her documentary film THE LINE is a personal journey that explores consent with a daring stylistic approach. Prior to her directorial debut, she produced the award-winning short film OCEAN AVENUE. Nancy is the founder of NYC-Safestreets.org an online initiative noted by The New York Times, Gawker and The Daily News to engage community organizations and businesses to create safer routes for pedestrians, especially women. From 2002- 2005 she was a founding editor and Creative Director of HEEB Magazine. For six years Nancy was the Program Officer at the Fund for Jewish Documentary Film. Learn more at http://whereisyourline.org
PJ Starr is a sex worker rights activist and film maker. Her videos–fictional and documentary– depict sex worker life and politics with a view to building a society where sex workers can enjoy their rights. Her films have been shown at Reel Affirmations LGBT film festival in Washington, DC, the SF sex worker film and arts festival and in many other indie locations.
Program 2: 8:30 – 10 pm
Tenofovir Trial in Cambodia by Women’s Network for Unity. Cambodia, 2008 (13 mins)
The inside story of Cambodian Sex Workers struggle around a trial for testing Tenofovir’s potential for HIV prevention.
Central American Sex Workers Organizing (Trailer)
by Claire Thorne. USA, 2009 (6 mins)
This short clip is part of a full length documentary to be released early 2011. Sex worker organizers and their allies in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala discuss their lives. Their proactive responses to trafficking, transphobia, police violence, and marginalization reflect the complicated relationship between empowerment and economy.
Sex Workers (And Proud Of It) by Jean-Michel Carré. France, 2009 (Sel.)
In France since 2003, Nicolas Sarkozy has been in charge of national security. Meanwhile, women and men are fighting for the rights to rent freely their body in a political context where the market economy allows through the lens of sexual liberation and with hopes for legalization of commercial intimacy. Stigmatized by moral judgements questioning the relationships of men/women, sexuality and its power, subjects discuss their work and its meaning.
A Public Service Announcement on the New York State Possession of Condoms, by Mandona Productions. USA, 2009 (1 min)
A public service announcement from the Sex Workers Project on how condoms are used as evidence of engaging in prostitution in New York and learn what you can do about it!
Prostitution Free Zone by PJ Starr; Alliance for Safe and Diverse DC. USA, 2009 (13 mins)
Constitutional right to freedom of assembly? Not in DC, honey! This film takes a sobering look at how, during attempts to gentrify inner-city areas of our nation’s capital, “Prostitution Free Zones” are being used to move targeted people out of the neighborhoods where they have traditionally congregated. Also featuring a “dramatic reenactment” of a prostitution free zone by Takia Cash, Sugaa Delite and other well-known indie film icons from the District.
Happy Endings? by Tara Hurley. USA, 2009 (Sel.)
An intriguing exploration of the Asian massage parlor industry in Providence, RI, where a 25 year-old loophole has made the exchange of sex for money legal — as long as it happens behind closed doors. As the documentary follows a recent Korean immigrant, “Heather”, working to operate her spa, the city’s mayor fights to change the law that allows her business a legal existence.The film includes interviews with Korean women who work in spas, clients who frequent the spas, politicians from 1980 and today, police, local news footage, radio call-in shows and “voiced” reviews from internet escort review boards.
Sex Worker Open University by Ellie Gurney. UK, 2009 (7 mins)
Sex workers are routinely portrayed in the media as victims. At London’s first ever Sex Worker Open University over two hundred sex workers, sex workers’ rights activists, and allies from the UK and abroad took part in workshops, discussions, actions and art exhibits. Documenting these events, this film presents an alternative and empowered image of the sex worker.
69 things i love about sex work by Isabel Hosti. Canada, 2007 (6 mins)
A list of 69 things i love about sex work–a list that helps to keep me happy and healthy. This is my list based on my specific experiences in the sex industry. There are many other sex workers worldwide with many things to share–with lists of their own. Search them out.
Video Installation
How To Make An American Queer by Inbred Hybrid Collective.
Inbred Hybrid Collective was established in 2005. Our mandate is to stimulate a consciousness of the external factors affecting our human existence. The type of interventions associated with Inbred Hybrid Collective, achieved as artistic concept, constitute a provocation for the public to reflect upon the influence that this immersion has had upon them.
ACCESSIBILITY CONCERNS
Please note that the space may present accessibility challenges for folks with mobility issues. If anyone planning on attending needs assistance entering or is in a wheelchair, please contact Sarah Jenny (
sarahjenny@gmail.com) by Friday, October 23rd so we can do our best to accommodate you.
