Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

March 1, 2020

This month, DSW honors Ms. Seema Fokla as our Sex Worker Hero of the Month. Ms. Fokla is the current president of the Durbar Mahila Smanwaya Committee (DMSC or the Durbar), which translates to “The Unstoppable Women’s Synthesis Committee.” The Durbar is a collective of 65,000 sex workers, which functions as a forum for female, male, and transgender sex workers in West Bengal, India. DMSC is managed exclusively by sex workers and their children to create solidarity and collective strength within the sex worker community and other marginalized groups.

Since its founding in 1995, DMSC has been a beacon of collective citizenship and shared empowerment within the international sex worker rights community. It was the Durbar that established March 3 as International Sex Workers Rights Day. In 2001, the collective organized a festival that brought together more than 25,000 sex workers from around the world in Kolkata. DMSC’s mission is to integrate sex worker rights into the broader human rights movements.

No one has fought harder for the collective’s values than Seema Fokla. Under her leadership, the organization has pioneered sex work as a labor issue, incorporated transgender/non-conforming and LGBTQ rights into its work, and championed the separation of sex work from the environment of discrimination that surrounds it. Ms. Fokla is a former sex worker, as are all of the members of DMSC’s executive board. She sees the organization’s primary mission as one of fundamental respect. “If our profession becomes legal, then we will be treated with dignity. People will stop harassing us. Our children won’t be looked down upon,” Ms. Fokla said to a BBC reporter in a 2015 interview.

India has one of the largest sex work markets in the world. Prostitution itself is not illegal in the country, but the act of soliciting a client is. With more than 3 million sex workers working across Indian cities, more and more are participating in protests to demand licenses to work. Much of this organized activism is credited to the work of the Durbar.

Leaders of DMSC appear with the Mayor of Kolkata, India. (Photo: DMSC, 2017)

Seema Fokla speaks to a BBC reporter on the Durbar’s work in Kolkata and beyond. (2015)

DMSC activists demonstrate on the streets of Kolkata. Their collective includes male, female, and TGNC sex workers, as well as the children of sex workers who also face stigmatization.

DSW Newsletter #12 (March 2020)

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DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance

February 13, 2020 DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey sat down with the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA) at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. ASWA is a Pan-African alliance of sex worker-led organizations....
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DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance

Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

March 1, 2020 This month, DSW honors Ms. Seema Fokla as our Sex Worker Hero of the Month. Ms. Fokla is the current president of the Durbar Mahila Smanwaya Committee...
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Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

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March 3, 2020 Sex workers and allied communities celebrated International Sex Worker Rights Day, a holiday that commemorates the tireless efforts of harm-reduction advocates around the world. The holiday began...
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DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass the #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal

March 3, 2020 On International Sex Worker Rights Day, the Walking While Trans Coalition gathered at the Million Dollar Staircase in the Albany Statehouse to speak out about trans rights...
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Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets: International Women’s Day in NYC

March 8, 2020 The International Women’s Strike, also known as Paro Internacional de Mujeres, is a global movement of coalitions in more than 50 countries, organizing around International Women’s Day...
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DSW Newsletter Archive

February Hero

Marsha P. Johnson Honored by Governor Cuomo as He Endorses “Walking­ While­ Trans” Repeal

February 1, 2020

Marsha P. Johnson is the first to be honored by DSW’s monthly hero campaign. Ms. Johnson, who passed away on July 6, 1992, was a queer liberation activist and one of the most prominent figures in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. She worked as a prostitute for much of her life and is a fixture of the intersection between transgender, gender non-confirming, non-binary, and LGBTQI liberation and sex worker rights. Marsha’s legacy is critical to movements fighting for New York’s most vulnerable communities. Throughout her life, she spoke out against oppressive policing; advocated for sex workers, prisoners, and people with HIV/AIDS; and founded one of the first safe spaces for transgender and homeless youth.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) announced that he would rename East River State Park after Marsha P. Johnson during his speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s Greater New York gala. In the same address, Governor Cuomo formally endorsed legislation to repeal a loitering statute known as the “Walking While Trans Ban.” Walking While Trans has historically enabled law enforcement to arrest transgender women, particularly those of color, for merely walking down the street or wearing provocative clothing. This harmful and discriminatory law is responsible for a significant number of prostitution-related arrests in New York City.

The governor’s endorsement is an essential step towards repealing Section 240.37 of New York State’s penal law, an initiative sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Westchester). The repeal failed to pass last session after being stalled in the Senate Codes Committee. The #WalkingWhileTransBan coalition applauded the governor in a written statement. They said, “We look forward to working together with the Governor to ensure Black and LatinX women and TGNC [transgender and gender-nonconforming] communities are no longer arbitrarily targeted for gender-based stop-and-frisk policing.”

New York City is taking important steps to address its history of erasure and criminalization of TGNC individuals of color. The NYC police department updated its patrol guide last year to ban the targeting of individuals based on “gender, gender identity, clothing, and location.” Last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that the city would be building a monument on Christopher Street dedicated to Johnson and fellow transgender activist Sylvia Rivera.

The re-dedication of East River Park and recognition of Johnson’s and Rivera’s work are sorely needed to educate communities about the true history of gay liberation in New York and beyond. Pride has historically been portrayed as an exclusively white, gay, and cisgendered male movement. Statues of LGBTQ individuals, particularly those of color, are markedly absent from the city’s monuments.

There is no better way to honor the legacy of this fearless visionary than to protect the rights of the communities she spent her life championing. If you are a New York State resident, in honor of Ms. Johnson’s life and legacy, and to help build a safer and more just community for all, please urge your representatives to repeal Walking While Trans. You can do so by contacting your two state legislators through DSW’s Take Action page.

Marsha P. Johnson protests Bellevue Hospital’s treatment of street people and gay people, circa 1968-75. (Photo: Diana Davies/NY Public Library)

From left to right: Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Jane Vercaine, Barbara Deming, Kady Vandeurs, Carol Grosberg, and others lead a protest at City Hall (Photo: Diana Davies/Courtesy of the New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) addresses the crowd at the Marriott Marquis during the February 1 Human Rights Campaign’s Greater New York gala. (Photo: Matt Tracy/Gay City News)

DSW Newsletter #11 (February 2020)

DSW Ranks Presidential Candidates

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February Hero

Marsha P. Johnson Honored by Governor Cuomo as He Endorses “Walking­ While­ Trans” Repeal February 1, 2020 Marsha P. Johnson is the first to be honored by DSW’s monthly hero...
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DSW Newsletter Archive