DSW’s Melissa Broudo Receives Equality New York Award

October 1, 2024

In September, Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) Legal Director Melissa Broudo, along with 23 other New York-based advocates, was honored as a 2024 Equality New York Pride Champion. Equality New York (EQNY) is a grassroots advocacy organization that advances the lives of all LGBTQI+ New Yorkers and their families. Every year, EQNY takes time to honor community members who work year round to advocate for and pass legislation to support the LGBTQI+ community in New York State.

Broudo was recognized for her work as the lead advisor for EQNY’s Bodily Autonomy Commission. Professionally and in her personal life, Broudo advocates for the intersection of LGBTQI rights, reproductive justice, and the dignity of sex workers, championing the principle: my body, my choice. Broudo is honored and humbled by the recognition and looks forward to continuing to work to advance human rights.

Broudo was honored alongside Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Tony Simone, Robert Knox Hayes, Dr. Wilhelmina Perry, Matthew McMorrow, Andy Praschak, Gabriel Lewenstein, Ron Zacchi, Chanel Lopez, Kim Watson-Benjamin, Melissa Sontag Broudo, Kraig Pannell, Kimberleigh Joy Smith, Jennifer Hovestadt-Molloy, Tiffany Jade Munroe, MJ Okma, Clint Okayama, Javier Medrano, Nadia Swanson, Alyce Emory, Julie Harris, Meagon Nolasco, Bianey García, and Matt Tighe.

DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo accepts her Equality New York Pride Champion award.

DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo poses with other EQNY honorees.

DSW Newsletter #57 (October-November 2024)

DSW Joins Allies To Demand Resources Not Raids in Queens

October 22, 2024 Decriminalize Sex Work joined allies, community members and advocates to host a press conference demanding an immediate end to “Operation Restore Roosevelt,” a harmful policing campaign launched by...
Read More
DSW Joins Allies To Demand Resources Not Raids in Queens

DSW’s Melissa Broudo Receives Equality New York Award

October 1, 2024 In September, Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) Legal Director Melissa Broudo, along with 23 other New York-based advocates, was honored as a 2024 Equality New York Pride Champion. Equality...
Read More
DSW’s Melissa Broudo Receives Equality New York Award

DSW Attends APHA & DomCon

November 2, 2024 This October and November, Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) headed to DomCon in New Orleans and the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo in Minneapolis to...
Read More
DSW Attends APHA & DomCon

Remembering Yang Song: The Dangers of Police Raids

November 15, 2024 This month marks the seventh anniversary of the tragic death of Yang Song. On November 25, 2017, New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers raided a Flushing, Queens,...
Read More
Remembering Yang Song: The Dangers of Police Raids

DSW Commemorates Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR)

November 14, 2024 Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is observed each year on November 20 to commemorate and honor lives lost to acts of anti-transgender violence. TDOR originated in 1999, following...
Read More
DSW Commemorates Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR)

Sex Workers Need Our Support Now More than Ever

November 6, 2024 Dear Supporter, Donald Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States. For some of you, this may feel like a setback. For others, it may...
Read More
Sex Workers Need Our Support Now More than Ever

DSW Newsletter Archive

Dancers Unite! Historic Legislation on Stripper Labor Rights Passed in Minneapolis

August 23, 2019

The Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed a historic ordinance that has increased the labor rights of strippers in the city. The law now includes, but is not limited to: banning management from extorting tips from dancers, mandating contracts provided by dancers, requiring sexual harassment training for management, and preventing management and security with a history of domestic violence from working in clubs. The legislation is the first of its kind to be passed in the United States.

In 2017, the city’s health department launched an investigation into Minneapolis strip clubs, reporting unsanitary conditions in many downtown locations. Simultaneously, reports authored by the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State University at Mankato found that many workers had concerns about safety in clubs, particularly in one-on-one customer interactions. Early proposals by the council included banning VIP rooms and requiring all performers to be club employees. Councilmember Cam Gordon reached out to entertainers and found that “those were two things they absolutely wanted preserved, for very good reasons.”

Dancers organized and called for their rights. Using participatory action research, Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Minneapolis and a research team at MSU conducted a needs assessment to understand the experiences and perspectives of workers in strip clubs. They identified prominent themes to protect dancers from exploitation and improve safety and health measures for everyone. The coalition presented to the city council and the health department on August 12, and the ordinance was approved on August 23.

The ordinance’s passage is a huge step in prioritizing labor rights of sex workers, and DSW is excited about its implications for the country as a whole. In a Minnesota Public News article, Jane Swyft of SWOP describes how stigma and dehumanization affect even legal sex workers: “When erotic dance is treated as a public embarrassment, workers find very little help in their struggles with an exploitative pay structure, racist management or harassment.” Many dancers may still choose to share tips with management and security, but this bill prevents it from being compulsory.

Congratulations to the beautiful community of sex workers and allies in Minneapolis, showing the world that grassroots activism works.

Activists, including dancers and allies, show their support for the ordinance in the Minneapolis City Council’s chambers at the public hearing on August 12. (Photo: Matt Sepic/MPR News, 2019)

Dancers and allies show their support after the passage of the bill on August 23. Strippers in Minneapolis will now have access to unprecedented labor rights to protect their health and safety in clubs, relationships with clients and management. (Photo: We Are Dancers USA, 2019)

DSW Newsletter #6 (September 2019)

DSW Attends International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference

September 5, 2019 DSW attended the International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference in Toledo, Ohio. The conference has been an annual event since 2004, bringing together researchers, survivors, allies,...
Read More
DSW Attends International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference

DSW Supports the Fight Against FOSTA in U.S. Court of Appeals

September 20, 2019 Earlier this year, DSW filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit brought against the U.S. government by the Woodhull Freedom Foundation (WFF), Human Rights Watch, The...
Read More
DSW Supports the Fight Against FOSTA in U.S. Court of Appeals

Historic Prison Reform in NYC

September 5, 2019 DSW joined a crowd gathered outside NYC’s city hall to attend a hearing on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s inner-borough jail expansion plan. Although the city council’s Criminal...
Read More
Historic Prison Reform in NYC

Could Britain Be Next?

August 26, 2019 What we can learn from public support of full decriminalization in the United Kingdom There is renewed debate among Members of Parliament, unions, and human rights and...
Read More
Could Britain Be Next?

Dancers Unite! Historic Legislation on Stripper Labor Rights Passed in Minneapolis

August 23, 2019 The Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed a historic ordinance that has increased the labor rights of strippers in the city. The law now includes, but is not...
Read More
Dancers Unite! Historic Legislation on Stripper Labor Rights Passed in Minneapolis
DSW Attends International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference DSW Attends International Human Trafficking and...
DSW Supports the Fight Against FOSTA in U.S. Court of Appeals DSW Supports the Fight Against FOSTA...
Historic Prison Reform in NYC Historic Prison Reform in NYC
Could Britain Be Next? Could Britain Be Next?
Dancers Unite! Historic Legislation on Stripper Labor Rights Passed in Minneapolis Dancers Unite! Historic Legislation on Stripper...

DSW Newsletter Archive