COYOTE Rhode Island
www.COYOTERI.org
Contact Bella Robinson, Executive Director
[email protected]
(401) 525-8757 (cell)
Providence, RI
April 30, 2019
The Rhode Island legislature is considering a bill (HB 5354) sponsored by Chairwoman Anastasia Williams to create a special study commission to review the health and safety impact of commercial sexual activity laws. In a historic moment, the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee will hear from a broad range of experts and advocates about the impact criminal prostitution laws have had on our community. Research indicates a clear correlation between repressive policing and negative health and safety outcomes.
On April 30th, 2019, shortly after 4pm, the House Judiciary Committee will hear from Dame Catherine Healy, New Zealand Order of Merit, who will tell legislators what happened after New Zealand decriminalized sex work in 2003. Scott Cunningham, PhD, Professor, Baylor University who studied the impact that decriminalizing indoor sex work in RI has had on rates of sexually transmitted infections and sexual assault.
The committee will also hear from members of COYOTE-RI including Elena Shih, PhD, Assistant Professor at Brown University, Bella Robinson, the Executive Director of COYOTE-RI, Meghan Peterson, an MPH candidate at Brown University, Yeonhoo Cho, a student, Brown University, Malana Krongelb, a student, Brown University, and Dayana Tavarez, a student, Brown University.
Also testifying will be Philip Chan, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Brown University & Medical Director of Rhode Island STD Clinic, Katherine Kerwin, Providence City Council, Kate Mogulescu, JD, Assistant Professor, Brooklyn Law School & Founder of the Legal Aid Society’s Exploitation Intervention Unit, Jillian Modzeleski, JD, Senior Trial Attorney in Charge of the Human Trafficking Intervention Court, Jill McCracken, PhD, Associate Professor, University of South Florida and Melissa Broudo, JD, MPH, Co Director of SOAR Institute.
We cannot continue to support policies that sound good on paper, but actually do a disservice to the people they aim to support. In this case, we aim to engage in research and study this issue further to ensure our laws support all people engaged in the sex industry.
We, SWOP (Sex Worker Outreach Project) Tampa, SWOP Orlando, SWOP Behind Bars, Sex Worker Solidarity Network, Decriminalize Sex Work, Florida NOW, and more, have gathered together today to ask our lawmakers to listen to sex workers and stop these arrests.
All eyes are on Florida because of Robert Kraft’s high-profile hand job, but the raids that targeted 10 massage parlors in South Florida are part of a growing national trend. We are standing here today to raise awareness about the terrible consequences of siccing the police on vulnerable people. We are here today to offer solutions to this country’s trafficking problem.
We must stop the arrests.
Handcuffs do not help. The police are not protecting people in the sex trade; they are hunting them. All of the women that Florida police claimed that they “rescued” are facing multiple felony charges. Each and every one of them was handcuffed, their money confiscated, their license and legal residency threatened; over half of them are still in police custody. If any of these women were in a bad situation before, they are even worse off now.
We are asking lawmakers, the media, and the citizens of Florida to listen to sex workers.
Sex workers from all over the state are organizing against a proposed Prostitution Registry. We know that this law will not help victims of sex trafficking, it will not punish violent offenders, it will only make sex work harder and more dangerous for everyone by pushing it further underground. Lawmakers should listen to us. No one is more motivated to stop violence and exploitation within the sex industry than sex workers.
Sex workers, survivors, and allies are organizing all over the country. We are all asking for decriminalization.
Decriminalizing sex work will stop these arrests. Police departments will be able to focus on violent criminals, and it will give sex workers and trafficking victims the ability to advocate for themselves without fear of arrest.
If you want to help victims, stop arresting people in the sex trade and instead start listening to them.
Decriminalize Sex Work www.DecriminalizeSex.Work Contact Kaytlin Bailey, Director of Communications [email protected] NEW YORK, NEW YORK April 18, 2019
Responding to the escalation of police stings targeting minority-owned massage parlors, sex workers and their allies will be holding a news conference on April 22 in Orlando. To illustrate that this is a statewide problem, the news conference is being held in the center of the state during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
WHO: Kaytlin Bailey, a former sex worker from Decriminalize Sex Work; Kim Porteous, Vice President of Greater Orlando NOW; Maya Moreno, an undocumented immigrant and sex worker from Honduras; and advocated for harm reduction and victims rights will join SWOP Behind Bars, SWOP Orlando, and SWOP Tampa Bay. (“SWOP” stands for “Sex Workers Outreach Project”.)
WHAT: Holding handcuffs and standing in front of the courthouse, holding signs protesting the arrest and incarceration of people in the sex industry.
WHEN: 12:00 to 12:45 on Monday, April 22, 2019
WHERE: Front of City Hall at 400 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32703
WHY: Laws targeting sex workers are a war on women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and immigrants. The vulnerable communities impacted by overzealous policing are demanding to be heard in Florida.
Those speaking at the protest will highlight that people who are charged with prostitution are not being “rescued” when they’re arrested, detained, imprisoned, and given lifelong criminal records. This stigma then follows them for the rest of their lives, often making it harder to find jobs, obtain housing, or report abusive situations to the police.
“Sex work should be decriminalized, because our government has no right to police our bodies,” said Kaytlin Bailey, the communications director for a new national organization called Decriminalize Sex Work. “Arresting sex workers isn’t a way of protecting them. It’s a way of protecting societal patriarchy.”
If you are unable to attend the press conference, a live stream will be available here: livefeed.decriminalizesex.work
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