Staff Highlights Archives - Page 8 of 12

DSW Honors International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

DSW joined sex-worker-rights activists around the world in honoring the International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers, which takes place annually on December 17. This holiday mourns the lives of far too many sex workers who are lost to violence, stigma, and discrimination in a criminalized environment.

DSW participated in three events across the country. In NY, DSW’s Crystal DeBoise and Frances Steele volunteered at Judson Memorial Church’s annual vigil. Melissa Broudo and J. Leigh Brantly joined allies in Providence at COYOTE RI’s vigil, while Kaytlin Bailey attended SWOP-NH’s event in Manchester.

Community leader and activist Veronica Vera organized the event at Judson Memorial Church. At Judson, activists and allies lit candles for the 51 U.S. sex workers who passed away in the last 12 months, and they commemorated the 215 lives lost around the world. Crystal DeBoise was invited to speak about her renowned anti-trafficking work at the Soar Institute, the Sex Workers Project (SWP), the founding of Human Trafficking Services Program at NYANA in 2002, and the co-founding of DSW.

Our tireless colleague and the founder of COYOTE’s RI chapter, Bella Robinson, organized the Providence event. Speeches from the vigil were taped and are posted here. Melissa Broudo and J. Leigh Brantly were honored to attend.

Ashley Fires from SWOP-NH organized an intimate gathering in Manchester to mourn the loss of life within the sex work community. Kaytlin read her new one-woman show, A Whore’s Eye View, as part of the vigil, celebrating the history of the sex-workers-rights movement.

The December 17 holiday was first observed in 2003 as a memorial vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle. Vulnerability to violence and the experience of violence is an unfortunate reality for many sex workers around the world, as they confront varying levels of criminality and stigmatization. The Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) compiles an annual list of sex workers who have lost their lives, along with biographical info about each individual. The list can be accessed on the December 17 website.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports that 40% of sex workers have experienced an increase in violence since the passage of the federal FOSTA/SESTA law in April 2018.

2019 In Review: DSW Concludes Its First Year

January 1, 2020 This month marks Decriminalize Sex Work’s first full calendar year as a national advocacy organization. It is hard to believe how fast it has gone! Since DSW’s...

NY Gender Diversity Coalition Introduces Legislative Platform

January 8, 2020 The New York State Gender Diversity Coalition, led by the New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG) including 35+ NY nonprofit organizations, met with NY state legislators in Albany...

VT Legislators Move Toward Supporting Sex Workers

January 3, 2020 A group of VT lawmakers introduced two historic bills for sex workers’ rights. The first bill, HB 569, would repeal current statutes that prohibit sex work. If...

DSW Honors International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 17, 2019 DSW joined sex-worker-rights activists around the world in honoring the International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers, which takes place annually on December 17. This holiday...

DSW Staffers Participate in LGBTQI and Sex Worker Rights Panel

December 18, 2019 DSW’s Melissa Broudo and J. Leigh Brantly participated in the NY Transgender Advocacy Group’s LGBTQI Winter Cocktail Policy Series. Melissa and J spoke on a panel entitled...

DSW Attends Two Key Conferences

December 4-6, 2019 Kaytlin Bailey shared DSW’s work at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC’s) Annual Policy Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. ALEC is the largest voluntary membership organization of state...

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW Attends Two Key Conferences

Kaytlin Bailey shared DSW’s work at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC’s) Annual Policy Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. ALEC is the largest voluntary membership organization of state legislators and private-sector representatives in the U.S.

DSW also attended the National Organization for Women’s (NOW’s) New York state conference to learn and exchange ideas around current efforts to combat human trafficking in the U.S. Kaytlin raised concerns about whether arresting consenting adults is actually helpful to trafficking survivors.

2019 In Review: DSW Concludes Its First Year

January 1, 2020 This month marks Decriminalize Sex Work’s first full calendar year as a national advocacy organization. It is hard to believe how fast it has gone! Since DSW’s...

NY Gender Diversity Coalition Introduces Legislative Platform

VT Legislators Move Toward Supporting Sex Workers

January 3, 2020 A group of VT lawmakers introduced two historic bills for sex workers’ rights. The first bill, HB 569, would repeal current statutes that prohibit sex work. If...

DSW Honors International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers

DSW Staffers Participate in LGBTQI and Sex Worker Rights Panel

December 18, 2019 DSW’s Melissa Broudo and J. Leigh Brantly participated in the NY Transgender Advocacy Group’s LGBTQI Winter Cocktail Policy Series. Melissa and J spoke on a panel entitled...

DSW Attends Two Key Conferences

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW Welcomes Two Incredible New Team Members

DSW has gained two invaluable colleagues. Ceyenne Doroshow and J. Leigh Brantly will be joining the organization as Community Engagement Consultant and Research and Project Manager, respectively.

Ceyenne Doroshow is an author, activist, organizer, performer, and public figure in the trans and sex worker rights movements. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (GLITS), an organization that works to provide holistic care to LGBTQ sex workers.

Ceyenne is an internationally renowned public speaker and has been featured in numerous international media outlets, TV shows, and documentaries such as The Red Umbrella Diaries, Miss Major, Showtime’s Oz, and Netflix specials on sex worker rights. She has presented at The Desiree Alliance, Creating Change, Harm Reduction Coalition, International AIDS Conference, and many other events.

Her passion, warmth, respect, and tireless generosity have positioned Ceyenne as a thought leader in the sex worker rights movement, sharing her work and personal experiences as a Black trans woman and former sex worker. She currently serves on the boards of Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA, Caribbean Equality Project, SOAR Institute, and the New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG).

At the intersection of policy, creativity, and research is where you will find multiracial genderqueer J. Leigh Brantly, who currently serves on advisory boards for GLITS and SOAR Institute and is the co-president of the New York State Gender Diversity Coalition. J. Leigh received the 2019 Marsha P. Johnson Community Leader Award from NYTAG and worked on an amicus brief with DSW’s Melissa Broudo to challenge the bad federal law known as FOSTA/SESTA.

J. Leigh has spoken at MOMA/PS1’s Sex Workers’ Festival of Resistance (with Ceyenne Doroshow and DSW’s Melissa Broudo) and the International AIDS Conference, and they co-curated sex worker films at both of these events. They have represented sex work on Showtime’s Billions and Fox’s The Following; been featured in TIME, VICE News, and TimeOUT NY; and spoken at the NYC Women’s Rally, sandwiched between Gloria Steinhem and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

In collaboration with the Colectivo Intercultural Transgrediendo, they co-produced SEXHUM, an ethnographic sex worker short film for an international academic research project, which was funded by the European Research Council. In 2021, they will begin a Ph.D. research program focusing on sex workers with physically (dis)abled clients.

Ceyenne and J. Leigh are powerhouses within the sex worker and TGNCNB communities. They have worked together at GLITS, spoken on panels together, and organized for sex worker/transgender rights. They collaborated on a study of transphobia and queerphobia experienced by LGBTQ sex workers for the Global Network of Sex Work Projects.

Both acted as advisors to the Museum of the City of New York, where Ceyenne’s groundbreaking cookbook (written while she was incarcerated on prostitution charges), Cooking in Heels, is now permanently featured in the museum’s transgender activism exhibit. With unparalleled expertise in media, advocacy, and harm-reduction work, DSW is fortunate to have them on board.

As DSW takes on additional initiatives, our organization is expanding its capacity to better serve the goals of the sex worker rights movement. The progress we have made in 2019 motivates us, and we look forward to continuing the momentum into the new year.

DSW Newsletter Archive

The Chip Franklin Show: “Prosecuting prostitution w/Kaytlin Bailey”

Podcast: “You’re Wrong About… Human Trafficking”

Defense Lawyers Understand the Harms of Criminalization

DSW attended the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL’s) 2019 Defending Sex Crimes Seminar, an annual event that brings together defense attorneys and criminal justice reform advocates. NACDL is an opportunity for experts to exchange knowledge around protecting the rights of defendants and promoting a more equitable justice process.

This year’s seminar, “Zealous Advocacy in Sexual Assault & Child Victims Cases,” covered topics such as alcohol and memory, campus sex cases, DNA, false confessions, issues with juveniles in sex cases, and the psychology of the jury, among others. Melissa Broudo and Kaytlin Bailey of DSW got a warm reception at the conference. They enjoyed talking to compassionate litigators with decades of experience working on legal issues related to sex and crime.

DSW’s booth illustrated the disastrous consequences of conflating consensual adult sex work with trafficking; the former should be decriminalized, and the latter should not. Defense attorneys visiting the booth expressed nearly unanimous support of DSW’s work.

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW Joins NYC Activists To Educate the Next Generation of Social-Justice Lawyers on Decriminalization

Melissa Broudo joined fellow activists and attorneys for a panel discussion on the whats, whys, and hows of sex-work decriminalization. The panel was organized by the NYU Law School chapter of If/When/How—Lawyering for Reproductive Justice. Fellow guests included Tiffany Cabán, who is a career public defender, recent candidate for Queens District Attorney, and national organizer for the Working Families Party; TS Candii, committee steering member of DecrimNY and sex work activist; Jared Trujillo, staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society and steering committee member of DecrimNY; and Kate Zen, the co-founder and interim director of Red Canary Song. All speakers have a history advocating for marginalized communities in New York City, in particular, LGBTQ and TGNC folks, migrants, sex workers, and survivors.

The panelists brought a variety of skills, backgrounds, and experience to the panel, which led to an informed discussion articulating the compounding harms of current policies criminalizing sex work. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all five advocates vigorously emphasized that the decriminalization of sex work provides the best path toward decarceration, harm reduction, restorative justice, and community health and safety. The conversation included a history of the sex workers’ rights movement, the conflation of sex work with human trafficking, the push for “End Demand” (partial criminalization), and the exclusion of sex workers from the Me Too movement.

It was exciting to see activists come together, share their expertise, and educate the next generation of social justice lawyers on decriminalization. The panel lasted nearly two hours. After the discussion concluded, the audience was allowed to ask questions and stressed how appreciative they were to learn about these issues, so often misportrayed or overlooked. It’s time to start listening to sex workers.

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW and Allies Gear Up for Legislative Session in Rhode Island

DSW grantee COYOTE-RI (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) hosted a coalition meeting with human-rights activists in Providence, RI. DSW’s Melissa Broudo met with local organizations that are working to improve the lives of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable communities. The coalition outlined a strategy for the upcoming state legislative session. DSW and allies are proposing bills that would promote the health, safety, and rights of sex workers and trafficking survivors in the Ocean State.

DSW values these partnerships, which deepen our understanding of how prostitution legislation affects communities and individuals at state and municipal levels. The meeting included representatives from the Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance (AMOR) RI, Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), Behind The Walls Committee, and COYOTE-RI. AMOR is an admirable coalition of grassroots organizations that work to resist individual and state-sponsored violence at the intersection of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status. DARE is a Providence-based organization that organizes community members for social, political, and economic justice.

The voices and interests of impacted communities must be central to the legislation DSW drafts. Organizers had a productive and edifying conversation about the next steps for promoting harm-reduction, rights-based legislation for sex workers in Rhode Island. DSW is grateful to COYOTE-RI for organizing this meeting.

DSW Newsletter Archive

DSW Presents at the American Public Health Association Expo

DSW highlighted the public-health implications of decriminalizing sex work at the American Public Health Association’s (APHA’s) annual international conference in Philadelphia. Attendees conduct harm-prevention research on STI prevention, drug use, the environment, migration, sexual health, and violence on national and global scales. The vast majority of public-health professionals who approached DSW’s table agreed that the data from across disciplines support full decriminalization to improve public safety, health, and human rights for workers and communities.

Health professionals and researchers understand that decriminalization is the only way to combat violence, vulnerability, and health risks sex workers currently face. Many attendees have experience working in STI and gender-based violence prevention, and issues related to sexual and reproductive health. Their research informs their support and understanding of DSW’s work.

The conference is the largest and most influential annual gathering of public health professionals in the world. This year there were close to 13,000 attendees. Melissa Broudo and Frances Steele presented DSW’s work at the Expo and attended the Bloomberg School of Public Health Alumni event. Attendees expressed their appreciation for DSW’s work and our presence at APHA. We are excited to return next year!

DSW Newsletter Archive

No Vote Planned for Decrim Bill in D.C.

The District of Columbia City Council held a hearing on the Community Safety and Health Act of 2019 (Bill 23-0318), which would decriminalize sex work in the nation’s capital. This would-be historic measure addresses health risks, violence against women, and human trafficking in Washington, D.C. DSW Communications Director Kaytlin Bailey testified at the 14-hour hearing along with more than 180 other witnesses. Kaytlin spoke of her own experiences as a sex worker and how decriminalization might have provided her protection from violence and abuse. DSW General Counsel Melissa Broudo submitted expert written testimony to the Council. Though no official count was taken, an informal count by the Washington Globe showed a small majority of witnesses were in support of the legislation.

The Community Health and Safety Act was proposed earlier this year by Councilmember David Grosso, with the support of three colleagues. The bill removes criminal penalties for the buying and selling of sex. It does not create new regulations for sex work, nor does it create red-light districts in the capital. Coercion, human trafficking, and any involvement of minors in the sex trade would remain illegal. These violent crimes are nearly impossible to detect in an environment where sex workers and their communities are unable to contact the police because they are criminalized. Grosso sees the legislation as a small but essential measure to protect D.C.’s vulnerable populations. He rejects “putting people in jail simply [for] trying to make it in this world” (DCist, 2019).

Some organizations used the hearing as an opportunity to condemn the decriminalization of sex work based on the claim that this bill would encourage trafficking in D.C. They suggested this effort would increase violence and exploitation against women and children. Studies show the opposite is true. Current laws push sex workers into the shadows, making it impossible for consensual sex workers or victims of trafficking to report crimes committed against them. Criminalization of consensual adult sex work costs the U.S. millions of dollars every year. That money should be spent on protecting survivors and pursuing violent criminals. Theft, assault, and trafficking of vulnerable working-class people go unpunished. Organizations who profit from the conflation of prostitution and trafficking are ignoring the voices of sex workers, researchers, and human rights organizations.

No vote is currently planned for the Community Safety and Health Act, despite local support. Early in October, a coalition of LGBTQ activists and advocates delivered a letter to the Council stating: “the decriminalization of sex work in D.C. is critical to the health and wellbeing of the LGBTQ community.” Over 70 organizations signed the letter supporting the Community Health and Safety Act. (DCist, 2019)

Those who engage in consensual, adult sex work are constituents and community members. They deserve protection. You can help hardworking activists and allies bring this bill to a vote. If you live in D.C., please reach out to your Council member or representative to show your support. You can also send a letter of endorsement by filling out a form on DSW’s Take Action page.

Category: Staff Highlights

December 17, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo and J. Leigh Brantly are pictured with Bella Robinson (center back) and fellow activists from COYOTE RI.

The New York vigil was held at Judson Memorial Church. DSW’s Frances Steele and Crystal DeBoise are pictured with activists from around the country. Organizer and long-time movement leader Veronica Vera stands at the center of the group in red.

Veronica Vera reads the names of sex workers who have passed away in the United States in the last year.

A compilation of photos from the New Hampshire event on December 17. In the top left, DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey performs her new show on the history of sex work. In the top right, activists from SWOP New Hampshire are pictured together.

DSW Newsletter Archive

December 4-6, 2019

Kaytlin Bailey is pictured at DSW’s expo booth in Scottsdale.

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey (left) is pictured with Ana Maria Archila (right) from the Center for Popular Democracy.

DSW Newsletter Archive

December 1, 2019

Ceyenne Doroshow (second from right) and J. Leigh Brantly (far right) at the 2018 International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam with Jill McCracken, Ph.D. (center), Alex Andrews (right of center) of SWOP Behind Bars, and other sex worker activists.

Ceyenne Doroshow: Author, activist, spokesperson, and public figure in the sex worker and transgender rights movements

J. Leigh Brantly: Researcher, filmmaker, and organizer

DSW Newsletter Archive

The Chip Franklin Show: “Prosecuting prostitution w/Kaytlin Bailey”

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey is featured.

“Chip talks to Kaytlin Bailey of Decriminalize Sex Work about why sex workers should not be prosecuted.”

Podcast: “You’re Wrong About… Human Trafficking”

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey is featured:

“Mike tells Sarah how NGOs, activists and George W. Bush resurrected the ‘stranger danger’ panic for the modern era. Digressions include Reply All, muffins and Yelp for massage parlors. Mike’s vocal fry is worse than usual.”

November 20-22, 2019

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey and Melissa Broudo (left to right) on the first day of the conference.

Making friends and gaining allies: DSW’s Melissa Broudo and Kaytlin Bailey are pictured with new DSW supporter, criminal defense attorney Rick Horowitz.

DSW Newsletter Archive

November 6, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo explains the difference between full decriminalization and partial criminalization.

Melissa Broudo of DSW and the SOAR Institute, Kate Zen of Red Canary Song, Tiffany Cabán from the Working Families Party, Jared Trujillo of Legal Aid Society, and TS Candii of DecrimNY (L to R).

DSW Newsletter Archive

November 2, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo (left) is pictured with Bella Robinson (right) of COYOTE-RI, as well as allies from AMOR and DARE.

DSW Newsletter Archive

November 2-6, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo and Frances Steele work the table at the APHA expo.

DSW Newsletter Archive

October 17, 2019

Members of the Sex Workers Advocates Coalition pose with Councilmember David Grosso (I) at the press conference after the introduction of the Community Safety and Health Act on June 3. (Photo: HIPS DC, 2019)

DSW Newsletter Archive

December 17, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo and J. Leigh Brantly are pictured with Bella Robinson (center back) and fellow activists from COYOTE RI.

The New York vigil was held at Judson Memorial Church. DSW’s Frances Steele and Crystal DeBoise are pictured with activists from around the country. Organizer and long-time movement leader Veronica Vera stands at the center of the group in red.

Veronica Vera reads the names of sex workers who have passed away in the United States in the last year.

A compilation of photos from the New Hampshire event on December 17. In the top left, DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey performs her new show on the history of sex work. In the top right, activists from SWOP New Hampshire are pictured together.

DSW Newsletter #10 (January 2020)

December 4-6, 2019

Kaytlin Bailey is pictured at DSW’s expo booth in Scottsdale.

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey (left) is pictured with Ana Maria Archila (right) from the Center for Popular Democracy.

DSW Newsletter #10 (January 2020)

December 1, 2019

Ceyenne Doroshow (second from right) and J. Leigh Brantly (far right) at the 2018 International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam with Jill McCracken, Ph.D. (center), Alex Andrews (right of center) of SWOP Behind Bars, and other sex worker activists.

Ceyenne Doroshow: Author, activist, spokesperson, and public figure in the sex worker and transgender rights movements

J. Leigh Brantly: Researcher, filmmaker, and organizer

DSW Newsletter #9 (December 2019)

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey is featured.

“Chip talks to Kaytlin Bailey of Decriminalize Sex Work about why sex workers should not be prosecuted.”

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey is featured:

“Mike tells Sarah how NGOs, activists and George W. Bush resurrected the ‘stranger danger’ panic for the modern era. Digressions include Reply All, muffins and Yelp for massage parlors. Mike’s vocal fry is worse than usual.”

November 20-22, 2019

DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey and Melissa Broudo (left to right) on the first day of the conference.

Making friends and gaining allies: DSW’s Melissa Broudo and Kaytlin Bailey are pictured with new DSW supporter, criminal defense attorney Rick Horowitz.

DSW Newsletter #9 (December 2019)

November 6, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo explains the difference between full decriminalization and partial criminalization.

Melissa Broudo of DSW and the SOAR Institute, Kate Zen of Red Canary Song, Tiffany Cabán from the Working Families Party, Jared Trujillo of Legal Aid Society, and TS Candii of DecrimNY (L to R).

DSW Newsletter #8 (November 2019)

November 2, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo (left) is pictured with Bella Robinson (right) of COYOTE-RI, as well as allies from AMOR and DARE.

DSW Newsletter #8 (November 2019)

November 2-6, 2019

DSW’s Melissa Broudo and Frances Steele work the table at the APHA expo.

DSW Newsletter #8 (November 2019)

October 17, 2019

Members of the Sex Workers Advocates Coalition pose with Councilmember David Grosso (I) at the press conference after the introduction of the Community Safety and Health Act on June 3. (Photo: HIPS DC, 2019)

DSW Newsletter #8 (November 2019)