DSW Attends APHA & DomCon

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 discuss the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work.

DomCon is an annual convention for the professional and lifestyle community that has taken place in Los Angeles and New Orleans each year since 2004. Founded by Mistress Cyan, the event has become the world’s premier professional and lifestyle domination convention offering classes, workshops, parties, shows and performances. DSW Staff Attorney Becca Cleary and Chief Advocacy Coordinator Henri Bynx attended DomCon and connected with numerous allies across the BDSM community. Just as sex work is often stigmatized, kink has a long history of being seen as taboo or sexually deviant. Both communities are often forgotten in the larger social justice movement due to outdated notions of morality and DomCon offers the opportunity for the two communities to connect over shared experiences. At this year’s event, Cleary was honored as a recipient of the Ms. Velvet Memorial Award in appreciation of her contribution and support of the BDSM, Fetish and Leather Communities.

After DomCon, DSW Legal Director Melissa Broudo and Staff Attorney Becca Cleary headed to Minneapolis to staff DSW’s booth for APHA’s annual expo. Each year, APHA’s Annual Meeting and Expo convenes 12,000 public health professionals and partners from around the world to engage, collaborate and grow. One of the strongest arguments for decriminalizing consensual adult sex work is the positive impact it would have on public health. Every public health professional that DSW had the privilege of speaking with agreed that data and evidence backs the need to fully decriminalize consensual adult sex work in order to improve public health and safety for workers and their communities. To learn more about why full decriminalization is the only evidence-based approach to improve public health, read our briefing paper on decriminalizing sex work for public health.