End Violence against Sex Workers!

Hey blogosphere,
I will have another blog entry in the next couple days about a recent talk by Patrick Califia, a well-known radical sex activist, but in the meantime, I'm going to shamelessly use this space to ask for your help in a project that I'm working on.

As some of you may know, I’ve started volunteering with Stella, a Montreal community group for sex workers. Stella is an amazing resource for sex workers in Montreal and has been working to make the industry safer since 1995. Most importantly, the organization is run by sex-workers themselves (with the help of some sympathizers), so the services are very much in tune with the needs of women, men, and transgendered sex workers.

Stella’s Mandate is:
• to provide support and information to sex-workers so that they may live in safety and with dignity;
• to sensitize and educate the public about sex work and the realities faced by sex workers;
• to fight discrimination against sex workers;
• to promote the decriminalization of sex work.

This December, Stella will be organizing two demonstrations in support of women who are pressing charges on rape and assault against two men that targeted sex workers specifically. This is an exceptionally difficult situation for the women involved. The Canadian criminal justice system has systematically criminalized and marginalized sex workers, and so to approach the institution for protection requires a great deal of courage. Please help support these women by taking a few minutes to write a message of support (in English or French). If you don’t know what to write, consider:

• Thanking them for their courage in taking action against sexual violence and sending the message that violence is not part of the job description
• Telling them that your thoughts and support are with them
It can be simple, it can be artistic, it can be in French or English (French is likely their first language ) Just be respectful!

Please send any messages to me at michelle.olding@hotmail.com, or (if you are in montreal) write out a handwritten message and pass it along asap. I need them all by December 1st!

Oh yeah, and pass this message on to anyone else who might be interested! Power in numbers!

Thanks everyone! If you have any questions, please comment on the thread (I'll try to get back to you super quickly!)