SAN FRANCISCO—On November 7, 2019, the Sacramento Universal Unitarian Society Church will host a panel of experts including Rachel West (US PROStitutes Collective), Kristen DiAngelo (SWOP Sacramento), Siouxsie Q James (Adult Performers Advocacy Committee) and Margaret Prescod (Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders), to update the community on a planned sex trafficking study as well as efforts to decriminalize prostitution in California and across the country.
As part of the panel discussion, sex workers will talk about the difference between sex work and sex trafficking, and educate the community on the details of the recently passed SB 233, a new law which will finally allow sex workers to report serious crimes and carry condoms without the fear of being arrested for prostitution.
Panelists will also raise major concerns over the recent announcement of a new $1.5M study “to target sex trafficking,” using Sacramento as the focal point. Historically, such studies have been used as justification to criminalize sex workers and to gentrify neighborhoods. This is a substantial amount of state funding, but thus far, the community has been provided with no information about the methodology and objectives of the study. Sex workers are demanding to know exactly what is being studied and by whom, given the constant conflation of sex trafficking with sex work.
Participants in the discussion will include several sex worker rights organizations including ESPLERP (Erotic Service Providers Legal Education and Research Project); SWOP Sacramento (Sacramento Chapter of Sex Workers Outreach Project); The US PROStitutes Collective; and the Sacramento-based sex worker community.
The panel discussion will take place on Thursday, November 7, 2019, from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Sacramento Universal Unitarian Society Church, 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95825.
The Erotic Service Providers Legal Education and Research Project (ESPLERP) is a diverse community-based coalition advancing sexual privacy rights through litigation, education, and research. Contributions can be submitted at LitigateToEmancipate.com.
