CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Free Speech Coalition Industry Relations Advocate Lotus Lain and award-winning adult performer April Flores led a workshop on intimacy coordination and consent last month at the 2023 National Sexual Assault Conference.
In the workshop, “Concepts of Consent From Intimacy Coordination and Sex Work,” Lain and Flores brought the experiences of and strategies developed by sex workers to an audience of police sexual assault investigators, youth sex educators, traffiking survivor intake counselors and many more harm reductionists to the fight against sexual assault and violence.
“Sex workers know the complexities of consent better than anyone, and we need to own our expertise,” Lain said. “This isn’t a theoretical issue for us, and it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. As trained intimacy coordinators and sex workers, we’re constantly thinking about boundaries, safety and consent. This was a chance to share that knowledge with a mainstream audience.”
Lain and Flores are both certified in intimacy coordination, and use their experience as sex workers to inform the larger discussion over consent. In addition to her work in the industry, Lain has consulted on mainstream projects to create change around the portrayal of sex workers, and works with the ACLU toward decriminalization of sex work. Flores, a writer and advocate for positive body image, has been published in multiple anthologies and journals speaking on her experience as a BBW performer, artist, activist and sex worker.
Last year, Lain and Flores conducted a similar workshop for Valor, California’s state sexual assault coalition, at the ValorUS statewide conference.
