LAS VEGAS, NV—Erotic Heritage Museum Executive Director Dr. Victoria Hartmann has been interviewed by the Huffington Post. In the article titled “Sex Workers Deserve Mental Health Care Too,” Dr. Hartmann discusses the mental health care needs of sex workers, particularly in the wake of the FOSTA-SESTA bill package, and also suggests effective ways to combat the stigma surrounding sex workers.
"I am grateful to Catherine Smith, a senior editor from the Huffington Post, for taking the time to bring attention to this important issue,” said Dr. Hartmann. “Sex worker rights are human rights; I am glad to see the plight of sex workers, and the need to advocate for a community that is increasingly marginalized, receive national attention."
“[S]exworkers—a term that describes a plethora of jobs related to sex and eroticism, from adult film stars and strippers to people who work at brothels or on the street—rarely feature in discussions about mental health,” writes Huffington Post Senior Impact Editor Catherine Smith. “There are few studies on the topic, and the research that does exist is limited in scope, often omitting male and transgender sex workers, for example. In fact, trans people and people of color make up an outsize segment of the sex worker community, yet they’re often left out of the conversation entirely.”
Smith continues, “In April, President Donald Trump signed the FOSTA-SESTA bill package aimed at curbing online sex trafficking. Critics of the legislation say it conflates voluntary sex workers with victims of trafficking—and puts at risk the privacy and physical safety of sex workers, many of whom use online forums to advertise their services and screen clients. Opponents of FOSTA-SESTA also warn that it could make sex workers even more vulnerable to violence by driving their work deeper underground.”
“Sex workers are just like anyone else,” says Dr. Hartmann in the interview. “They might do this work during the day, and then go home and watch science shows at night with their kids while they’re doing homework. And for us to recognize the humanity in all of us and not put each other in a box and shut that box and close the door—that’s what the basis of my work is.”
To read “Sex Workers Deserve Mental Health Care Too,” click here.
The Erotic Heritage Museum houses more than 24,000 square feet of permanent and featured exhibits. The museum’s ethos is that sexual pleasure and its depiction are natural aspects of the human experience, and that such celebrations of individual human sexuality – that of pleasure – must be made available to all, regardless of gender, race, or belief. To contact the Erotic Heritage Museum, email [email protected] or visit EroticMuseumVegas.com.
