Metropolitan Community Church of New York
446 West 36th Street, Second Floor Sanctuary
New York, NY
Join us in remembering those we've lost to violence, oppression and hate, whether perpetrated by clients, partners, police or the state.
We stand against the cycle of violence experienced by sex workers around the world.
Recently in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council reviewed the human rights record of the United States during their Universal Periodic Review. Uruguay's recommendation to the Obama Administration – to address “the special vulnerability of sexual workers to violence and human rights abuses” - is the moral leadership we have been waiting for!
Join us in solidarity to fight the criminalization, oppression, assault, rape and murder of sex workers – and of folks perceived as sex workers.
December 17, 2003 was our first annual day to honor the sex workers who were murdered by serial killer Gary Ridgway. In Ridgway's own words, "I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught." (BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3245301.stm)
We come together each year to show the world that the lives of marginalized people, including those of sex workers, are valuable.
SPEAKERS
* Audacia Ray, Red Umbrella Project & Sex Work Awareness
* Chelsea Johnson-Long, Safe OUTside the System Collective of the Audre Lorde Project
* Michael J. Miller, The Counterpublic Collective and PROS Network
READINGS
* Reading of the names of sex workers we have lost this past year
* Memorial for Catherine Lique by her daughter Stephanie Thompson and read by Sarah Jenny Bleviss
* Speak out: Bring poetry, writings or just speak your truth.
Light snacks, beverages, and metrocards will be provided.
The red umbrella has become an important symbol for Sex Workers' Rights and is increasingly used on December 17: "First adopted by Venetian sex workers for an anti-violence march in 2002, red umbrellas have come to symbolize resistance against discrimination for sex workers worldwide."
This event is co-sponsored by: Audre Lorde Project, Anti-Violence Project, FIERCE, MADRE, Peter Cicchino Youth Project, PONY (Prostitutes of New York), The Queer Commons, Red Umbrella Project, SAFER, Sex Work Awareness, Sex Workers Project, SWANK (Sex Workers Action New yorK), SWOP-NYC (Sex Workers Outreach Project), the Space at Tompkins, and Third Wave Foundation.
Babeland is also sponsoring our event and wants folks to know that they offer 10% off for Sex Workers always - ask for the "Professional Discount."
For more information, visit: http://www.swop-nyc.org/
For events outside of New York, visit: http://www.swop-usa.org/dec17