From Wednesday’s Los Angeles Magazine online:
Gathered in a meeting room at an East Los Angeles healthcare center, activists pass around a cellphone from which they read names, one by one. There are a lot of names on the list they’re looking at—over 200—and it takes more than 20 minutes to memorialize the each of the sex workers who’ve died around the world this year. It’s an emotional ritual, you can hear it in voices that grow quieter as the remembrance continues. In the end, there are hugs and tears.
Surrounding the group are artworks that were made last year as part of a Vision Quilt project that focused on gun violence and sex workers. One poster-sized piece depicts a stiletto-heel clad foot stepping on a wad of cash and reads “Stigma Kills!” Another succinctly states “Let Us Survive.”
December 17 is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, a day of both solemn remembrance and activism. The commemoration began in 2004 when the founders of the Sex Workers Outreach Project and sex educator, artist and activist Annie Sprinkle joined forces to remember the victims of the Green River Killer, a number of whom were sex workers. For the members and allies of SWOP’s Los Angeles chapter, it’s one of their most important days of the year. SWOP’s list of the deceased is compiled from submissions of loved ones as well as from news sources. In all likelihood, the list is far from complete.
Sex work is broadly defined, and includes everything from go-go dancing to escort services, and, for some individuals, jobs might overlap. Similarly, the types of violence that a worker might face vary not just based on the sort of work performed, but also factors like race, gender identity, class, and immigration status.
Read the whole story at Los Angeles Magazine
