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Posts Tagged ‘sex workers’

"I love this man!" ~Damian Abrahams. We all do Pink Eyes..

Who are these two beautiful men celebrating with a kiss and just what are they celebrating? On the right is CBC Radio3 host and Canadian music maven Grant Lawrence. On the left, Damian ‘Pink Eyes’ Abraham, lead singer of the Toronto based punk band Fucked Up. Damian (with Grant along for the ride whether he likes it or not) is reacting to the just announced news moments before that his band’s album The Chemistry of Common Life had won the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. The Polaris Prize is an annual prize awarded to an album of Canadian content based solely on the artistic merit of the work; sales figures or mass appeal do not hold sway over the prize. Aside from being one of the most prestigious musical prizes in Canada, the Polaris Prize also comes with $20,000.

Those with an eye and ear on the Canadian music scene may be questioning why I am writing about Fucked Up’s win now; they won the award back on September 21st. If you had the pleasure of watching the Polaris Prize Awards Gala (still available for viewing here) you know that after Fucked Up was named as the winner, Damian (post smooch with Mr. Lawrence) announced that his band would be using the prize money to produce a single in time for Christmas with all proceeds going to some very deserving charities. Just over two months later and Fucked Up have shown to be true to their word; the band, along with some friends have released their version of “Do They Know It’s Chirstmas?” which is available through iTunes here. Proceeds from the sales will be spread across three charities. From Fucked Up’s blog:

Justice for Missing and Murdered Ingigenous Women
Missing Justice is a grassroots solidarity collective based in Montreal that works to eliminate violence and discrimination against Indigenous women living in Quebec. The collective seeks to consult and collaborate with Indigenous communities and organizations to foster understanding and dispel harmful stereotypes commonly held in regards to Indigenous women who are targets of violence. As a collective, our overall strategy for achieving these goals includes popular education initiatives, media outreach, coalition-building, case work, poster awareness campaigns, research projects, information sharing, publishing and broadcasting, political demonstrations, and direct action.

DTES Power of Women Group
A grassroots group of DTES women who work to empower, educate and
mobilize around issues affecting their neighbourhood such as poverty,
housing, and violence against women.

Sisters in Spirit
The main objective of the Native Women’s Association of Canada – Sisters In Spirit initiative is to address violence against Aboriginal (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) women, particularly racialized and/or sexualized violence, that is, violence perpetrated against Aboriginal women because of their gender and Aboriginal identity. Specifically, to increase public understanding and knowledge at a national level of the impact of racialized, sexualized violence against Aboriginal women often leading to their disappearance and death.

In February the band will release their latest 7″ single with this Christmas track serving as the B-Side. All proceeds from the sale of this record will also go to the above charities.

• Olympics and all that Thursday evening saw a divided panel come together for a public forum on security and civil liberties during the 2010 Olympics at the SFU Harbour Centre.  The forum was organized by the Impact on Communities...
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Thursday December 17^th, 2009, 6:30pm

Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson Street Side!

Join us as we march with red umbrellas, adopted in 2002 by Venetian sex workers for an anti-violence march, symbolizing resistance against discrimination for sex workers worldwide.

We will be raising awareness about violence against sex workers and the organizations that support us by distributing materials amongst holiday shoppers on Robson Street. Fancy dress and festively decorated red umbrellas are definitely encouraged!

Image from http://www.swop-tucson.org/

The march will be followed by a gathering at the
Lennox Pub/Restaurant (corner of Robson & Granville).

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!

Questions? Please contact Esther Shannon at (604) 245- 9963

• In Response To Paul Sullivan's '5 Reasons' Against The Vancouver Games [/caption] In an editorial comment from Wednesday's Metro Vancouver, Paul Sullivan outlined his five reasons to not 'Believe' in the Olympic Games. While I can appreciate the jab at CTV, the Canadian broadcaster for the...
• The Post In Which I Hedge Against My Previous One [/caption] On Friday I wrote the following: [...] socially conservative, right wing political factions in the US have truly earned the label 'noise-machine'. Social conservatives in the States are vocal, well organized, well funded and...

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the public with an opportunity to learn about the men who buy sex, the experiences of sex workers with their clients, and why neither sex workers nor their clients should be criminalized

The turnout of over 120 individuals (all seating used plus standing room) indicates at the very least that this is an issue the public is interested in and desires more information on it.

The forum began with the viewing of a short film entitled We want to save you (and if you don’t appreciate it, you will be punished!) The film is an interview with Pye Jacobsson, a sex worker and activist from Sweden.  She succinctly outlines the background behind Sweden’s adoption of statutes that have criminalized the purchase of sexual services while making the sale of sexual services legal.  Pye then goes on to explain the effects of this legal regime on Sweden’s sex workers. The video is at the end of this post.

Following the video was a to the point talk given by Jody Salerno.  She discussed her history of growing up in an abusive home and emphatically underlined her main point that the criminalization of sex consumers puts sex workers at higher risk.

Next, Chris Atchison presented some fascinating data from his “John’s Voices” project.  Picking up on the point that Jody had started to make, that sex consumers are regular people, Chris’ findings made this notion extremely clear.  Sex consumers come from all walks of life, different socioeconomic classes and demographically are very similar to the country as a whole.

Following a short break, Susan Davis presented some information from a new resource entitled Trade Secrets.  This online guide draws on a wealth of knowledge from sex workers and consumers both.  The excellent schedule the panel put together had Susan presenting viewpoints of sex consumers that reinforced much of the picture that had already been started by Chris.  Suprising to some would be the extremely high levels of respect and care that most sex consumers appear to demonstrate towards those workers whose services they use.

Finally, Tamara O’Doherty tied everything up nicely by presenting a side by side comparison of the law as it stands in both Sweden and Canada as well as the consequences of those laws.  Despite a different statutory system in either country, the end results ended up being very similar.  The criminalization of sex work does not and cannot prevent individuals from entering the sex trade.  Criminalization enhances stigma and endangers sex workers.  It conflates sex work with other issues, that although related and connected, such as human trafficking and abuse, are different.  The conflation of these important issues is a detriment to making improvements in them on all fronts.

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