Sex Workers Speak Out For Law Reform, SameSame

After my appearance on the Project, this piece was written in SameSame:



http://www.samesame.com.au/news/local/8526/Sex-workers-speak-out-for-law-reform.htm

A gay male sex worker has spoken up about his role in the sex industry as the campaign continues for various Australian states to loosen up their prostitution laws.

“The world would be a really sad place without sex workers,” says 29-year-old Christian Vega. “For a lot of people, sex workers are their only form of sexual expression. There’s nothing wrong with those people.”

He adds that sex work helps him supplement the small income he makes doing a job in the community sector that he’s passionate about.

In NSW alone, there are an estimated 10,000 sex workers, with a fair percentage of them working in the queer community. In most parts of Australia, private sex work is legal, but some states ban brothel work and most of them ban street work.

Experts in the sex industry say decriminalising various forms of sex work leads to safer working conditions as workers feel able to contact the police with their concerns. Anti-discrimination laws would also benefit the often stigmatised profession.

“We as a community have a choice,” says Vega. “Do we make these people’s lives harder than they already are, or do we support them as part of our community?”

Festival of Sex Work in the Age

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/sex-workers-shine-light-on-their-trade-with-qa-20120529-1zhqk.html#ixzz1xFfKMqLP

Sex workers shine light on their trade with Q&A

A PORN star, an escort, a tantric practitioner, a dominatrix and a rent boy walk into a bar … and willingly answer any question thrown at them.

At least that's what happened last night at a public forum in the Secret Society Bar in Bourke Street.

In a bid to demystify their profession, the sex workers appeared on a panel open to the public, as part of this week's Festival of Sex Work, the first festival of its kind in Australia.

Organised by Vixen, a collective of current and former sex workers who promote civil rights in the industry, the impetus for the festival was to give a voice to sex workers. The festival receives no corporate sponsorship or government funding.

Last night's event, Ask A Sex Worker A Question, invited members of the public to ask any question in exchange for a gold coin donation.

''We're tired of other people talking about us,'' said event co-organiser Tabitha. ''We're a very diverse group of workers.''

The stars of last night's panel were Australian adult actor Angela White, our most popular internet porn star, and dominatrix Lady Ambrosia Noir, who, along with the rest of the panel answered questions about their ideal day at work, labour rights in the industry and depictions of sex workers.

The Age asked the panel about the portrayal of sex workers in the Craig Thomson scandal.

Private escort Cassie said she found the emphasis on Thomson's alleged use of sex workers, rather than of misusing his credit card, offensive.

''Particularly the way most media threw around the term 'hooker'. Sex work is a legal service,'' she said. Male escort Christian, who has worked in the industry for 15 years, said: ''We want people to hear from us, instead of thinking they can speak on our behalf.''

Other events at this week's festival included a historical sex work walking tour of the city, a forum today at Melbourne University on sex work policy and law, a film screening at ACMI and workshops for sex workers.

The festival culminates with International Whores' Day on Saturday, a celebration of sex workers' rights, celebrated locally with a Red Umbrella Rally on the steps of Parliament House.

''There's a lot of stigma around that word,'' said Tabitha.

''We're trying to reclaim it back for ourselves.''

Interviewed on the Naughty Rude Show, SYN FM

On the second day of the Festival, Nada, Leni and I were interviewed on the Naughty Rude show for SYN.  It was a totally fun interview, responding to listeners' querstions and getting a few points across ourselves.  Podcast is at the link.

http://syn.org.au/program/naughty-rude-show/episode/audio/2012/06/06/festival-sex-work/8041

The Naughty Rude Show

Festival of Sex Work

Submitted by patricianiklas on Wed, 06/06/2012 - 10:29

We chat to Christian, Nada and Leni from the inaugural Festival of Sex Work. We discuss the events of the festival, why it's important for sex workers to tell their own stories, and why sex  workers are called sex workers in the first place. 

Festival of Sex Work Video

Having learnt video shooting and editing skills through the digital storytelling workshop I had done with Zero-One-Zero, I was able to write, shoot and edit this video promoting the Festival of Sex Work.

Beginning on Saturday 26 May concluding with International Whores' Day, Saturday 2 June 2012, the Melbourne Fesival of Sex Work is a celebration of the lives, skills, culture and community of sex workers, and will include a number of different events. 

For more information please visit www.festivalofsexwork.com


NB: The content of this video was accurate at the time its making and circumstances may have changed. Specifically, the statement "Vixen is the only organisation made 100% of sex workers in Victoria" does not account for the creation of any new sex worker organisation that may have been created since.