Category: Campaigns

NJ: Strategy to Address Serial Abuser

June 29th, 2019 · · Campaigns No comments - Tags: ,

Please also see more information at www.njrua.org.

INITIAL PUBLIC Strategy Statement

NJRUA and BPPP will take the following steps to address the serial abuser usually referred to as “Joey” in New Jersey. At all times we center the safety and healing of victims of his abuse and will proceed carefully to ensure that we do no harm. We are organizations led and guided by people of color, trans people, and immigrants and center our work on addressing racism and privilege.

At our June 22, 2019 strategy meeting we created the following work in progress strategy. Some strategy is confidential and not included here. We will update this weekly to address new circumstances. If you wish to be in solidarity with us then please send us an email to newjerseyrua@gmail.com and bestpracticespolicyproject@gmail.com  with who you are and what kind of support you can offer and we will add you as a supporter of this strategy if helpful to the campaign. We are two small sex worker led organizations (one of us is without any funding) and we have no staff. Keep that in mind in terms of our ability to get back to you.

Action Items:

-provide referral and support to community members who have been victimized by this abuser

-creating a profile of the abuser: senior editor on the profile page will be Janet Duran of NJRUA who will do the final editing of the profile

-alert webpage (in progress)

-pinned tweet on Twitter with his info and a warning

-street and campus outreach distribution of updated flier from our archives

-an alert to nation with his profile, MO and other information (via BPPP to every group working with people who might be affected by this abuser)

-liaison and MOUs with lawyers: we are currently in contact with two attorneys and should they wish to work with us officially we will create agreements with them so that sex worker and victim rights are central (pls update us with any lawyers who may be of interest)

-press release and reach out to media

-liaison with SVU in NJ (NJRUA already has a relationship with SVU)

-ensure inclusion of this case in UPR National Report to the United Nations

-direct action that would bring justice and an end to the actions of this abuser

Current Supporters of this strategy are: NJRUA (leadership in NJ), BPPP (leadership based in NJ), The Outlaw Project (supporters), the Black Sex Worker Collective (supporters), Desiree Alliance (supporters).


Sex Workers Unite for AIDS2018

January 10th, 2018 · · Campaigns, Conferences, Training No comments - Tags: , ,

The next International AIDS Conference (AIDS2018) will be held in Amsterdam, July 23 to 27, 2018. The Best Practices Policy Project regularly communicates with our networks to ensure that communities in the US have the most up-to-date information about activities at AIDS2018. If you are from the community of sex workers in the US and need support, please contact us at hivaidsbppp@gmail.com to get information and assistance in regards to applying to attend. Please also view our webinar on how to apply. Sex worker rights advocates interested in health and rights, and creating a presence at the AIDS2018 are encouraged to:

  • apply for a scholarship from the International AIDS Society by February 5, 2018. According to the AIDS2018 website scholarships are for “people from resource-limited settings and communities, researchers, young people, community activists and civil society representatives” which in BPPP’s experience does include sex worker rights advocates. Please note that a “letter of recommendation” is needed to apply. The AIDS2018 website also states that “priority will be given to those whose participation will help enhance their work in their own communities, to those who are able to assist in the transfer of skills and knowledge acquired at the conference, and to those whose abstract, workshop or programme activity submission has been selected.” So, applying to be part of the conference by presenting, organizing a workshop or taking part in the “global village” will enhance chances in getting a scholarship. More details on how to apply for are available AIDS2018 and via the IAC’s webinars online. If you are a representative of the movement for the rights of sex workers in the United States and/or a community organizer for the rights of people in the sex trade and need some help applying or a letter of recommendation, then email hivaidsbppp@gmail.com by January 20, 2018 to see how we might be able to assist.
  • Submit an abstract to present about your work or research by February 5, 2018. The AIDS2018 abstract mentoring program is open to provide support if you register by January 15, 2014. If the AIDS2018 mentoring program is not what you need, please email hivaidsbppp@gmail.com by January 25, 2018 to see how we might be able to assist.
  • Apply to present about your work, organize a workshop or to showcase your cultural works at the Global Village and Youth Program by February 5. If you are a representative of the movement for the rights of sex workers in the United States and/or a community organizer for the rights of sex workers and people in the sex trade and need some help applying then email BPPP hivaidsbppp@gmail.com by January 25, 2018 to see how we might be able to assist.

The International AIDS Conference is a very large event and can be daunting. Sex workers have organized protests and actions about specific issues at the conference over the years and have demanded change from the conference itself. If issues emerge that you want to talk about or if something concerns you as a community organizer for the rights of sex workers and people in the sex trade then email hivaidsbppp@gmail.comat any time in the run up to the conference and we will do our best to connect you and to hear what you have to say.

Why attend? Globally and within the US sex workers organize to address the impact of HIV/AIDS. Even though criminalization and stigma compound the impact of HIV on the sex sector, community based organizing, peer lead programs, harm reduction and grassroots research lead by sex workers are extremely effective. Sharing the achievements of sex worker communities and providing accurate information about what sex workers need in terms of services and policy are two very good reasons why representatives of sex worker rights organizations attend the International AIDS Conference. Sex workers also converge on the conference because it is one of the very few opportunities for folks to spend time with their colleagues from all over the world, to forge new connections, to learn and to inspire. We have supported sex workers attendance at International AIDS conference for more than a decade and are here to help.

#freeGigi sentencing tomorrow

May 8th, 2017 · · Campaigns No comments - Tags:

Tomorrow May 9, 2017 Gigi Thomas will be sentenced as a result of being found guilty after a trial earlier this year in which she was repeatedly misgendered. On March 2 the jury returned with a verdict of guilty of second degree murder. In Maryland sentencing is carried out by the presiding Judge who in this case can sentence Gigi to a minimum of “time served” up to as long as 30 years in prison. Gigi has asked us to be present in the court in support of her on May 9 but for friends and supporters of Gigi who cannot make it please be sure to keep her in your mind and to share about her achievements as widely as possible. Below are some ideas for social media and you can find more about Gigi’s work and achievements at these links.

Some ideas for tweets, please tweet at 9 am EST May 9, 2017 if you have a moment. Let’s flood twitter with #FreeGigi

In solidarity with #GigiThomas as she faces sentencing May 9 #SurvivedandPunished. Pls Judge #FreeGiGi, not give prison time #Gigisaveslives

#GigiThomas 2 b sentenced May 9, she has saved so many lives #freeGigi read about her achievements & donate if u can https://www.generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/support-gigi-thomas/x/1778989

#GigiThomas 2 b sentenced May 9. She survived and has been punished for it. Tell the judge 2 #FreeGigi

#GigiThomas 2 b sentenced May 9 #SurvivedandPunished. Power to all Black women fighting for their lives! #FreeGiGi #BlackTransPower

As we mourn the latest dead, let’s also support those who have survived like #freegigi #stopkillingblacktranswomen

Gigi Thomas: Last Call for Letters of Support in Sentencing

April 14th, 2017 · · Campaigns No comments - Tags:

The window of opportunity to send a letter of support for Gigi Thomas, a social worker and leading advocate for the transgender community, is closing. Letters must be received by her attorney by April 15 if they are to be used at her sentencing hearing next month. We have checked with the attorney’s office and letters can be faxed to 301/474-9639. And/or sent to this email: dsimpson@davidsimpsonpa.com

There is a template that you might find helpful here in terms of how to write the letter. This template link focuses in on DC connections but do not fear that this means you cannot write a letter. If you know, have been assisted by or have been inspired by Gigi Thomas from across the nation and the world, use your own experience and write the letter. Every letter counts to help Gigi.

Don’t have a fax? Don’t fear. BPPP has a fax. Email us at bestpracticespolicyproject@gmail.com with your letter midnight tonight April 14, 2017 and we will fax it for you by the deadline, no problem. We also have an email that seems to work for letters to her attorney: dsimpson@davidsimpsonpa.com

Who is Gigi and why are letters of support important? Gigi Thomas, MSW, is a leading human rights advocate and a transgender woman of color who has worked for more than 15 years in the support of people in need in the DC area. She has never hesitated to provide outreach, client advocacy and harm reduction services to transgender women, people in the sex trade, low income people of color and LGBTQ people in the DC area. Since October 2015, GiGi has been held without bail in a men’s prison awaiting trial. At her trial in February 2017,  the prosecuting attorney misgendered her and erased the context of her experiences as a trans woman of color, social worker, and community leader. In Maryland sentencing is carried out by the presiding Judge. Sentencing in this case will occur on May 9. Anyone who has had experience working with Gigi (or being the recipient of Gigi’s amazing support) can write a letter for the judge to read before she sentences Gigi. Her attorney is collecting support letters and will get letter sent by April 15 to the Judge. More about Gigi Thomas, her trial and why we need to write letters of support is also available here at her fundraising page and here from the Collective Action for Safe Spaces.

Read more about Gigi’s years of work at these links:

Community Growth

Death Strikes in Transgender Community