“Centrado” en las trabajadoras sexuales no es lo mismo que dirigido por trabajadoras sexuales (20 de diciembre de 2021)

December 20th, 2021 · · Press Release, Spanish/Espanol No comments - Tags: , , ,

Estamos escribiendo esta carta abierta en defensa de todas las trabajadoras sexuales y con el espíritu de encontrar soluciones a las dinámicas de larga data en el sector del VIH/SIDA a nivel mundial que han llevado a la marginación del liderazgo de las trabajadoras sexuales que son las más afectadas e impactadas. Por favor regístrese aquí para acciones futuras.

El 16 de diciembre de 2021, sin ninguna discusión, comunicación o conexión de campañas, AIDS United (SIDA Unidos), Sex Workers Project – SWP (Proyecto de Trabajadores Sexuales), Reframe Health and Justice (Replantea la Salud y Justicia) y Positive Women’s Netwotk – PWN (la Red de Mujeres Positivas), basaron sus cartas de campaña y la “construcción del movimiento” en trabajo político realizado por una coalición de organizaciones dirigidas por trabajadoras sexuales. Consulte también esta declaración de AIDS United del 17 de diciembre.

Somos conscientes de que nuestro trabajo organizativo y político en los foros sobre el VIH y el SIDA se realiza con cuidado, basado en más de 30 años de experiencia y goza de un gran respeto. Tiene sentido que otros grupos quieran construir sobre nuestro trabajo innovador.

Queremos dejar claro lo que ha ocurrido tan cerca del Día Internacional para Poner Fin a la Violencia contra las Trabajadoras Sexuales. Esto no se trata de la construcción sobre el trabajo de otros para fortalecer las voces de las trabajadoras sexuales (que, por supuesto, apoyamos), esto es un flagrante robo. El capital social y organizativo de nuestro trabajo sobre políticas y justicia sobre el VIH/SIDA está siendo tomado por grupos privilegiados con acceso ilimitado a recursos que de ninguna manera estuvieron involucrados y sin consulta. Y esto lo han hecho grupos que controlan la financiación, tienen millones de dólares y utilizan políticas de respetabilidad en torno al trabajo sexual.

Queremos dejar muy claro que, si bien estamos destacando una instancia concreta, no nos sorprende que nuestro trabajo y organización se haya apropiado. El astroturfing del trabajo realizado por las trabajadoras sexuales es algo que ocurre con frecuencia. Esta carta no se trata sólo de documentar lo que nos sucedió. Esperamos que sirva de ejemplo para otras comunidades de trabajadoras sexuales a las que ya les ha pasado esto y para futuros organizadores de los derechos de las trabajadoras sexuales. Esta coalición presenta una pregunta para que todos la consideren: ¿Quiénes estarán en la mesa para promover las políticas del VIH para las trabajadoras sexuales? Esta pregunta presenta un problema mayor sobre quién es elegido para sentarse en la mesa que construimos. Para que estos grupos mencionados participen en la formulación de políticas y no incluyan a esta coalición ellos ignoran nuestros roles como líderes. Esto debería dar una pausa a todos en el sector.

Agregar nuestros links organizacionales a la carta no es un reconocimiento. Retrata a las trabajadoras sexuales como parte de este trabajo político cuando claramente somos líderes en esta lucha. Nuestras organizaciones mencionaron específicamente en nuestra carta abierta de la NHAS (uno de los links utilizados), que nuestros derechos y principios ya no permitirían que los “defensores” hablen por nosotros, pero, sin embargo, esta apropiación de nuestro trabajo muestra claramente que nuestras demandas no fueron cumplidas. Cada una de las organizaciones mencionadas tiene un liderazgo que sabe que no hay mayor insulto que arrebatar el trabajo a las poblaciones marginadas.

En el espíritu de las soluciones, enumeramos los siguientes remedios. AIDS United, SWP, PWN y Reframe Health and Justice deben retirar la carta/formulario, disculparse públicamente y apoyar el trabajo de las organizaciones de base que hicieron este trabajo sin financiamiento cuando los temas aún no fueron aceptados. Estamos aquí esperando su llamada para que pueda solucionar este problema y esperamos trabajar con usted. Además, cada organización involucrada en esto debe cambiar sus políticas internas para que algo como esto nunca vuelva a suceder. Cada organización debe pagar a las trabajadoras sexuales más afectadas por estos problemas para que las asesoren sobre cómo realizar estos cambios. Nuestros líderes y organizadores han arriesgado sus vidas por este trabajo sin pago durante décadas. Si la financiación se ha obtenido mediante la apropiación intelectual y escrita de nuestro trabajo, entonces nuestros grupos merecen una compensación. La compensación monetaria es muy importante para nuestras organizaciones, ya que literalmente permite que nuestra supervivencia sustente el trabajo que hacemos en pro de los derechos humanos para todos. Nos negamos a permitir que los grupos más privilegiados y las que no son trabajadoras sexuales nos quiten ahora porque sospechan que los derechos de las trabajadoras sexuales se han convertido en un tema popular y atrayendo la atención de los financiadores y donantes.

Para las personas y organizaciones que no están estrechamente asociadas con este trabajo, es posible que se pregunten por qué no intentamos manejar esto internamente. La respuesta es que lo hemos intentado sin éxito y ahora, después de este incidente, no guardaremos secretos cuando la comunidad de trabajadoras sexuales y organizaciones lideradas por personas trans continúe sufriendo el borrado, el astroturf y la apropiación. Intentamos que AIDS United respondiera nuestros mensajes durante años, casi una década, después de observar numerosos errores y borrados en las políticas. Hicimos innumerables esfuerzos para conectarnos con AIDS United como líderes trabajadoras sexuales y líderes trans negras. Incluso hicimos que el personal de AIDS United hablara con los directores de políticas en nuestro nombre sin éxito. A otras organizaciones involucradas en esta acción, como Reframe Health and Justice, se les ha aconsejado en repetidas ocasiones en forma privada que dejen de tomar el trabajo de las organizaciones de base como propio. Y tenemos todos estos años de contacto documentados en nuestros archivos; Tenemos los recibos.

Nuestro trabajo es nuestro trabajo y debe ser reconocido como tal. La Recomendación 86 del EPU de la ONU también es obra de grupos dirigidos por trabajadoras sexuales. El trabajo preliminar de organizar a las trabajadoras sexuales para que representen en Ginebra para el Examen Periódico Universal de 2010, 2015 y 2020 fue realizado por trabajadoras sexuales.

Nuestras raíces en este trabajo son muy profundas y es una afrenta para todas las organizaciones enumeradas aquí que el trabajo fundamental de la líder trans negra Sharmus Outlaw también se esté tomando sin reconocimiento. Es la base de la putafobia y la transfobia borrarnos de nuestra propia historia. En 2011, muchos años después de su labor, Sharmus se dirigió al Diálogo Mundial sobre el VIH/SIDA y compartió nuestra agenda política conjunta. También fue una parte central en la organización, presentación y participación a nivel mundial en las numerosas conferencias de la IAS. Este trabajo no se puede borrar.

Atentamente,

BPPP

Desiree Alliance

The BSWC

NJRUA 

The Outlaw Project

#COVID-19 Resource: Community feedback on the Excluded NJ Fund

December 7th, 2021 · · Articles No comments - Tags: ,

We learned via a New Jersey based community member and organizer that there is now potentially $1000 to $2000 available to people previously denied COVID-19 Relief (and we know that includes many sex workers, immigrants and related communities) via the New Jersey DHS Excluded New Jerseyans fund. We have been going through the form to see who is in practice eligible and how our communities of highly excluded people might be able to engage with this Fund. Read our notes below before applying. If you are located in NJ and would like to get some pointers to apply, then contact us via our support form.

Relief application eligibility criteria (must meet all):

  1. Person is ineligible or was excluded from federal covid-19 stimulus checks and pandemic unemployment assistance.
  2. Person must have experienced financial hardship including: Loss of income due to reduced hours or complete layoff, inability to work due to quarantine, inability to work due to child’s remote learning schedule, personal/family illness from Covid-19. Inability to pay bills due to loss of income is stressed.
  3. Person’s household income must not exceed $55,000.
  4. Person is a New Jersey resident over the age of 18.
  • ●  Application is on a rolling basis, while funds last.
  • ●  Applicants may add additional adults and dependents on to their existing application.
  • ●  Application does not require an SSN or proof of citizenship, but does require proof of identity.
  • ●  Eligible persons may be awarded $1,000-$2,000.
  • ●  Applicants must legally attest to the fact that they were excluded from federal stimulus and pandemic unemployment assistance.
  • ●  Info provided on application not disclosed to other [state] government agencies.
  • ●  Applicants are asked to state the cause of their reduced income or lack of income.
  • ●  Application seems to favor awarding recipients who are currently behind on their bills, medical payments, or funeral expenses and can demonstrate so.
  • Documents requested by the application:
    • –  Bank statements from April-May 2020, Dec 2020, and April-May 2021. (An application can still be submitted without a person having a bank account.)
    • –  Paystubs showing loss of income over 3-6 months during any period since March 2020.
    • –  Proof of rental or utility arrears.
    • –  Letter or eviction notice from a landlord.
    • –  Unpaid [medical] bills.
    • –  Proof of funeral expenses or death certificates.
    • –  Award letters from government social services agencies.
    • –  Proof of NJ residency, identity and age.

Town Hall for Rights on Dec 9, 2021

December 7th, 2021 · · Events No comments - Tags:

Dear Fellow Champions of the People Centered Movement for Human Rights,

Seasons greetings. We come to you with a request. We need your support and input into the reformation of a Member driven Human Rights movement. Thank you for all you’ve done this year to strengthen our mutual promotion of human rights. Next month we celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a TownHall meeting on Thursday, Dec. 9th at 2pm ET (virtual). Please save this date and time and let us know that you’ll plan to attend by Registration.  

Please also fill out the following short questions to let us know your human rights focus and interests: https://forms.gle/ZRYuoBgbYnVW3EKY8. We are re-committing ourselves to this empathic work with you and hope you will join us to exchange ideas on the next phase of this important movement for justice.

A group of human rights advocates, including the organizations listed below, are organizing to ensure that the spirit and work of our past collaboration continues. We have been meeting weekly and we are reaching out to fellow champions of our people centered movement to learn how we can support each other’s efforts going forward. Of note, an open invitation was submitted for sharing with the full USHRN membership weeks ago, but was not forwarded on by the board.

Background

In late October 2021, the US Human Rights Network was unexpectedly suspended for an indefinite period and the coordinating center staff was immediately terminated. This sudden interruption of activities comes at a crucial time as several international human rights delegations, convenings, binding decisions, and treaty reports are due. 

For some publicly available information about what has occurred please read an open letter about the pausing of the network from the former ED and a report from the Sex Worker Rights Working Group 

Looking Ahead/Opportunities

Because our collaboration is valuable to our important work, we are inviting you to an expanded collaboration so that a new network &/or process can emerge to fill the current gap. 

  • Mark your calendar for the TownHall meeting on Thursday, Dec. 9th at 2pm ET (zoom) and let us know that you’ll plan to attend with your Registration 

Again, thank you for your ongoing human rights advocacy in your center of influence. Moreover, we are grateful for our past mutual efforts. We look forward to your response and our continued collaboration.

Best Practices Policy Project

Charles Watts, Founder and CEO, Empathy Surplus Network USA

Desiree Alliance

Dr. Onaje Muid, Co Chair N’COBRA Health Commission

Greg Kennedy, Trustee, Empathy Surplus Network USA

Mary Gerisch

Robin Benton, US Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee

Sandy Bernabei, Antiracist Alliance

Sex Worker Rights Working Group of USHRN

The Black Sex Workers Collective

Tomiko Shine, Aging People in Prison Human Rights Campaign

Vickie Casanova-Willis, PhD – Human Rights Educator, Activist

Women Lead Network

Women’s Rights Working Group of USHRN

PRESS RELEASE

December 1st, 2021 · · Press Release No comments - Tags: ,

PRESS RELEASE

Sex workers lead the charge on HIV/AIDS in the US: today a victory in the United States on World AIDS Day

Date: December 1, 2021

Contacts: Cristine Sardina, Desiree Alliance director@desireealliance.org

Penelope Saunders, Best Practices Policy Project, +19178170324, bestpracticespolicyproject@gmail.com

Monica Jones, The Outlaw Project, theoutlawprojectinc@gmail.com

Akynos, The BSWC, info@thebswc.org

N’Jaila Rhee, NJRUA, newjerseyrua@gmail.com

Today we acknowledge World AIDS Day and stand with our communities of sex workers globally. Today the US government released the next iteration of the US National HIV/AIDS strategy (NHAS). For the first time sex workers are acknowledged with discussion of resources being attached to the proposed strategies relating to sex work.

There is no question about it. We cannot end HIV/AIDS without embracing the rights of sex workers to work, prevent harm and have full access to health care, including HIV/AIDS treatments if living with HIV. As reported in the Lancet, “decriminalisation of sex work would have the greatest effect on the course of HIV epidemics across all settings, averting 33–46% of HIV infections in the next decade.”

“For over a decade, sex workers have been demanding a place in the NHAS strategy. We had a victory today and a commitment from this administration to further our goal that sex workers are important in the eradication of HIV and AIDS,” stated Cris Sardina, the leader of the Desiree Alliance, “We helped build this table and now we must have a seat at this table.” 

Leaders from the community have responded positively to the strategy update. “The Outlaw Project is very pleased to see this inclusion,” stated Monica Jones, Executive Director of The Outlaw Project, “and we hope that the US government put policies in place to destigmatize sex work and end the criminalization of sex workers lives as well.”

“We are a coalition of sex worker led and trans led organizations with the greatest expertise on HIV/AIDS spanning 30 years,” comments Dr Penelope Saunders, Executive Director of the Best Practices Policy Project, “it is the right time to make rights based programming for sex workers and trans people top priority in the United States. We should do this for both public health reasons and for justice.”

Our letter to the Office of National AIDS Policy is included in full below for reference about our approach.

*********************** 

August 2021

An open letter to ONAP and allied organizations:

Sex workers have been advocating for inclusion in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) since the beginning of this policy process. However, the first strategy released in 2010 deliberately excluded our communities. Despite our second appeal in 2015 (there was an extremely vague “mention” of sex work in the 2015 NHAS), sex worker communities were once again decisively excluded, ignored, and dismissed with the upmost intention to do so by the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). After a multi-year, multi-organizational effort campaign requesting (then demanding) the recognition of sex workers as pivotal communities and voices in addressing HIV/AIDS http://www.bestpracticespolicy.org/2015/07/14/letter-to-onap-2015/, ONAP and allies cannot now make the statement that sex workers “should/must” be fully included in the strategy without acknowledgment that we have always been at the center of the fight to eradicate HIV and AIDS. It has been a decade-long request to ONAP without a response to sex workers who have been leading the fight since the implementation of the presidential council. The facts still remain that the 2020 exclusion translates to sex workers having to wait for at least another five-years before we truly gain our full rights in  national HIV/AIDS policies. The question is: will we be recognized in 2025?

Although many non-sex workers have come out in support of our efforts in HIV and AIDS advocacy and, many non-sex workers have written about us, we are speaking out as sex worker organizations who will no longer be driven into the shadows of exclusion or spoken for by allies over our own voices. Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, sex worker history has been continually erased by the gatekeepers who have fought hard to stop the U.S. government’s intentional design to kill those who contracted the virus. We no longer give anyone the allowance to do this as we have always been visible on the frontlines. We appreciate the recent mouth-gaping and hand wringing by our allies realizing sex workers must be included in the NHAS, but you must also take responsibility for the calculated erasure of our entwined histories. ONAP must also bear responsibility in the exclusion as they have been fully aware of our decade-long appeals to place sex workers in strategies to end HIV and AIDS. Shame on you. 

Modeled after the Denver Principles, The National Sex Worker Anti-Criminalization Principles outline is a working template for the movement, advocating for sex workers by sex workers impacted by healthcare policies, labor issues, social stigma, and criminalization. The movement condemns any attempts at restricting sex worker autonomy and self-determination. We encourage all sex worker organizations, sex worker individuals, and our allies to use this document in every aspect of navigation and approachability to our movement.  https://frontpageconfidential.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/National-Sex-Worker-Anti-Criminalization-Principles-2018.pdf 

Therefore, we resubmit our 2015 letter to the ONAP, as our needs and demands have not changed – only the dates and  names of leadership. Nothing About Us Without Us. In regards to sex worker-related policy perspectives so long expressed by sex worker-led organizations, do not steal our words. Nothing About Us Without Us also means that you publicly acknowledge our leadership and provide us space and resources to continue to lead. 

Douglas M. Brooks, Director  Harold Phillips, Director

Office of National AIDS Policy

The White House

Washington, DC 20502

Re: Policy Recommendations

Dear Director Brooks – Director Phillips, 

We are writing to you to ensure that the perspectives of sex workers and sex worker-led organizations are included in discussion of HIV/AIDS policy nationally, specifically in terms of updating the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The Best Practices Policy Project is a national organization dedicated to supporting rights-based approaches to policy and harm reduction work with sex workers, people in the sex trade and related communities in the United States. We produce materials for policy environments, address research and academic concerns and provide organizations and advocates with technical assistance. Everything that we do is guided by principles that protect the rights of people who engage in commercial sex in all its forms. The Best Practices Policy Project works with a wide network of organizations across the United States. This letter was written in consultation with the New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance (NJRUA) and Desiree Alliance. NJRUA is a sex worker led group that has a focus area of preventing HIV among sex workers in New Jersey, and Desiree Alliance is a national sex workers rights organization dedicated to the decriminalization of sex work and elimination of ineffective HIV policies by empowering those most impacted to have a voice in the decisions that directly impact them.

We are pleased that the National HIV/AIDS Policy will be soon updated this year and would like to provide our input into the process and be included in forthcoming processes. The current National HIV/AIDS policy makes no mention of sex workers at all, despite the fact that sex workers in many different locales across the country have organized together for years in order to address factors that can increase their risk of HIV/AIDS.

Background and barriers: Across the United States, the harsh policing of anyone assumed to be, or profiled as a sex worker, directly undermines the ability of sex workers to protect themselves from HIV and, in a broader sense, alienates these communities from the support they need to defend their health and rights. Sex workers, and people the police assume to be sex workers, are harassed, assaulted, sexually assaulted, extorted, and falsely arrested by police. The law enforcement practices of using condoms as evidence and/or destroying condoms, confiscating medication(s), and seizing safe sex materials directly contravenes efforts to halt the spread of HIV in the United States. People of color, transgender people, immigrants, homeless people and youth of color are disproportionately affected by these law enforcement activities. People living with HIV who are profiled as being in the sex trade are subject to additional harassment, harsher policing and intensified legal sanctions (including felony convictions) in many jurisdictions across the US.

Different forms of U.S. anti-trafficking legislation and policies affect sex workers in the United States and globally. Federal U.S. anti-trafficking policies undermine the health and rights of sex workers both domestically and internationally by requiring that many organizations seeking funding adopt a policy against sex work (“Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath”). This requirement is applied to many seeking funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Organizations within the U.S. have also been subject to the pledge under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. These restrictions mean that many organizations are confused about what kinds of services they can provide to sex workers and have, in some situations, lead to shuttering of excellent harm reduction services. New forms of state level legislation to end “domestic trafficking” focusing on “ending demand” for prostitution have been proposed and/or adopted in many U.S. States, intensifying policing of sex workers and their clients. Instead of improving working conditions for sex workers and people in sex trades, these laws lead to more arrests and imprisonment of sex workers, and erode their abilities to utilize tools and strategies they need to keep safe.

1 – In terms of how to reduce new HIV infections in this context, we recommend:

  • addressing the root causes that marginalize sex workers–such as criminalization, stigma, and police violence–from treatment and prevention services.
  • ending the criminalization of condoms for sex workers, trafficking victims and those profiled as such, and ensuring adequate access to condoms for all
  • providing funding for harm reduction and rights-based health care services for sex workers of all genders (including men and women, those who are transgender, and gender non-conforming people,) and all ages
  • Lifting all restrictions on federal funding for harm reduction programs, including the ban on syringe exchange programs, and expanding funding for evidence-based health approaches to drug use, including harm reduction and drug treatment.

2-  In terms of how can we increase access to care & improve health outcomes for people living with HIV, we recommend:

  • training healthcare professionals to end stigma and discrimination against those who are involved in the sex trade
  • providing funding for harm reduction and rights-based health care services for sex workers of all genders and all ages
  • encouraging states to remove laws and enhancements to standard sentencings that criminalize people living with HIV; expunging the records of those arrested and charged under such laws that mandate sex offender registration; and removing people charged under these laws from sex offender registries.  In addition, the U.S. Government should adopt a bill such as H.R.1843/S.1790 REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act, in order to bring the U.S. in line with international law standards to end criminalizing based on HIV status
  • Encourage dialogue between national borders and migrant sex workers to ensure HIV-related health care is provided to those detained in ICE facilities, with a view to ending their detention and ensuring post-release treatment

3 – In terms of how to reduce HIV-related disparities & Health inequities, we recommend:

  • providing support for community mobilization of sex workers to respond to violence and discrimination and urging states to work toward the decriminalization of commercial sex
  • eliminating policies that prevent and hinder individuals with commercial sex- and drug-related convictions from applying for and/or receiving student loans public housing or housing assistance, public assistance, or other government-funded social services.

4 – In terms of how to achieve a more coordinated national response to the HIV epidemic, we recommend:

  • including sex workers as a priority in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, clearly describing the barriers faced by sex workers and people in the sex trade, and listing these groups in prevention and treatment priorities
  • clearly stating in all policies the needs and priorities of the transgender community and ending the practice of misgendering transgender women as “men who have sex with men” (MSM)
  • improving communications between government agencies working on HIV and communities affected by HIV (recognizing sex workers and drug users in this dialogue), paying particular attention to meaningfully including voices of people impacted by these policies
  • modifying or eliminating existing federal policies that conflate sex work and human trafficking and prevent sex workers from accessing services such as healthcare, HIV prevention and support
  • repealing and removing “anti-prostitution pledge” requirements entirely for U.S. global AIDS funds and anti-trafficking funds.

Thank you for your leadership and consideration of these important matters. We look forward to working with ONAP to expand access to treatment, care and prevention for sex worker communities. We are committed to reducing the number of HIV infections across the United States through prevention and education initiatives. We urge you to adopt these policy resolutions to advance the objective of reducing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Sincerely,

Desiree Alliance

Best Practices Policy Project

New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance

The Outlaw Project

The Black Sex Workers Collective 

Note: The original 2015 letter to ONAP was authored by the Best Practices Policy Project, Desiree Alliance, and the New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance.