Members of the national coalition of American s*x workers have drawn attention to their existence, warning the authorities that they deserve to be heard or recognised because they also cast votes during elections.
Of the many impactful statements made onstage at the Women’s March Power to the Polls event in Las Vegas on Sunday, one stood out for the uniqueness of its voice in the largely mainstream political context: “I am a mother, I am a grandmother, and I am a s*x worker.”
The statement was made by Cris Sardinia, head of Desiree Alliance, a national coalition of s*x workers and health professionals working toward harm reduction, advocacy, and education.
She was the only one of 30-plus onstage speakers to focus on the rights of prostitutes, adult-film stars, strippers, and other s*x workers as an issue.
But even as a lone voice in the day’s lineup, she symbolised a powerful shift — as did the noticeable presence of many sex-worker rights activists, who turned out more forcefully than they did for last year’s main Women’s March event.
The issue remains a touchy one among women who equate all prostitution and s*x work with s*x trafficking; activists, meanwhile, see a difference and defend their work as a freedom-of-choice issue.
“I want you to see the sex-worker rights movement as part of the solution and not the problem,” Sardinia said to great applause from the stands of the Sam Boyd Stadium.
“We are a strong and fierce community made up of every colour, every race, every identity, every shape, every economy, every religion, and so much more,” Sardinia continued, before declaring, “I’m a sex worker. And I have the right to be here.”
S*x workers were indeed just one of the many marginalised groups who found a welcoming space at Sunday’s rally.
Others included black women, indigenous women, Latina women, poor women, immigrant women, migrant workers, domestic workers, s*x-trafficked women and girls, disabled women, Muslim women, abused women, incarcerated women, and LGBT women.
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Source: Yahoo News