food for thought

by Mike   Share This Post

‘No mission can succeed if you don’t really listen to, and get to know the people you’re supposedly helping.’
–

As we set out on this Tour, some very sage words of advice from author Benjamin Corey:

  • Please listen to and get to know sex workers.
  • Please educate yourself on the spectrum of sex work and why people enter the industry.
  • Please don’t continue to exclude us from conversations about our work, lives, and trafficking. You would never make public policy or other decisions about other groups of people without their input, so “Nothing about us without us” is incredibly reasonable.
  • Please stop arresting and criminalizing us. How you treat everyone on the spectrum of sex work directly and indirectly impacts those who are being trafficked.
  • Please stop telling survivors things like “We’re so glad you’re better now” or “You can do better than that’ or ‘You were created for so much more.” It implies judgment about our time in the industry and if we want/need to return, we’ll already know exactly how you feel about us and our work. You’re reinforcing stigma and shame, and confirming to us you aren’t safe.

Please keep in mind that as we raise awareness and funds that we also need to keep educating and informing ourselves. That also means having some conversations that might initially be a little difficult at first, but they will allow us to better serve those in need.

Peace.

Read his entire piece HERE.