Video for HLCC meeting about "Sex Work on Aurora"

It was wonderful to have Sparrow Etter Carlson, Savannah Sly, and Lisa Taylor-Lopez join us on April 1 for a Zoom meeting.

They are all advocates for the rights of sex workers.  Ms. Carlson is also Director of Programs & Co-founder of Aurora Commons, which provides support for homeless and other challenged people in the Aurora neighborhood.  Ms. Sly and Ms Taylor-Lopez work with The Society of Erotic Professionals In Action WA (SEPIAWA).

I highly recommend watching the video if you missed the talk. It has an overview of Aurora Commons, and Ms. Carlson's work there, which focuses on supporting drug addicted sex workers and a lot of discussion of the challenges and dangers facing sex workers locally and across the country.

Some things I learned:

  • The federal legislation SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act)/FOSTA (Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) shut down crucial web sites that sex workers used to find work safely.  Before that, they didn't need to expose themselves on the streets, and they could check out potential clients to see if they were known abusers.
  • Trafficking in sex workers certainly happens, but some sex workers are in it by choice.
  • Enforcement of anti-prostitution laws makes things much worse, because abused sex workers can't go to the police for protection.
  • Decriminalization, where the police leave sex workers alone works better for them than legalization, which would involve sex workers registering with the government.

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