International Sex Workers Rights Day

"Kill Your Hooker So You Don't Have to Pay Her." As Roxann MtJoy has written previously, this is one of many variations on the name of a popular Facebook group that keeps resurfacing every time it gets shut down, groups that have received thousands of fans. Violence against women is never quite as funny as when it's directed toward a sex worker, right?

The latest version, "GTA [Grand Theft Auto] taught me if you kill a hooker, you get your money back," is still sitting pretty on Facebook -- I guess if a video game made you do it, it's okay? (You can go to the group to report it here or sign the petition telling Facebook not to tolerate violence against women.) But violence against sex workers is not a joke. They are at high risk for rape, assault, robbery, or even murder in trying to do their jobs, a serious problem with roots in misogyny and the all-too-prevalent perception that sex workers are worthless, undeserving of rights or protection, or even "get what they deserve" when abused.

Today marks International Sex Workers Rights Day. The Sex Workers Outreach Project works toward securing the "fundamental human rights of sex workers" and "ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy." SWOP and the International Union of Sex Workers has their own Facebook counter-group, "Love your hooker & Pay them well," where people can show the love and find out way to get involved with supporting sex workers rights, in the U.S. and around the world.

Because prostitution is illegal in the United States, sex workers are often afraid to report crimes; it's a controversial issue as to the impact legalization would have on human trafficking. Regardless, sex workers, who are primarily women or queer from a low-income background, still deserve the equal protection of the law. Law enforcement should make clear, public policies that sex workers should not fear punishment for the minor infraction of selling sex if they report serious crimes of human trafficking, abuse, or rape -- and police themselves must not discriminate against or harass sex workers.

We also need to see an end to policies that heap undue punishment on sex workers or endanger their lives. As we've posted before, practices such as those in Louisiana, where "crimes against nature" laws are being used to sentence sex workers as sex offenders, putting women in danger while diverting attention from dangerous criminals. And in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and New York, carrying condoms can be used as evidence against sex workers, a safe sex-discouraging policy risky for their personal and the public's health in cities that have serious problems with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Photo credit: dreamsjung