Robyn
Few, a native of Kentucky, ran away from home at age
thirteen and later became an exotic dancer. After marrying and
having a daughter in her twenties, she began to take college
courses in the hopes of earning a degree in theater arts. She
came to California in 1993 to pursue theater and become an
activist. Acting and activism not being the highest paying jobs,
Few turned to prostitution to pay the bills in 1996. She has
worked tirelessly as an advocate and caregiver for medical
marijuana and AIDS patients and has gained quite a reputation in
the Bay Area activist community as an effective lobbyist for the
issue. In June of 2002, the FBI arrested Few under the direction
of John Ashcroft. Using the Patriot Act, Ashcroft was able to
equate terrorism with prostitution and get additional funding
for the very expensive investigation. She was convicted on one
federal count of conspiracy to promote prostitution and received
six months house arrest, which she finished serving in June
2004. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel allowed Few to continue her
activism and volunteer efforts while under house arrest.
Dubbed
the "patriotic prostitute," a campaign centered on the idea that
prostitution should be decriminalized to protect women from
violence began in October 2003 with The Sex Workers Outreach
Project. SWOP is an outgrowth of the anger and frustration that
Few feels as a result of her federal bust. "Until prostitutes
have equal protection under the law and equal rights as human
beings, there is no justice."
SWOP
Australia is the sister organization that the USA counterpart is
modeled on, although the myriad of services that SWOP-AU
provides cannot actually be put in place until prostitution is
decriminalized in the U.S. "Until prostitutes are no longer
criminals why would they come forward and allow themselves to
become targets for law enforcement? Decriminalization is the
beginning of the solution, it's not the solution itself."
Robyn
Few, a native of Kentucky, ran away from home at age
thirteen and later became an exotic dancer. After marrying and
having a daughter in her twenties, she began to take college
courses in the hopes of earning a degree in theater arts. She
came to California in 1993 to pursue theater and become an
activist. Acting and activism not being the highest paying jobs,
Few turned to prostitution to pay the bills in 1996. She has
worked tirelessly as an advocate and caregiver for medical
marijuana and AIDS patients and has gained quite a reputation in
the Bay Area activist community as an effective lobbyist for the
issue. In June of 2002, the FBI arrested Few under the direction
of John Ashcroft. Using the Patriot Act, Ashcroft was able to
equate terrorism with prostitution and get additional funding
for the very expensive investigation. She was convicted on one
federal count of conspiracy to promote prostitution and received
six months house arrest, which she finished serving in June
2004. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel allowed Few to continue her
activism and volunteer efforts while under house arrest.
Dubbed
the "patriotic prostitute," a campaign centered on the idea that
prostitution should be decriminalized to protect women from
violence began in October 2003 with The Sex Workers Outreach
Project. SWOP is an outgrowth of the anger and frustration that
Few feels as a result of her federal bust. "Until prostitutes
have equal protection under the law and equal rights as human
beings, there is no justice." 
SWOP
Australia is the sister organization that the USA counterpart is
modeled on, although the myriad of services that SWOP-AU
provides cannot actually be put in place until prostitution is
decriminalized in the U.S. "Until prostitutes are no longer
criminals why would they come forward and allow themselves to
become targets for law enforcement? Decriminalization is the
beginning of the solution, it's not the solution itself."
