Sex Workers
Outreach Project-USA
912 Cole St. #202 ~ San Francisco, CA 94117
Tel:
1.415.341.7656
2930 Shattuck Ave Suite 200-22 ~ Berkeley,
CA 94705 Fax:1.510.350.8706
www.swop-usa.org
For Immediate Release: December 7, 2006
Contacts: Robyn Few
(415) 341-7656; Dr. Avaren Ipsen
(510) 849-3073,
(510) 457-8169
December 17th: International Day To End
Violence Against Sex Workers:
Sex Workers Outreach Project calls for
Inclusion of Sex Workers as part of the
Atlantic City Murders Investigation
Task Force and a Moratorium on Prostitution
Arrests
"Working with the sex worker community will
provide vital information for stopping this
murdering predator, said Robyn Few, Founder,
SWOP-USA. "If the safety of prostitutes was
the top priority of our cities, we would
decriminalize prostitution today. We have
the power to change these stigmatizing
laws."
(December 7, 2006)-The Sex Workers Outreach
Project-USA (SWOP) is deeply distressed by
the recent news of the murders of four women
in
Atlantic City. SWOP supports the
quick response of the local, state, and
federal officials to establish a Task Force
to investigate these savage murders. It is
clear that there is serious public attention
to these crimes among law enforcement and
the media in
New Jersey.
SWOP is concerned, however, by media reports
of apparent heavy police presence in the
areas of the killings. "This could drive the
killer(s) underground while making the
street sex industry even more perilous than
usual for those who work there," says
Victoria Powell, Director of SWOP-USA.
Instead of police crackdowns in prostitution
areas, SWOP recommends long term and
extensive cooperation with local sex
workers, which should include appointing sex
workers as consultants to the Task Force
itself and creating a support system for
these participants. "The Police department
should establish a moratorium on arresting
prostitutes as this investigation proceeds,"
says Carol Leigh, SWOP Advisory Board
member. "Escalating arrests increases
desperation for women and discourages
communication with the police about violence
committed against them." SWOP also
recommends that police make a formal
statement informing prostitutes that they
will be granted immunity and not implicate
themselves as prostitutes when they come
forward with information.
SWOP began the annual "International Day to
End Violence Against Sex Workers" on
December 17, 2003, the day before the
conviction of
Seattle's, Green River Killer. "We
wanted everyone in the world to know that
because of the criminalization of
prostitution it took 23 years to convict a
man of killing at least 48 women," said
Stacey Swimme, SWOP-AZ. "Police ignored
vital information given by prostitutes and
pimps because of stigma and discrimination."
Such deadly violence against sex workers is
thought to be a recurring social pattern.
Serial killers know that the criminalization
of prostitution prohibits sex workers from
seeking protection from police and that
stigma causes the public to believe that
violence is part of sex workers' job
description.
Police in our communities should prioritize
addressing violence against sex workers, yet
the stigma and criminalization increases
vulnerability and undermines recourse. Often
society views sex workers as separate and
inconsequential. "When dangerous killers are
on the loose, all women are at risk because
the endemic sexual justification for
violence does not only apply to prostitutes.
It is part of a deeply ingrained misogyny in
our society that condones the punishment of
'sexual' women. A violent crime against one
woman is a crime against all women,
regardless of their occupation, race, or
class, and is never justified." says Dr.
Avaren Ipsen, SWOP Campaign Coordinator and
co-chair of
Berkeley Commission on the Status of
Women.
For more info about events for 4th Annual
International Day to End Violence Against
Sex Workers on December 17th:
SWOP-USA:
http://www.swop-usa.org or email
info@swop-usa.org
Spread Magazine:
http://www.spreadmagazine.org
Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice
Center: http://www.sexworkersproject.org
For information on violence against
prostitutes and the Green River Murders:
Violence and the Outlaw Status of (Street)
Prostitution in
Canada, John Lowman
http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~lowman/
Defending Gary, Unraveling the Mind of the
Green River Killer, Mark Prothero, with
Carlton Smith (Jossey-Bass, 2006)
King County Journal, The Green River
Killer, (Seattle:
King County Journal, 2003).
