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Sex Workers' Grievance Line
Anonymous Phone Venue Established in San Francisco
For Immediate Release Contact: Cassandra Costello, Aide to
Supervisor
Jake McGoldrick, 415-554-7412
September 13, 2006
Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner, Director, STD
Prevention & Control, the San Francisco
Department of Public Health, 415-355-2007
Naomi Akers,
Executive Director,
St. James
Infirmary, 415-902-7532
Robyn Few, Director, Sex Workers Outreach
Project USA, 415-341-7656
Anonymous Phone Venue Established
As Part of Needs Assessment for Sexworker Community
San Francisco Supervisor Jake McGoldrick and Dr. Jeffrey D.
Klausner,
Director of San Francisco's STD Prevention & Control Section of
the
Department of Public Health announced today that in
collaboration with the
St. James Infirmary and the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOP-USA)
they have established an anonymous telephone message line in
which sex
industry workers may share their concerns about their unique
working
conditions.
In addition to the telephone line, which can be reached at
415-355-2040, an
email address has been established in which workers may also
share their
concerns at SpeakOut@sfdph. org
One recommendation from the 1996 San Francisco Task Force on
Prostitution
Report was to create an "anonymous grievance venue" where sex
industry
workers had the opportunity to anonymously report abuse. Ten
years later,
and after many inroads have been made by activists from
organizations such
as COYOTE, EDA and SWOP USA, the Police and DA have begun to
take reports
of violence and abuse seriously. The formation of this venue is
another
step forward to empower the community at large.
As Naomi Akers, Executive Director of the St. James Infirmary
described,
"The Sex Worker Community Line was established so sex industry
workers who
don't feel comfortable coming forward have both an opportunity
to tell
their stories anonymously and to be a part of an effort to
address the
legal, social and political barriers they face in their work."
This venue enables workers to empower themselves and will enable
experts to
accurately assess the needs of this population.
"It is critically important that our City recognize the needs of
this
population and contemplate the ways in which we can bring
equality to all
our neighborhoods and communities," said San Francisco
Supervisor
Jake McGoldrick who spearheaded the effort to implement this
recommendation
from the 1996 San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution Report.
Supervisor McGoldrick added, "This pilot project will enable us
to create a
needs assessment, and also provides a voice to a population that
has not
been recognized for many years."
Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner said of the project, "From a public
health
perspective this is a new opportunity to reach out to a
population that we
know by sheer numbers, has largely been silent. I can't
anticipate what
outcomes will be achieved, but we will know more at the close of
this
six-month pilot project then we do now. My Section works very
successfully
with several peer-based health venues and I am all about
community
empowerment and putting public health response in the hands of
the people.
The more we can help a community to own the solution to health
issues, the
more successful we will all be. I look forward to this new
collaboration. "
"This is not just a grievance line. It's an opportunity for all
members
of the sex industry community to share their concerns, hopes and
desires
for the future. In the spirit of the 'anonymous grievance line'
advocated
for in the 1996 SF Task Force on Prostitution Report, we created
this venue
to reach out further to underserved populations and to be able
ultimately
to create a needs assessment for our community. I am grateful to
Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, Dr. Klausner and the St. James
Infirmary," said
Robyn Few, Executive Director of Sex Workers Outreach Project
USA.
The St. James Infirmary was created in 1999 as s collaboration
between
COYOTE, EDA and the Department of Public Health and is a
peer-based
occupational health clinic in San Francisco, run by current,
former and
transitioning sex industry workers for the same population.
SWOP-USA was formed in 2003 by a group of sex workers fighting
for their
human rights. It has become one of the largest sex worker rights
organizations in the country with chapters starting in Alabama,
Arizona,
California, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada and Texas. For additional
information visit the website at www.swop-usa. org.
The Sex Worker Community Line can be reached at 415-355-2040.
Participants
may also contact the Sex Worker Community Line at
SpeakOut@sfdph. org
Press Conference
WHEN: Tuesday, September 19, 2006
WHERE: City Hall Steps, Polk Street
TIME: 12pm
------------ --------- --------- --------
Cassandra Costello
Legislative Assistant
Supervisor Jake McGoldrick
San Francisco District 1
415-554-7412
Fax 415-554-7415
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