The Fight for Sex Workers on #D17

On December 17, 2003, sex workers gathered for a candelight vigil to remember the victims of the Gary Ridgeway, the recently convicted Green River Killer, and to call for an end to violence against sex workers. Nearly twenty years later, there’s still much work to be done. From the murder of trans sex workers of color to consent violations on set, we need to listen to sex workers, give them the freedom to control their work, and decriminalize the work they do. Unfortunately, over the past few years we’ve seen much the opposite. Social media sites routinely deplatform or shadowban sex worker voices. Legislation like SESTA/FOSTA and the EARN IT Act make sex work more difficult and dangerous. Conservative attacks on online forums and marketplaces, from Craigslist to Pornhub, deny them the resources and financial ballast that can keep them safe from violence and trafficking. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen Instagram change its Terms of Service in a way that permits wide deplatforming, a mass purge on TikTok of creators with OnlyFans accounts, and the wholesale removal of credit card processing for sex workers on Pornhub by Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. In the midst of an epidemic, in a year in which sex workers have already faced devastating losses of income, these callous attacks are both immoral and indefensible. If you don’t understand the connection between sex worker empowerment online, and sex worker safety online, you’re not listening to sex workers. This #IDEAVASW #D17 remember that silence is violence. Speak up for the rights of sex workers. Give a platform for sex workes to speak. And demand equal protection for sex workers on the platforms you use. And of course, give what you can to organizations that support sex workers, and directly to the sex workers you love.