'They Think They Have a PhD in Whoreology:' How Lobbying for Sex Worker Rights Helps Educate Us All (Motherboard/Vice)

Read the full article by Phoenix Calida at Motherboard.Vice.com

A lot of people think they know what sex work is, what sex workers look like, or what sex workers need. Let the average person watch a documentary about sex work, and suddenly they think they have a PhD in whoreology. This means that even well-meaning people end up hurting sex workers, and it needs to stop… which is how I ended up in DC taking part in the first-ever sex worker lobby day. The ultimate goal of the day was to create relationships and open dialogue. Our message: If sex workers hadn’t been excluded when then this bill was written, we could have warned everyone about the unintended consequences that were coming. We could have told lawmakers that closing site where we screen will cause sex workers to be murdered. We could have told them that shutting down places where people are trafficked won’t stop traffickers, but losing the digital footprint makes it harder to find trafficked people. Despite the moral objections to sex work, I don’t think most people want to make things worse for sex workers, but people need to realize binging sex worker documentaries doesn’t make one an expert on harm reduction policy. Phoenix Calida is a Chicago-based Afro Latina loudmouth and local activist, with a passion for advocating for black women, the LGTBQ community and the sex worker community. She can also be found co-hosting The Black Podcast.