Calls For Sex Work Decriminalization Mark ‘Day To End Violence’

December 17, which has been marked on the calendar as the “International Day to End Violence Against Sex Work” for the past 16 years, saw moves in several United States cities to decriminalize sex work, with activists saying that treating sex work as a crime makes violence against sex workers more likely—and one protester in Seattle displayed a board with the names of 14 sex workers murdered in the U.S. this year, according to a report by the Seattle, Washington, weekly newspaper The Stranger.  The passage by Congress earlier this year of the FOSTA/SESTA bill, supposedly designed to curb online sex trafficking, has only increased the risk to sex workers by forcing them offline into the more treacherous streets and clubs, as AVN.com has covered.  "This has been a really hard year for sex workers," sex worker/activist Savannah Sly told The Stranger. "We've seen an uptick of people turning to the streets and bars for hustling. The strip clubs are flooded, which is compromising labor rights for dancers. And we're seeing a decrease in screening practices, an increase in pimp recruiting, and clients asking for 'freebies' or wanting to decrease safer sex practices." Sly took part in a Seattle protest Monday calling for the city to decriminalize sex work.  In New Orleans, Louisiana, the mayor herself, while stopping short of advocating the decriminalization of sex work there, issued a statement calling for increased protection for the sex worker community, according the New Orleans alternative weekly newspaper Gambit.  “This is a public health issue, and one we need to discuss openly as a community," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in her statement. "Stigma and shame put lives at risk. The City of New Orleans will work to secure and uphold the human rights of all individuals, especially those most at risk of abuse and neglect. All of our residents matter and deserve equal protection under the law.” And in San Francisco, California, on Monday, activists descended on city hall demanding that a recently formed police unit created specifically to crack down on street prostitution be disbanded, according to the San Francisco Examiner.  “Arrests have increased dramatically and noticeably, and as a result sex workers who are victims of violence are intimidated and running from police,” said Rachel West of the U.S. PROStitutes Collective. “Women are forced into more isolated, unfamiliar areas where attacks are more likely.” Statistics show that sex workers are disproportionately subject to violence, with more than 80 percent of street-based sex workers in New York City alone reporting that they have been victims of violence, according to a Huffington Post report.  Studies have shown a correlation between stigmatization of sex work, as reflected in political rhetoric and media reports, and higher level of violence against sex workers. Photo By Fibonacci Blue/Flickr.com Creative Commons