ESPLERP: Mark Dec. 17, Intl. Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

The International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers was created in 2003 as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle, Washington. As noted by ESPLERP in their announcement today, when the serial killer (Gary Ridgway) was arrested, he told police he had chosen prostitutes as victims because they were “the easiest targets” and that “no one would miss them.”

In their announcement, ESPLERP pointed out that this sort of violence and rationalizations for it persist.

“As recently as a week ago, a Texas based Border Patrol officer Juan David Ortez was convicted of killing four street-based sex workers in 2018,” ESPLERP observed. “When arrested he said ‘They are dirty…I wanted to clean up the streets.’ He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and his victims will be remembered at this year’s virtual event, hosted by Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE), Rhode Island.”

ESPLERP also observed that “sex workers are not even safe from the police” charged with enforcing the law and ensuring public safety.

“In September this year, Kansas police department detective Roger Golubski is alleged to have protected local drug dealers in the midwestern city, who then allowed him to rape women forced to work as prostitutes,” ESPLERP noted. “He was charged with six counts of sexual assault and with conspiring to hold young women in a condition of involuntary sexual servitude.”

Claire Alwyne of ESPLERP said that current anti-prostitution laws “encourage violent predators to target our community because they know that our illegal status deters us from reporting to law enforcement.”

“In 2019, we helped get California to pass SB233, first of its kind legislation that allows anyone reporting a serious crime (such as sexual assault, trafficking, robbery, domestic violence, or other violent crime) to do so without being charged with a misdemeanor prostitution charge,” Alwyne added. “But similar laws are needed in other States and at Federal level.”

Maxine Doogan of ESPLERP said the group’s demands include “decriminalization of our occupation to respect our human rights and dignity, protect us against violence and abuse, and improve our access to justice.”

“Decriminalization of sex work (for both sex workers and their clients) is supported by a long list of reputable international organizations including Amnesty International, the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women, the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, UNAIDS, Human Rights Watch, and the World Health Organization,” Doogan added. “It is about time the US protected all its citizens.”