Marcia Powell: No Human Involved? Appeal to Rick Romley.

For many years, official police reports identified murdered prostitutes with the phrase
"No human involved."

From the Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP) Tucson memorial last December,
marking the 2009 International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

-----------------------------

Dear Friends of Marcia Powell:

I went to the Maricopa County Attorney's office yesterday and requested an appointment with Rick Romley to discuss the prosecution of those responsible for Marcia's death. I was deflected by a detective who knew next to nothing about the case, and sent me off to tell the state to do a better investigation for them, suggesting that they can still file charges later. I wasn't satisfied with that, but wasn't about to fight the guy to Romley's door - he was pretty big and wore a gun.

So, after visiting AZ Attorney General Goddard's office to be sure they can't do anything (they denied any jurisdiction, deferring to the MCA), I came home and wrote this letter. I hand-delivered it to Romley's office this morning.

Admittedly, I probably should have tried this before chalking up the MCA's sidewalks last week and posting my art, but I guess I needed to get it out of my system in order to articulate myself. I think this is the right thing to do, though I can't help but feel like I'm betraying some of my abolitionist principles by arguing for criminal prosecution. If anyone has any ideas about what transformative justice might look like in this community for the guards who killed Marcia Powell, let me know. I just don't want to empower or embolden them - or any other officer - to hurt prisoners again.

Anyway, this may end what I had left of secrets or a private life, but the truth about why I could have ended up in that cage myself seemed important to tell. I'm not entirely proud of all the decisions I've made in my life, but Arundhati Roy's closing quote is on my letterhead precisely because I believe we should never have to be ashamed to tell our stories. If we cower in silence and fear, then how else will others be free to tell theirs? We must assert that - whatever else we may be called - we are humans involved if we are to challenge the stigma that allows women like Marcia to be so readily discounted and ignored.

- Peg

---------------------------------------------

September 8, 2010

Richard M. Romley
Maricopa County Attorney
301 West Jefferson St.
Phoenix, AZ 85003

Dear Mr. Romley,

My name is Peggy Plews; I’m a friend of Marcia Powell’s. We didn’t actually meet before she died, but I immediately identified with her life story. As an alcoholic, drug-addicted, manic depressive, troublemaking survivor of childhood abuse and sexual assault, I was thrown out and dropped out of high school, sold myself for a high on more than one occasion, and ended up institutionalized before I was 20.

I was fortunate enough to end up in AA at that time, or I would have soon been criminalized like Marcia, if I even survived much longer. My recovery over the years has been a challenge; since the 2001 death of my little brother and the suicide of a man I loved, my mood disorder has been severe enough that I’ve had several episodes of relapse and extended periods of disability. Some of the medications I’ve been on have made me gravely ill. As an alternative, I went a year without meds, and even tried electroconvulsive shock therapy. Neither strategy was very effective; the latter caused lasting damage to my memory and cognitive abilities.

By the time of Marcia’s death, however, I’d been regaining my functioning for a couple of years, and was enrolled at ASU, 3 credits away from earning my degree in Justice Studies. Most of my academic inquiry around that time was in the history of slavery, women’s resistance to oppression, social movements in America, and the evolution of the contemporary prison industrial complex. By the time my Winter 2009 semester concluded, I was an avowed - albeit an imperfect - prison abolitionist, and just beginning to cast my gaze around my own community again. Hence my intensely personal reaction when I learned of Marcia‘s death.

Not quite sure how to cope with the grief and powerlessness I felt, I began to blog as one vehicle for both public education and advocacy. Needing to find others who shared my interests and concerns about our jails and prisons, I also organized with some of the community members I met at memorial services in the weeks that followed Marcia’s death to explore ways we could make a positive difference in how prisoners are treated and regarded, and in how the criminal justice system here works. We came to call ourselves the “Friends of Marcia Powell”, which is a much broader, looser network now that includes everyone from young Phoenix anarchists to international prison watchers to leaders in the movement for the wrongfully convicted to Republicans with kids in Arizona prisons. Of all of us, though, I am the one who could have most easily been Marcia Powell.

I still can be, in fact. I am regarded by some, I’m sure (particularly those at the AZ Department of Corrections) as a public nuisance; certainly as a dogged critic of state policies and people in power. I suspect I have not endeared myself to anyone but left wing radicals and outlaws, and - given my personal history - I’d be pretty vulnerable to malicious prosecution by any of my adversaries’ good buddies, as I understand Mr. Montgomery is.

I could also just as easily relapse or lose my mind and get arrested and prosecuted for a real crime. Once in prison, given my politics, I’d be in trouble all the time - and sure to be punished outside of policy guidelines from time to time. So, I have a vested interest in the outcome of your investigation and - hopefully - prosecutions: I don’t want those people to have power over my life after what they’ve done to Marcia.

Given that the constitutional rights we infer on crime victims in this state don’t apply to people who - like Marcia - are victimized while “in custody for an offense”, it’s no wonder that prisoners of the state and county alike are so often brutalized and neglected. Prisoners and ex-felons have fewer rights and protections than animals, while perpetrators of violent crimes against them are given far more benefit of the doubt by your office than the rest of us would be. Failing to prosecute anyone for the death of Marcia Powell will certainly facilitate justifications for prisoner abuse in the future by brutal, cruel, and careless people in uniform who think they will be immune to criminal sanctions. It also further erodes the public’s trust that “justice” in America is for all, not just for the privileged few.

As I suspect you know, people like Thomas, Arpaio, and Pearce have also done grave damage to the integrity and credibility of Arizona’s criminal justice system, and consequently, to the ability of many people to have any faith in law makers or enforcers anymore. Not prosecuting those responsible for the death of Marcia Powell just reaffirms that the lives of the most disenfranchised and vulnerable among us here are truly disposable in the eyes of the law - which earns only my disgust and contempt. That is where some of the rage directed at police by youth during the Anti-Arpaio march comes from - it’s a deep fracture that can’t be healed by punishing them - it needs to be addressed at the source.

In the meantime, those individuals already identified in an internal investigation as being criminally negligent in Marcia’s death are minimizing the harm they did and fighting to get their jobs back, some returning to the same prison yard with the same duties and powers they had when they killed her. That speaks volumes about the justice system to those prisoners who witnessed their incompetence or cruelty that day, and will now be subjected to it themselves again.

In light of that development, how is a prisoner who is raped ever supposed to have confidence that her complaint will be taken seriously, and that her assailant will be prosecuted instead of returned to a position of power over her? Why would any of those women have any confidence at all that the Maricopa County Attorney’s office makes a good faith effort to protect victims and seek justice, if the only people they see you punish are the poor and powerless or political enemies? As you should know, as many as 80% of women in prison have themselves been victims of crime already - and many will be again.

For these reasons I came by your office today in an attempt to schedule an appointment to meet with you, to personally implore you to take another look at Marcia’s case. Your office is prosecuting all sorts of people on less evidence, or with more contradictory testimony, than that which has been collected thus far in this case. You are threatening several Friends of Marcia Powell’s with prosecution as violent criminals - with prison time, if they don’t plead out - for their antagonism of police at the January Anti-Arpaio rally. What does it say to those young people - and their entire community - if you then won’t charge ADC officers for their role in Marcia’s death? She was far more helpless a victim than armed police on horseback or in riot gear. She suffered horribly due to those officers’ neglect; her body even had second degree burns on it from the sun. None of the Arpaio 5 hurt anyone like that, nor would they. You have the wrong dangerous criminals in your sights.

Please bring charges against those officers who are most implicated and let them put on their defense - what have you lost if some prove their innocence? You will have at least shown that human lives like Marcia’s matter as much as fallen K-9 dogs. You will help set a higher standard of expectations for the conduct of corrections and law enforcement officers in regards to their treatment of prisoners. And before you leave your post, you will teach this community to expect more from the county attorney’s office than we’ve been able to expect for years. Given who will be taking your place, that’s a vital, powerful tool for the people to have, lest we all become victims of that office again.

I can be contacted at the number and email above if you are willing to meet; I have a couple of other issues I‘d like to discuss, too. I’d very much like your help crafting a bill and lobbying the legislature to strengthen the rights of Arizona prisoners to be protected from neglect and abuse; you have credibility that my friends and I lack due to your reputation in law enforcement. We plan to make “Marcia’s Law” a visible issue this fall, such that it gets raised on the campaign trail and is in the forefront of everyone’s minds by the time the legislature reconvenes. If it is not initiated now, while the incident is still fresh in the community’s collective heart and mind, it will never be realized.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,


Margaret Jean Plews

--
"Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness, and our ability to tell our own stories..."

- Arundhati Roy

Sex Work, Race, and Misogyny: Time to Change these Laws.

This came to my attention via Vikki Law today, the author of Resistance Behind Bars. 

I find it deeply troubling. Sex work should not be a crime - much less compel registration as a sex offender.



Here, by the way, is info on laws regarding prostitution in Arizona. I think we need to change the laws. First we need to change the lawmakers, though - before they do too much more damage:

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Prostitution/Solicitation of Prostitution

The Law

In Arizona, under A.R.S. §13-3214(A) "it is unlawful for a person to knowingly engage in prostitution."
Prostitution is defined under A.R.S. §13-3211(5) as "engaging in or agreeing or offering to engage in sexual conduct under a fee arrangement with any person for money or any other valuable consideration." 

Potential Penalties

A violation of this section is a class 1 misdemeanor and carries a maximum six month jail sentence. A first offense of this section carries a mandatory minimum 15 day jail sentence; a second offense carries a mandatory minimum 30 day jail sentence; a third offense carries a mandatory minimum 90 day jail sentence.

A person who has been convicted of three or more violations of this section and who commits a subsequent violation of this section is guilty of a class 5 felony and must serve a mandatory minimum of 180 days jail, and may be face imprisonment. (Please see our "Classification of Offenses" page for specific provisions on felony sentencing provisions.)

In addition to these penalties, the court, in its discretion, may require the person convicted to register as a sex offender pursuant to A.R.S. §13-3821(C), although such registration is not mandatory. 

Also, pursuant to A.R.S. §13-3214(B), cities or towns may enact and enforce ordinances to suppress and prohibit prostitution, and provide a punishment for misdemeanor violations that is at least as strict as A.R.S. §13-3214(A).

from the website of keith barton law.

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Her Crime? Sex Work in New Orleans

More than half of the people on Louisiana's Sex Offender Registry - which was designed for rapists and child molesters - are indigent women convicted of sex work

By Jordan Flaherty, for ColorLines Magazine
http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=673
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-flaherty/her-crime-sex-work-in-new_b_424774.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/19/new-orleans-cops-use.html

Tabitha has been working as a prostitute in New Orleans since she was 13. Now 30 years old, she can often be found working on a corner just outside of the French Quarter. A small and slight white woman, she has battled both drug addiction and illness and struggles every day to find a meal or a place to stay for the night.

These days, Tabitha, who asked that her real name not be used in this story, has yet another burden: a stamp printed on her driver’s license labels her a sex offender. Her crime? Offering sex for money.

New Orleans city police and the district attorney’s office are using a state law written for child molesters to charge hundreds of sex workers like Tabitha as sex offenders. The law, which dates back to 1805, declares it a crime against nature to engage in “unnatural copulation”—a term New Orleans cops and the district attorney’s office have interpreted to mean anal or oral sex. Sex workers convicted of breaking this law are charged with felonies, issued longer jail sentences and forced to register as sex offenders.

Of the 861 sex offenders currently registered in New Orleans, 483 were convicted of a crime against nature, according to Doug Cain, a spokesperson with the Louisiana State Police. And of those convicted of a crime against nature, 78 percent are Black and almost all are women.

Impacts on Women's Lives

The law impacts sex workers in both small and large ways. Tabitha has to register an address in the sex offender database. Her driver’s license has the label “sex offender” printed on it. She also has to purchase and mail postcards with her picture to everyone in the neighborhood informing them of her conviction. If she needs to evacuate to a shelter during a hurricane, she must evacuate to a special shelter for sex offenders, and this shelter has no separate safe spaces for women. She is even prohibited from ordinary activities in New Orleans like wearing a costume at Mardi Gras.

“This law completely disconnects our community members from what remains of a social safety net,” said Deon Haywood, director of Women With A Vision, an organization that promotes wellness and disease prevention for women who live in poverty. Haywood’s group has formed a new coalition of New Orleans activists and health workers who are organizing to fight the way police are abusing the 1805 law.

Activists like Haywood believe that using the law in this way is part of an overall policy by the New Orleans Police Department to go after petty offenses. According to a report from the Metropolitan Crime Commission, New Orleans police arrest more than 58,000 people every year. Of those arrested, nearly 50 percent are for traffic and municipal offenses, and only 5 percent are for violent crimes.

“What this is really about is over-incarcerating poor and of-color communities,” said Rosana Cruz of VOTE (Voice Of The Ex-offender), a prison reform organization that is also a part of the new coalition.

Haywood, Cruz and other activists believe they have an opportunity with the mayoral and city council elections next month to change the system. With all of the candidates attempting to distance themselves from Mayor Nagin, who is prevented by term limits from running again, the new mayor is likely to be open to making changes. This includes hiring a new police chief, as all the candidates have pledged to do. Advocates are hoping this is an opportunity to shift the department’s focus. “When there's a new police chief, we can educate them,” said Haywood.

Many of the women Haywood’s group works with are at the most high-risk tier of sex work. They meet customers on the street and in bars. Most are dealing with addiction and homelessness, and many cannot get food stamps or other public assistance because of felony convictions on their record.

“I’m hoping that the situation will look different because of this coalition,” Haywood said. “I can’t tell you how overwhelmed we’ve been from the needs of this population.”

Condemned

Miss Jackie is one of those women. A Black woman in her 50s, she was arrested for sex work in 1999 and charged as a sex offender. Her name was added to the registry for 10 years. When the registration period was almost over she was arrested for possession of crack. She says the arresting officer didn’t find any drugs on her person, but the judge ruled that she needed to continue to register as a sex offender for another 15 years (the new federal requirement for sex offenders) because her arrest was a violation of her registration period.

"Where is the justice?” she asked, speaking through tears. “How do they expect me to straighten out my life?” Struggling with basic needs like housing, Miss Jackie added: “I feel condemned."

Advocates and former defendants claim that the decision over who is charged under which penalty is made arbitrarily, at the discretion of police and the district attorney’s office, and that the law disproportionately affects Black people, as well as transgender women. When asked about the allegations of abusing the crime against nature statue, New Orleans Police Department spokesman Bob Young responded: “Persons are charged according to the crime they commit.”

Wendi Cooper’s story, however, paints a different picture.

In 1999, Cooper had recently come out as transgender. A Black transwoman, she tried prostitution a few times and quickly discovered it wasn’t for her. But before she quit, she was arrested. At the time, Cooper was happy to take a plea that allowed her to get out of jail and didn’t think much about what the “crime against nature” conviction would mean on her record. As she got older and began work as a healthcare professional, the weight of the sex offender label began to upset her more and more. “This is not me,” she said. “I’m not that person who the state labeled me as…it slanders me.”

Cooper appealed to the state to have her record expunged and talked to lawyers about other options, but she still must register for at least another five years and potentially longer. “I feel like I was manipulated, you know, pleading guilty to this crime…And it’s hard, knowing that you are called something that you’re not,” she said. She is also afraid now that the conviction will prevent her from getting her license as a registered nurse or from being hired.

Although some women have tried to fight the sex offender charges in court, they’ve had little success. The penalties they face became even harsher in 2006 when Congress passed the Adam Walsh act, requiring tier-1 (the least serious) sex offenders to stay in the public registry for 15 years. There’s also an added danger to fighting the charges, according to Josh Perry, a former attorney with the Orleans Public Defenders office.

“The way Louisiana’s habitual offender law works, if you challenge your sentence in court and lose, and it’s a third offense, the mandatory minimum is 20 years. The maximum is life,” he explained.

Perry estimates that on an average day two or three people are arrested for prostitution in New Orleans, and about half of them are charged under the crime against nature statute. “Right now, there are 39 people being held at Orleans Parish Prison [for] crimes against nature,” Perry told a gathering of advocates. “And another 15 to 20 people…charged with failure to register as a sex offender.”

Sex workers accused as sex offenders face discrimination in every aspect of the system. In most cases, they cannot get released on bond, because they are seen as a higher risk of flight than people charged with violent crimes. “This is the level of stigma and dysfunction that we’re talking about here,” said Perry. “Realistically, they’re not getting out.”

Organizing for Change

Advocates have said the ideal solution would be to get state lawmakers to change the law, but they feel there’s little hope of positive reforms from the current legislature. For now, organizers want to put pressure on police and the district attorney’s office to stop charging sex workers under the crime against nature statute.

There is a great deal of work that needs to be done. Haywood is working with lawyers and national allies to develop a legal strategy, as well as a broad local coalition that includes criminal justice reform organizations like VOTE-NOLA and activist groups like the New Orleans chapters of Critical Resistance and INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence.

“We’re trying to organize, but we’re also working on the human rights side of how it’s affecting their lives,” she said. “This is a population that works in crisis mode all the time.”

Jennifer, a 23-year-old white woman who asked that her real name not be used in this story, has been working as a prostitute since she was a teenager, and also works as a stripper at a club on Bourbon Street. She recently broke free of an eight-year heroin addiction. Unless the law changes, she will have the words “sex offender” on her driver’s license until she is 48 years old.

Haywood said that stories like this show that the law has the effect of forcing women to continue with sex work. “When you charge young women with this—when you label them as a sex offender—this is what they are for the rest of their lives,” she said.

Jennifer said it’s affected her job options. “I’m not sure what they think, but a lot of places wont hire sex offenders,” she said.

Haywood said the women she sees have few options. Many of them are homeless. They are sleeping in abandoned houses or on the street, or they are trading sex for a place to stay. “The women we work with, they don't call it sex work,” she said. “They don't know what that means. They don’t even call it prostitution. They call it survival.”


Jordan Flaherty is a journalist, an editor of Left Turn Magazine, and a staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute (http://louisianajusticeinstitute.blogspot.com). He was the first writer to bring the story of the Jena Six to a national audience and audiences around the world have seen the television reports he’s produced for Al-Jazeera, TeleSur, GritTV, and Democracy Now. His post-Katrina reporting for ColorLines shared an award from New America Media for best Katrina-related reporting in ethnic press. Haymarket Press will release his new book, FLOODLINES: Stories of Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six, in 2010. He can be reached at neworleans@leftturn.org.

Wendi Cooper, Deon Haywood, and other advocates mentioned in this article are available for interviews.

Photos for article by Abdul Aziz for ColorLines, http://photoactivist.blogspot.com.

Organizations Mentioned in this article:
Women With A Vision: http://wwav-no.org
V.O.T.E.: http://www.vote-nola.org

Recent Reporting by Jordan Flaherty:
New Orleans' Heart is in Haiti:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-flaherty/new-orleans-heart-is-in-h_b_427108.html
Discriminatory Housing Lockouts Amid Post-Katrina Rebuilding: http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=617
Homeless and Struggling in New Orleans: http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=591

Other Resources:
Louisiana Justice Institute: http://www.louisianajusticeinstitute.org
Justice Roars: http://louisianajusticeinstitute.blogspot.com
Project Transparency: http://www.nolapublicrecords.org
Left Turn Magazine: http://www.leftturn.org

Sex Workers' Resistance in Phoenix

Sorry to leave folks hanging all weekend – can’t believe it’s Sunday already. I was sick as a dog yesterday, but I'll have a report on the demonstration Friday sometime tonight (or in the wee morning hours – I really need to stop and crash awhile). It's more observation and analysis than a report, really, which is why it’s taking so long. This stuff is pretty loaded, and I don't want to be too reckless with it. Sometimes I need to stop and take a breath (or a nap) before speaking, or it gets me into trouble.



In the meantime, check out Vikki Law's site on women's resistance in prison:  Resistance Behind Bars. There's a lot there that explains why Marcia Powell was put in a cage in the first place, why she was ignored as she lay dying, why no coverage was given the three women who protested afterwards by setting their mattresses on fire, and why most of my attempts to communicate with Director Ryan and his staff these past few months have gone unanswered. It also accounts for why so little recognition has been given by the Left in Phoenix (which is anywhere this side of the far right, in this state) to the complex dynamics that perpetuate domestic, occupational, and state violence against sex workers, the SWOP members’ courageous acts of defiance, the artistic expressions of grief and rage and hope that have emerged from this on-going tragedy, and the insistence on honoring all human rights that the Sex Workers' Outreach Project brought to this discussion.

Back again later – if you’re on the East Coast, don’t wait up. I should be done by morning.  

Protest Rally Today at AZ Dept of Corrections.

Last night in Tucson was extraordinary. What a bunch of amazing people. I'll report more later.

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Please stand  with us for human rights today, in remembrance of Marcia Powell, 

and in solidarity with sex workers and prisoners of the state...

Rally at Arizona Department of Corrections HQ. 

1601 W. Jefferson St., Phoenix. 

High Noon.

Friday, December 18, 2009. 

 

Bring red umbrellas and/or single red carnations.

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2009 Sex Worker Remembrance List

December 17, 2009. International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. 
http://swop-tucson.org

December 18, 2009. Rally at Arizona Department of Corrections, 
1601 W. Jefferson St. Phoenix. 
High Noon.

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From SWOP-Tucson:  

This Years' Remembrance List: Sex Workers (pdf).

Fight Terror: End Violence Against Sex Workers.

December 17, 2009. International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. 

http://swop-tucson.org

December 18, 2009. Rally at Arizona Department of Corrections, 

1601 W. Jefferson St., Phoenix. 

High Noon.

---------

A very good article from last year's International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, explaining the history of the event... from On the Issues Magazine.com (progressive women's mag):

 

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On The Issues Magazine - Fall 2008 Stopping the Terror: A Day to End Violence Against Prostitutes

by Annie Sprinkle

---

In 2003 “Green River Killer” Gary Ridgeway confessed to having strangled ninety women to death and having “sex” with their dead bodies.

He stated, “I picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.”

Sadly, some Seattle area prostitutes, their boyfriends or pimps, knew the Green River Killer was Gary Ridgeway for years. But they were either afraid to come forward for fear of being arrested themselves, or when they did come forward the police didn’t believe them over the “upstanding family man” Gary Ridageway. It seemed as though the police weren’t working very hard to find the Green River Killer. If the victims had been teachers, nurses or secretaries or other women, I suspect--as Ridgeway did-- that the killer would have been caught much sooner. Ridgeway remained at large for twenty years.

From working as a prostitute myself for two decades I know that violent crimes against sex workers often go unreported, unaddressed and unpunished. There are people who really don’t care when prostitutes are victims of hate crimes, beaten, raped and murdered.  They will say:

“They got what they deserved.”
“They were trash.”
“They asked for it”
“What do they expect?”
“The world is better off without those whores.”

No matter how people feel about sex workers and the politics surrounding them, sex workers are a part of our neighborhoods, communities and our families and always will be. Sex workers are women, trans people and men of all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, classes and backgrounds who are working in the sex industry for a wide range of reasons.  Many of us are out and proud, and spend a lot of time trying to explain to the public that we freely choose our work and we are not “victims.” But the truth is, some of us have been, or will become, real victims of rape, robbery and horrendous crimes.

When Ridgeway got a plea bargain in 2003, he received a life sentence in exchange for revealing where his victims’ bodies were thrown or buried. As the names of the (mostly 17- to 19-year old) victims, were disclosed, I felt a need to remember and honor them.  I cared, and I knew other people cared, too.

So I contacted Robyn Few, the founder of the Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP) based in San Francisco and we made December 17th as the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.  We invited people everywhere to conduct memorials and vigils in their countries and cities. Robyn co-produced an open-mike vigil on the lawn of San Francisco’s City Hall.

Since 2003, each year hundreds of people in dozens of cities around the world have participated in this day to end violence-- from Montreal where people marched with red umbrellas, to protests against police brutality in Hong Kong, a candlelight vigil in Vancouver, a memorial ritual in Sydney, a dance to overcome pain and trauma in East Godavery, India. More events are planned for 2008, the sixth year of the event.

The concept for the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers is simple.  Anyone can choose a place and time to gather, invite others to gather and share their stories, writings, thoughts, poems, and memories of victims, related news and performances.  Or people can do something personal, alone at home, such as lighting a candle or taking a ritual memorial bath.  We encourage discussions among friends, by email, on blogs. People are encouraged to list their events at the SWOP website so others can attend them, and to share the power of their actions. People can also participate by making a donation to a group that helps sex workers by teaching them about dangers and how to best survive. Two such non-profits are St. James Infirmary and AIM Healthcare. (Editor’s Note: Read more about the St. James Infirmary in this article in On The Issues Magazine.com.

This December 17, 2008 many sex workers will converge in Washington, D.C. on for a National March for Sex Worker Rights where marchers “will take a stand for justice, and the freedom to do sex work safely. We are calling for an end to unjust laws, policing, the shaming and stigma that oppress our communities and make us targets for violence.” People are encouraged to join SWOP and other activists in Washington and to endorse this march.

Every year when I create or attend a gathering on December 17, it is a deeply moving experience. I take some moments to feel grateful that I worked as a prostitute for so many years and came out alive.  I remember those who didn’t survive and I fear for those who won't unless real changes are made -- namely safer working conditions and the same police protection other citizens get without recrimination.

November 18, 2008

SWOP-USA letter to ADC Director Ryan.

First: the protest rally information:


­­ ­­

What: Protest Rally: Marcia Powell's death, AZ Department of Corrections.

When: Friday December 18th, 2009 NOON

Where:  AZ Department of Corrections
             1601 West Jefferson St.
             Phoenix, AZ 85007

Sex Workers and allies are coming together in front of the AZ Department of Corrections on December 18th, as part of International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers, an annual event to call attention to violence committed against sex workers all over the globe.  Marcia Powell was a prisoner of the State of Arizona who collapsed and died from heatstroke last May after being locked in an outdoor cage and ignored for four hours in 107 degree heat.

You are invited to join us in Tucson, Arizona on December 17, 2009 (performance art/public installation and a candelight vigil) and in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2009 (protest rally on the steps of the Arizona Department of Corrections).

Bring red umbrellas, to stand in solidarity! Signs are welcome.

Sex Worker Rights are Human Rights!

For more information: visit: www.swopusa.org/dec17 or call 877-776-2004 x 2.

--------------------------------------------- 

Open Letter from the Sex Workers Outreach Project and allies to Charles L. Ryan, Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections. Posted and delivered December 11, 2009.
­
December 17th is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This event was created by Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP-USA), a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy.
In 2009, sex workers from around the globe met gruesome deaths and endured unspeakable violence.  Some died at the hands of a solitary perpetrator; others were victims of serial “prostitute killers.”  While some of these horrific stories received international media attention (Boston, Grand Rapids, Albuquerque, Tijuana, Hong Kong, Moscow, Great Britain, Cape Town, New Zealand), other cases received little more than a perfunctory investigation.  Many cases remain unsolved, sometimes forever.

Today we are here for Marcia Powell, who was incarcerated for solicitation of oral sex and sentenced to over two years in prison - despite being found so mentally impaired at the time of sentencing that she had just been appointed a legal guardian. On May 19, 2009, after informing prison staff that she was suicidal, Marcia was placed in an uncovered outdoor cage at Arizona's Perryville prison for women, where she would presumably be "observed" until she was transferred to a more appropriate location. Reportedly, that's what they did with women who caused problems there: they put them in a cage and "waited them out". The same cages were used for "recreation" and as waiting rooms for those needing medical attention: the prisons filled up so cages were erected in the yards to add more space. Putting someone in there was routine; women were left in there all the time beyond policy, so no one thought much about Marcia complaining - except the other prisoners. Four hours later - after her pleas for water were ignored or mocked by guard after guard - she was found, collapsed, in 107-degree heat, and died on May 20th in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Marcia was the victim of dual forms of injustice, as a sex worker and as a prisoner.  Sex Workers Outreach Project and other organizations are fundamentally opposed to criminalization of sex workⁱ. The prohibition of this work results in selective prosecution that puts some of the most vulnerable in our society at the mercy of a system that robs them of their basic respect and dignity. For decades efforts to curb sex workⁱ have not only failed to reduce incidences of prostitutionⁱ, but they have corrupted our justice system resulting in selective enforcement, racial profiling and inhumane treatment of those who don't have the financial resources to fight back. Violence against sex workers is epidemic and rarely taken seriously. The criminalization of prostitutionⁱ legitimizes this abuse so that sex workers are the targets of violent crime with little recourse. Marcia was referred to - after her death - as a "biological serial killer" in an employee blog (The Lumley Vampire). That suggests that her degraded social status as a "criminalized" sex worker had a considerable effect on the way she was treated at the hands of ADC staff the day she was left to die. It also raises the question of her abuse being the result of bias against her for a disability she may have also had.

Women prisoners are also the victims of an unjust system, facing extreme medical neglect, sexual harassment and abuse. The women's prison population in the United States has grown 800% in the past three decades, twice the rate of the male prison population. 2/3 of women in prison were incarcerated for non-violent offenses. (Institute on Women and Criminal Justice). As the death of Marcia Powell in the care of the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) shows, prison sentences can include the most extreme form of neglect and abuse.

We are here for Marcia and other prisoners, and sex workers, as we call for respect for human rights. As a result of an internal investigation, 16 people were disciplined.  An investigation is currently underway to determine whether or not criminal charges should be filed in her death.

"It's not enough to change a few people and policies. There is a culture embedded in the ADC that is pervasive throughout the prison system that reflects a disregard for the fundamental human rights of prisoners. There are exceptions to that, and the prisoners know who they are," says Peggy Plews of Arizona Prison Watch.

No critical analysis of the institutional culture that contributed to this abuse has been made public, but that analysis is essential to ending state violence.

In response to the death of Marcia Powell while in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections, we expect the following:

1. The Arizona Department of Corrections has an influential role in shaping policy. We ask that leadership be provided by the ADC in exploring models of restorative justice and addressing strategies such as criminal code and sentencing reform, early release programs for low-risk prisoners, community support through harm reduction, and re-entry programs to stop the revolving door syndrome that traps so many people.

2. An analysis of violence against sex workers (both inside and outside the Arizona prison system) should be conducted and a plan should be developed for reducing violence against sex workers in Arizona.

- An analysis of violence against sex workers (including male and transgendered workers) should include victimization while in state custody, police brutality, and domestic and occupational violence.

- Efforts to reform the prisons must go deeper than investigations into individual responsibility for Marcia's Powell's death. An analysis of how the culture of the correctional system employees/officers contributes to violence against prisoners is crucial.

3. A community-organized process for oversight in the prisons should be recognized which includes the voices of prisoners and their families.

4. Grievance policies should be reviewed and strengthened.

5. Cages should never be used to hold prisoners or to address overcrowding, which is the current practice.  Overcrowding must be addressed through reducing incarceration and recidivism rates.

6. Allocate sufficient resources to address the special needs of prisoners with psychiatric and physical disabilities, including education about complications of medications.

7. May 20th should be observed each year in memory of Marcia Powell and other prisoners who died in state custody.  On that day ADC should prepare a report addressed to prisoners, families and community-based oversight groups on human rights violations that have occurred over the past year and actions ADC has taken in response. The report should also include the Department's plan for the upcoming year to improve respect for human rights.

Sex workers around the United States are shocked to see this criminalization result in a death sentence for a prostitutionⁱ crime. This is one of many cases in which we observe conditions that are abusive, degrading and dangerous ranging from rape and other violence, to extreme medical neglect. These conditions violate the human rights of all persons deprived of their liberty to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) should be applied to all individuals.

In the wealthiest country in the world, where taxpayers spend billions on the prison system, it is horrific that this justice system has led to a death sentence for someone arrested for prostitutionⁱ.  It's been over 60 years since the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has been adopted. The Arizona Department of Corrections has been woefully negligent, in following the human rights protocol, which Eleanor Roosevelt, along with so many others, have developed. In less than a decade we've almost doubled the amount spent on our prisons in Arizona, and the Arizona Department of Corrections fails even the most basic requirement, to keep prisoners safe.

We ask that the Arizona Department of Corrections look at the 30 articles in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and review the treatment of individuals in the prison system in the light of these principles. Every ADC employee/correctional officer should have training in human and prisoners' rights principles and practices. ADC should provide leadership that demonstrates a respect for human rights.

We look forward to the day when prisons are no longer used to address our most pressing social problems. As social justice activists we challenge the discrimination that leads to criminalization and incarcerations. We promote human rights for all, as well as specific law reform. Recently enacted by the Arizona legislature, felony charges should be rescinded for prostitutionⁱ charges. Although the ADC does not have jurisdiction over many aspects of these injustices, ADC does have great deal of influence in many of these matters and ADC is also directly responsible for how prisoners are treated within this system. Sex Worker Outreach Project, in tandem with Arizona Prison Watch and Friends of Marcia Powell expects that the ADC establish real justice in the death of Marcia Powell.

Sincerely,


Tara Sawyer
Board Chair
Sex Workers Outreach Project


Peggy Plews
Arizona Prison Watch
Friends of Marcia Powell


Penelope Saunders
Best Practices Policy Project


Carol Leigh
BAYSWAN

Or as a ready to print PDF.

Current Arizona Anti-Prostitution Laws

From SWOP-Tucson's website, which has a lot of informative things on it about sex workers' rights:


CURRENT ARIZONA LAWS REGARDING SEX WORK

ARS Sec. 13-3201. Enticement of persons for purposes of prostitution
ARS Sec. 13-3202. Procurement by false pretenses
ARS Sec. 13-3203. Procurement / house of prostitution
ARS Sec. 13-3204. Receiving earnings of a prostitute
ARS Sec. 13-3205. Causing spouse to become prostitute
ARS Sec. 13-3206. Taking child for purposes of prostitution
ARS Sec. 13-3207. Detention in house of prostitution
ARS Sec. 13-3208. Keeping or residing in house of prostitution
ARS Sec. 13-3209. Pandering
ARS Sec. 13-3210. Transporting persons for purposes of prostitution
ARS Sec. 13-3211. Defintions
ARS Sec. 13-3212. Child prostitution
ARS Sec. 13-3213. Defense
ARS Sec. 13-3214. Prostitution; classification; sentencing

How to be an Ally to Sex Workers

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sunday December 13 - Saturday December 19: 

Week of Humanity and Action.

Monday,December 14: Begin 5th Special Legislative Session.

Thursday, December 17: International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (SWOP-Tucson Memorial).

Friday December 18: SWOP-USA Demonstration at the AZ Department of Corrections HQ in Phoenix.

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How to be an Ally to Sex Workers

(Courtesy of SWOP-Chicago)

1) Don’t Assume. Don’t assume you know why a person is in the sex industry. We’re not all trafficked or victims of abuse. Some people make a choice to enter this industry because they enjoy it, others may be struggling for money and have less of a choice.

2) Be Discreet and Respect Personal Boundaries. If you know a sex worker, it’s OK to engage in conversation in dialogue with them in private, but respect their privacy surrounding their work in public settings.  Don’t ask personal questions such as “does your family know what you do?” If a sex worker is not “out” to their friends, family, or co-workers, it’s not your place to tell everyone what they do.

3) Don’t Judge. Know your own prejudices and realize that not everyone shares the same opinions as you. Whether you think sex work is a dangerous and exploitative profession or not is irrelevant compared to the actual experiences of the person who works in the industry. It’s not your place to pass judgment on how another person earns the money they need to survive.

4) Watch Your Language. Cracking jokes or using derogatory terms such as “hooker”, “whore”, “slut”, or “ho” is not acceptable. While some sex workers have “taken back” these words and use them among themselves, they are usually used to demean sex workers when spoken by outsiders.

5) Address Your Prejudices. If you have a deep bias or underlying fear that all sex workers are bad people and/or full of diseases, then perhaps these are issues within yourself that you need to address.  In fact, the majority of sex workers practice safer sex than their peers and get tested regularly.

6) Don’t Play Rescuer. Not all sex workers are trying to get out of the industry or in need of help. Ask them what they need, but not everyone is looking for “Captain Save-A-Ho” or the “Pretty Woman” ending.

7) If you are a client or patron of sex workers, be respectful of boundaries. You’re buying a service, not a person. Don’t ask for real names, call at all hours of the day/night, or think that your favorite sex worker is going to enter into a relationship with you off the clock.

8 ) Do Your Own Research. Most mainstream media is biased against sex workers and the statistics you read in the news about the sex industry are usually inaccurate. Be critical of what you read or hear and educate yourself on who exactly is transmitting diseases or being trafficked.

9) Respect that Sex Work is Real Work. There’s a set of professional skills involved and it’s not necessarily an industry that everyone can enter into. Don’t tell someone to get a “real job” when they already have one that suits them just fine.

10) Just because someone is a sex worker doesn’t mean they will have sex with you. No matter what area of the sex industry that someone works in, don’t assume that they are promiscuous and willing to have sex with anyone at any time.

11) Be Supportive and Share Resources. If you know of someone who is new to the industry or in an abusive situation with an employer, by all means offer advice and support without being condescending. Some people do enter into the sex industry without educating themselves about what they are getting into and may need help. Despite the situation, calling the police is usually never a good option. Try to find other organizations that are sensitive to the needs of sex workers by contacting the organizations listed below.

12) As you learn the above things, stand up for sex workers when conversations happen.  Share your personal stories if you so choose.  Don’t let the stigma, bigotry and shame around sex work continue.

Remember it’s important that sex workers be allowed to speak for themselves and for allies to not speak for sex workers but to speak with sex workers.

Realize that sex work transcends ‘visible’ notions of race, gender, class, sexuality, education, and identities; sex workers are your sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, lovers, and friends. Respect them!

Get Active! Contact your local SWOP Chapter to find out what you can do or form your own in the city you live in.

This list composed by the members and allies of Sex Workers Outreach Project-Chicago.

PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS:

End State Violence.

Week of Humanity and Action. Dec 13-19.

December 14 (note change from Tuesday to Monday - everyone has a different answer):

5th Special Legislative Session convenes.

Agenda includes finishing off the pesky teachers' union in retaliation for their political activism, fine-tuning legislation that helps the racist patriarchs further consolidate power (including the criminalization of dissent), and shifting tax burdens further onto the backs of the poor through sales tax hikes and upper-income tax breaks. This, while draining impoverished community resources and lives to feed dying small towns being offered no economic hope themselves without being told they have to buy into the practice - and should even share the profits of - of mass incarceration.


Legislators like Kavanagh talk from the affluent fortress of Fountain Hills about the need to make"sacrifices" with budget and tax cuts, while the people he's got the moral fortitude to starve (in order to protect his own interests) are our elderly, young children, minorities, and young mothers... generally, the same people who always get sacrificed by men like him and Pearce: members of the poor and working classes. They seem to fail to appreciate that growing numbers of us have recently fallen out of the middle class, and are taking a second look at these goons and their lawmaking. There's even a quiet but gathering storm of "moderates" in Republican strongholds, as more and more people across party lines are hit by gaps in health care coverage, mortgage scandals and foreclosures, and job layoffs...people who never thought it would happen to them or their families.


I think a lot of incumbents will be surprised to find that their usual BS doesn't have much traction anymore. Instead of offering solutions , these people are talking about spending more money for more prison terms for the kinds of economic crimes people commit to survive desperate times. Then they go selling jobs as agents of state violence and control to people in their own districts as if hosting a prison will be a blessing to their community, while helping the rest of Arizona be "safe".

Safe from who? I wonder who we are so afraid of, sometimes, considering the kinds of sentencing laws we've allowed them to pass. Do we need to use state violence to protect us from all those drug-addicted and mentally ill women in Perryville? Do we really think state violence would "help" them? Are we in that much danger from migrants willing to cross a desert and work in 115 degree heat while our citizens stand on a corner with a beggar's sign? Do we really want to be spending nearly 10% of our state budget on corrections instead of sending it to health care and education? I know there are dangerous, bad people who would cause further harm if left to run amok in society, but that doesn't account for the majority of people who we're told are filling our prisons these days.

So what kind of vision do Arizona's rising - or falling - leaders have for our future? Do they even listen to the versions we would choose? Why aren't they bringing us jobs offering education or hope to others, instead of punishment? Think of how many more people we could employ in rewarding, emancipating fields of work if we redirected some of our incarceration dollars. That would contribute so much more to the health of all of our communities.

Whether or not they realize it in their elected offices yet, the tide has begun to turn. We aren't all falling for this again.

I think that sums it up, so try to make your voices heard this weekend and throughout the week. Votes will be coerced out of every Republican legislator before they even walk in the doors Monday morning, but this is a long-term strategy we're working on here, not just a special session. If the people in power lack courage and imagination to lead the community where we say we really want to be, then we need to step up with our public challenges to their manipulation of prejudices and fears, and form our own visionary task forces drawing on research and reality and respect for human rights - not more right-wing rhetoric - to help us guide public policy...

December 17: International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (Tucson Memorial).

For those of you who want to demonstrate solidarity with the women from SWOP - or simply honor Marcia and other sex workers victimized by violence without engaging in public protest, contacting a legislator, or writing a letter - take a trip down to Tucson for this event Thursday night. It will be worth the drive. Then come back and write up a post for us about the experience - I really want to see how it is through others' eyes, and the more perspectives we exchange at this point, the better. Requests for anonymity will be respected.

December 18: Sex Workers Outreach Project Protest at the AZ DOC in Phoenix.

Click on above link for more info. Details will be posted later today - focus on your legislator this weekend. Please reinforce in writing and on the phone that sex workers' and prisoners' rights are human rights - we aren't asking for anything special: just a little more respect and humanity.

Remember to bring red umbrellas (and/or wear red or black). I'm sure if you have one to loan or donate and can't make it to the rally Friday, if you leave it at Conspire or the Firehouse (here's the Firehouse Gallery facebook site) this week and said it was for the Sex Workers' protest, the folks there would eventually figure out you were trying to get them to me - I need to hit them with some flyers this weekend anyway. I'll stop by both places Thursday for umbrellas or other creative contributions for the rally before heading to Tucson for the memorial.

If you're coming with a group, please drop me a line and let me know how many of you there might be. Bring your guerilla theatre troupes along! Copwatchers should come armed with their cameras, and I'd love it someone could film and edit the event to make a short video for the archives, so we don't just have whatever the mainstream media gives us. That way more than just a handful of people can walk up and be there - it could be Googled forever.

Look forward to seeing everyone. Remember to put your humanity to action this week, and call on others to do the same.

Sex Workers Outreach Project Rally: ADC.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 15: Begin 5th Special Legislative Session. Capitol Buildings, Phoenix. Be there.

December 17: International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (SWOP-Tucson Memorial).

December 18: SWOP-USA Demonstration at the AZ Department of Corrections HQ in Phoenix.

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Arizona Department of Corrections HQ

1601 West Jefferson, Phoenix (Corner of 16th Avenue and West Jefferson)

More photos will be posted to orient travelers soon. In the meantime, follow the link above to SWOP-USA for the update on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and the protest being held in Phoenix on the following day.

AZ Week of Action: Dec 13 - 18

This special legislative session will be during the week of the Sex Outreach Workers Project protest at the Department of Corrections on the 18th – which means the Capitol will be a site for actions by all sorts of groups in the days leading up to the event. Might as well just make that a Week of Action. Anyone who already has stuff planned for that week, please let me know. 

We do need support at the ADC on the 18th - especially women we can all blend in with. Scattered solidarity actions leading up to and happening on the 18th are as good as joining the protest at the ADC, though - especially for the folks who are already working away on people like Arpaio - just tie something into an action that week that demonstrates visible solidarity with sex workers demanding an end to brutalization, and send us pictures so we can show everyone that you're out there. We need to make our resistance more visible, as Puente and allies have done.

The "International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers" is actually on the 17th, when there will be a more somber event and memorial in Tucson, which people are welcome to - the red umbrella image on this page links to SWOP-Tucson, where you can get the flyer. I think we'll come up with a common symbol (umbrella?) or color (red or black?) or sign (end violence against...) or something that other groups can use to demonstrate the connection between seemingly unrelated events. Those are just some thoughts for now.

Contact me with other ideas.

The women with SWOP - USA are asking the governor to make a state proclamation officially recognizing the "International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers", by the way. Letters from the public to the governor's office supporting such a declaration would help. I would imagine that the unions, police organizations, women's rights groups, and advocates for survivors of violent crime would all be in support of such a resolution, and would register their support in writing.  

But they may need to be asked to do so, first.  

We could use a hand getting all this together next week, so if you’ve been wondering how you can help, I have all sorts of ideas. Please contact me if there's anyone out there interested in doing some community organizing - we need you now through Christmas, at least.

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New Special Session Expected to Begin December 14, but Don't Get Your Hopes Up About Any Arizona Budget Solution

Phoenix New Times
By James King in Budget Blunders

Thu., Dec. 3 2009 @ 8:50AM

​Arizona's lackluster Legislature is looking to call its next special session the week of December 14 to discuss ways to bridge the state's $1.6 billion budget gap.

Despite having no plan other than Governor Brewer's one-cent sales-tax increase that has failed time and time again in the Republican-led Senate -- and something called the "I didn't pay enough fund," where legislators are asking for taxpayer donations and is frankly the worst idea we've ever heard of -- legislators will duke it out once again to try to find a solution.

Considering the state maxed out a $700 million loan from Bank of America in less than a week, you would think legislators would view the situation as a bit urgent and not schedule proceedings for two weeks from now. Until the state has a budget and can pay back the loan, the interest owed to Bank of America will continue to rack up...

AZ Protest: Sex Workers' Outreach Project and Free Marcia Powell

International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

"Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA is a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy."

I've been dying to talk about this, and the official notice just came from SWOP today. I think the protest was originally going to be out at the prison, but I'm sure there were logistical and security issues, so it'll be at Director Ryan's door, instead. Just as good. We need to be there in Tucson Thursday, Dec 17 supporting the actions there, and turn out in force with these women in Phoenix on Friday, Dec 18.

I need an early count of who's on board with this, folks, so email me and let me know how many people you think you'll bring to which events, if you have room and time to help drive folks to or from Tucson, or if you need a place to crash there - let me know, or contact the Tucson SWOP directly. In the meantime, I'll find out more about what we can do to support these actions.

-------------------

Sex Worker’s Outreach Project - Tucson www.swop-tucson.org
Please Join Us December 17, 2009 for the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers Event in Tucson, Arizona!
November 11, 2009

Dear Friends & Supporters of Sex Worker’s Rights:

In 2009, sex workers from around the globe met gruesome deaths and endured unspeakable violence. Some died at the hands of a solitary perpetrator; others were victims of serialprostitute killers. While some of these horrific stories received international media attention ( Boston, Grand Rapids, Albuquerque, Tijuana , Hong Kong , Moscow , Great Britain ,Cape Town , New Zealand ), other cases received little more than a perfunctory investigation. Many cases remain unresolved, sometimes forever.

In fact, most violent crimes against sex workers remain unreported. Stigma and decriminalization facilitate this violence; when sex work is criminalized, prostitutes can't turn to the police for protection without risking prosecution themselves. Sex workers remain one of the largest marginalized populations in existence without the benefit of the basic civil rights that everyone else takes for granted.

Each year, December 17th marks the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Last year’s event in Washington, D.C. was a big success and this year, sex workers and their allies from across the U.S. will gather together in Tucson, Arizona to remember and honor sex workers who have been victimized by virtue of their chosen profession - including rape, assault and murder.

You are invited to join us on December 17, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona to honor the memories of the fallen. (A schedule of events is at the end of this letter). This year is especially poignant for us in Arizona because in May, 2009, Marcia Powell, an inmate at the Perryville women’s prison outside of Phoenix who was serving 27 months for prostitution, died when she was left outside in a holding cage in 107 degree heat without shade, food or water. Marcia Powell’s death is not only a travesty of justice and a failure of the prison system, but of the unjust laws which continue to oppress sex workers everywhere. We are outraged and saddened by both the loss of freedom and of lives, and we ask for your participation in putting an end to the violence.


Here’s How You Can Help

Please join us in honoring sex workers who have fallen victim to the travesties of violence and injustice. You can:

Attend the IDEVASW event in Tucson, Arizona on December 17th; we have plenty of resources for free housing and transportation.

If you can’t join us in Tucson, organize your own IDEVASW event in your hometown.

If you’re a business who’d like to help the Tucson event by sponsorship, please contact info@swop-tucson.org. We need both money and volunteers.

Circulate this letter to your own listservs and use social media to get the word out - blog about this, add this letter to your website, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc.

Donate to the Sex Workers Outreach Project. Visit http://swop-usa.org to find out more (the post about the protest is from last year though - you need to go to SWOP-Tucson).

If silence is the voice of complicity, then your presence in Arizona on December 17th would be a powerful message for justice to be heard across the world. Thank you.

In Solidarity,

Sex Workers Outreach Project - USA Sex Workers Outreach Project -Tucson
For more event information, please visit: http://swop-tucson.org

_________________________@@@_____________________
IDEVASW Event Schedule - Tucson, Arizona
Volunteers are still needed – please contact info@swop-tucson.org !

December 17, 2009

5:00 – 6:00 p.m. “No Human Involved” Event El Presidio Park, 160 West Alameda Street, Tucson, AZ. Performance art/art installation with the theme, “No Human Involved.” The central image will be a physical representation of the Perryville Prison which will honor Marcia Powell and sex workers everywhere who have been victims of violence; a performance piece/die-in and live music.

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. “Remembrance Memorial” El Tiradito Shrine, 354 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ. Join us in remembering and honoring sex workers who have been victims of violence. Live music, performance poetry, ritual, candlelight vigil and refreshments. El Tiradito is a national historic shrine dedicated to the “castaway sinner” and holds a special place in the hearts of Tucson sex workers.

December 18, 2009

Political Rally at the downtown Phoenix offices of the Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections to protest current anti-prostitution laws and prison conditions. Did you know that in Arizona, a fourth conviction is a mandatory Class 5 felony with 180 days of prison for consensual sex between a client and a sex worker? Please visit http://swop-tucson.org for more details. Volunteers are needed to organize this day!