International Sex Workers' Rights Day

March 3rd is the International Sex Workers’ Rights Day. This event originally began in India when thousands of sex workers gathered at a sex worker festival. At the time, the members of this group wanted people to realize that sex workers in developing countries are no different from ones in developed countries. Sex workers in this group wanted their voices to be heard and their rights to be respected. Since that event, sex worker groups around the world began to mark that day, naming it the International Sex Workers’ Rights Day. Shift understands the importance of sex workers’ rights, and advocates for a human rights based approach for people in the sex industry. Shift has annually observed March 3rd as a way to honour the rights of sex workers everywhere.

This year Shift is marking International Sex Workers’ Rights’Day by hosting an afternoon Tea & a Toast to the Do you know what I mean? Photovoice Project on March 2nd. Do you know what I mean? was a research project involving women with lived experience, the University of Calgary and the United Way of Calgary to raise awareness on the issues faced by sex workers through the use of audio and visual mediums.

Everyone is welcome to attend this free open house to honour these striking and powerful stories. The exhibit will remain on display March 2nd to the 16th, Mondays to Fridays between the hours of 9am-noon and 2-4pm.

If you would like more information please click on the poster image to the right or contact Shift: (403) 237-8171 or info@shiftcalgary.org

Rename to Reframe: The Bad Date Sheet

The purpose of the Bad Date Sheet is for sex workers to communicate with other sex workers about bad experiences they have had and to help protect each other from these “bad dates”. These sheets include information such as a description of the vehicle, events that occurred, a description of the “date”, and when/where the bad date took place. This information can help workers identify potentially dangerous situations before they can happen again.

In Canada the first Bad Date Sheet was published in Vancouver in the 1980’s and is now widely distributed in most major cities through health services agencies as well as social services agencies. In Calgary, the Bad Date Sheet is updated and distributed by Shift.

Reports are confidential and anonymous and can be made to Shift, Safeworks or other mobile outreach vans. Shift has an online reporting form on their website http://www.shiftcalgary.org/Bad_Date_Reporting_Form.html as well as a hotline number (403) 237- 8171.

If you would like to be on the distribution list for the Bad Date Sheet, please contact us with your email to be added to the list.

Shift has a Red Umbrella Challenge around the Bad Date Sheet!

Many people don’t believe that the name “bad date” accurately depicts what occurs when sex workers experience violence, abuse, robbery or other violations on a “bad date”. Shift is hosting a challenge to rename the bad date sheet. Participants will submit, through email or in person, their suggestion for a new name. The winner will be selected by a panel at the end of February. They will be looking for a name that’s recognizable, memorable and depicts what occurs. Now that’s a challenge!

Give us your new suggested name for the Bad Date Sheet, plus your name & preferred contact information through:
Email: info@shiftcalgary.org
Phone: 403. 237-8171
In person: Drop in Box


Keep checking in with us for updates on this and other Red Umbrella Challenges to come!!

No Glove, No Movie?

Last week, in a near-unanimous 9–1 vote, Los Angeles City Council members voted in a new city ordinance which requires adult film actors to wear condoms while performing in films.

This news came as a victory to Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has been the driving force in bringing this issue forward. The foundation has been aggressively seeking changes in an effort to protect the occupational health and safety of workers in the adult film industry. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation collected over 60,000 signatures of support from local residents, which allowed the law to be approved by council without being put to a special city vote. The new law requires mandatory condom use by performers in order to be granted a filming permit in Los Angeles. Porn producers who do not comply with the regulations will be required to pay a fee and the rule will be enforced by surprise inspections of filming sites.

The ruling is expected to have a significant impact on the multi-billion dollar porn industry concentrated in this area: It is estimated that 90% of all legally distributed pornographic films made in the United States are either filmed or produced by studios based in the San Fernando Valley. The San Fernando Valley has often been referred to as “Porn Valley” and nearly 2/3 of the area is under the jurisdiction of the City of Los Angeles.

In a response to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and the deaths of prominent adult film actors such as John Holmes, the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation created a system for regular testing among performers. Adult film industry actors are currently tested for HIV, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea every 30 days, and Hepatitis, Syphilis, and the Herpes Simplex Virus annually. Many critics argue that this approach to testing is not sufficient as it does not offer any real protection against infection, only the ability to learn of a diagnosis quickly.
The American adult film industry has been hit with a number of small outbreaks of HIV among adult film actors since the inception of the regular testing policies. The majority of these outbreaks began with a single male actor and resulted in several of their female partners also testing positive. While HIV transmission has been relatively low among adult film performers, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise. Untreated STIs can lead to a substantially increased risk of contracting HIV during unprotected sexual contact with an HIV+ partner.

Statistics from the Los Angeles Country Department of Public Health illustrated a sharp increase in the number of sexually transmitted infections experienced by adult film actors during the years 2000-2008. In the period of April 2004 – March 2008, there were a reported 2,847 STIs among 1,884 adult film performers in Los Angeles County. Women represented 70% of these cases, with 15% having experienced 4 or more infections within a 12 month period. The overrepresentation of women is largely thought to be the result of the high female-to-male ratio of performers in the industry, and the physical susceptibility of women for contracting various kinds of infections through riskier and prolonged sexual activities.

Critics and representatives of the Adult Film Industry feel that mandatory condom use will have a significant impact on the profitability of their films. They report that viewers of adult entertainment will find condoms to be a disruption of the fantasies that these films aim to create. In an interview last Wednesday with the New York Daily News, veteran adult film actor Ron Jeremy stated: "Performers don't mind wearing rubbers, but viewers don't want to see it. It ruins the fantasy". Others challenge the new requirements by stating that condom use in the industry should be the choice of consenting adults and not an issue for the government.
Where should we draw the line between an employer’s duty to ensure occupational health and safety and the government’s involvement in consenting sexual activities? Does condom use diminish the fantasy of adult films, or is their use a powerful reinforcement of safer-sex social norms? The answers to these questions remain to be seen as industry executives are faced with the decision to comply with the new rules or set up operations in another jurisdiction.


http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/01/21/HIV_Advocate_Pushes_Mandated_Condom_Use_in_Porn/
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/ron-jeremy-exclusive-condom-law-a-wrap-porn-industry-a-article-1.1008562?localLinksEnabled=false
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/condoms-porn-aids-la-county.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/18/local/la-me-0118-porn-condoms-20120118
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/262811/col-porn-ladph-study.pdf

This blog was originally posted on AIDS Calgary’s The A Word on February 2, 2012. Check out the A Word at http://aidscalgary.blogspot.com/