Hamilton -- Sex Workers Empowerment Event

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Posted February 4, 2010

Hamilton Artists Inc. Performances, Panel Discussion, Films by and about Sex Workers

Time: 7:00PM Thursday, February 18th

Location: Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, 51 Stuart St. Hamilton

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EVENT PLEASE CONTACT:

[email protected]

A byproduct of planning the event is the creation of Big Susie's project, an advocacy group that hopes to form an organization to provide a support system for sex workers.

The group is still forming -- it currently has nine members -- but the goal is to create a local model similar to Toronto's Maggie's project, which offers legal advocacy, counselling and health resources.

This event is part of the Labour Lounge Series and is sponsored by:

The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre and Hamilton Artists Inc.

With additional support from; The Hamilton AIDS Network,

SACHA- Sexual Assault Centre (Hamilton Area) and

The Well (L.G.B.T.Q. C...ommunity Wellness Centre)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hamilton-Artists-Inc/49207415433

Danielle Wong reports in The Hamilton Spectator, 4 Feb 2010:

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/717296

Local sex workers are set to gather this month at a first-of-its-kind "empowerment" event in Hamilton.

The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre and Hamilton Artists Inc. will host the program at the heritage centre on Feb. 18.

The free public event is part of the heritage centre's Labour Lounge series and will feature a panel of local sex workers.

The event will look in "greater depth" at the sex trade, which includes a wide range of professions.

The general public has many misconceptions about sex workers, said Ian Jarvis, community programming director for Hamilton Artists Inc.

"It's very rare that you get to see a sex trade worker talk about the work they do ... as a job without Hollywood or the media's portrayal of it," he said. "(The event) is not going to be victimizing ... It's going to be very pro-sex."

The event will also include performances by burlesque dancer Demonica de Morte and drag queen Jasmine.

A byproduct of planning the event is the creation of Big Susie's project, an advocacy group that hopes to form an organization to provide a support system for sex workers.

"There's definitely a need for something like this," said Jarvis, also a member of Big Susie's.

The executive director of Interval House of Hamilton, an agency that helps abused women, said anything that moves the discussion about women's equality forward is a positive thing, but you cannot divorce sexism from the topic.

"You can't separate, when we look at women's employment ... that there is not another profession in which women make more money than men," Clare Freeman said.

Freeman, who plans to attend the event, noted there are women who choose to be sex workers and those who have limited options.

The director of the Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton and Area said the centre supports the event because it's important women involved in sex work know about its services.

"Some ... are at risk of sexual violence and are also at risk of the system not responding well," Lenore Lukasik-Foss said.

The Hamilton AIDS Network and The Well (LGBTQ Health and Wellness Centre) are also providing support for the event.

Elizabeth McLuhan, executive director of the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, said the conference will let sex workers express their concerns.

"Our main concern is understanding issues do exist and they're very, very important in terms of maintaining human dignity and human safety."

While not endorsing street prostitution, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce CEO John Dolbec said informed discussion of sex work is important for a healthy society.

Hamilton police were not available for comment.