EARN IT V. Sex Worker Safety
Recent Stories That Matter to the Movement
This week, on Old Pro News, we’ll update you on a former stripper who is running for Congress, an exciting new exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, and positive news from Victoria, Australia. We’re following up about arrests at Super Bowl 2022, and also giving an update on the upcoming Backpage trial.
Then, we’re explaining why the EARN IT Act is the new FOSTA SESTA. Our guest today is Daly Barnett, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She’s here to break down the return of EARN IT, and how it could allow the government to violate your privacy.
Alexandra Hunt is a Former Stripper who is Running for Congress
To start, let’s get hyped about Congressional candidate Alexandra Hunt’s campaign to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd district! Alexandra Hunt is vocal about her background as a stripper — and, she has also been a data manager at a bio-pharmaceutical company, a public health researcher, and a soccer coach. She’s not the first former sex worker to run for U.S. office, but she’s running a savvy campaign that we’ve got our eyes on. Read more »
Decriminalised Futures at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London
In art news, an exhibit called Decriminalised Futures has opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. This group exhibition explores the history of sex workers lives, experiences, and movement struggles using film, embroidery, writing, drawing, gaming, and sculpture. The project is lead by organizers and artists from Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement, or SWARM.
Read more »
Victoria Parliament Passed the Sex Work Decriminalisation Bill 2021
Some good news from Australia! Victoria has become the fourth jurisdiction in the world to decriminalize sex work! On February 10, 2022, Victoria’s Parliament passed the Sex Work Decriminalisation Bill 2021. Once this bill becomes law, the previous licensing system for consensual sex work, and crimes associated with those systems, will be repealed. Read more »
Super Bowl 2022 Arrests
Remember last episode when we talked about the myth of increased sex trafficking around the Super Bowl? Well, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did precisely what we and many others thought they’d do: They arrested 214 people for allegedly selling sex — which, to be crystal clear, is not the same as charging people with human trafficking.
Read more »
Updates on the Backpage Trial
The founders of Backpage — Michael Lacey and James Larkin — returned to federal trial on February 22nd, 2022. Many sex workers remember Backpage as a classified website which, like Craigslist, they used to connect with clients. In 2018, the US Justice Department seized Backpage and shuttered the site. Lacey, Larkin, and five Backpage employees were charged with money laundering and facilitating prostitution: note, they are not being charged with sex trafficking. Read more »
A Conversation About the EARN IT Act with Daly Barnett
Here to help us break down what EARN IT is, and why it’s an attack on online privacy and free speech, we’re pleased to welcome Daly Barnett to the show. Daly is a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She was the founder of tee-4-tech, a trans forward technology collective based in NYC, and is a part of the sex workers advocacy organization Hacking / Hustling, where her title is (and we love this!) Witch. Read more »
Lakeesha Harris on Earn It vs. Sex Worker Safety
There are many ways in which we acquiesce to power via surveillance. I mean… Black people have never existed in this country without the gaze of white people critiquing our bodies, overseeing our labor, and watching our finances. So it comes as little to no surprise – to me – that EARN IT has returned, like a familiar — ever evolving — political pandemic. Because what beats government overreach but more government overreach and better methods towards criminalizing people? Right? Read more »
Mutual Aid Shout Out: Third Wave Fund
Every episode we like to shout out a mutual aid organization serving our communities. This episode, we want you to check out Third Wave Fund. Third Wave supports youth-led, intersectional, gender justice activism. They specifically resource grassroots movements that are multi-issue, community-led, and unapologetically queer, trans, intersex, and sex worker-led.
At a time of mounting political attacks against sex workers, Third Wave created the Sex Worker Giving Circle as a space for sex workers to strengthen their relationships, engage in grant-making, and bring their voices and leadership into philanthropy.
Applications are open now through March 2, 2022 for the Third Wave Giving Circle Fellowship, which is a bilingual (English/Spanish) grant program. To apply, or to make a donation, visit thirdwavefund.org/sexworkergivingcircle.