Sex Worker groups invite you to a:
Public Forum on Prop 35
Monday, October 29 at 12 noon
steps of City Hall, Polk Street side
We are inviting the proponent and funder of Prop 35 Chris Kelly Facebook millionaire to debate us
Sex workers along with a growing number of concerned people in the LGBTQ community, Black people, church people, legal, anti-prison groups & others are opposing Prop 35 also known as the CASE Act (Californians against Sexual Exploitation).
Prop 35 pretends to be about protecting young people from trafficking but instead it:
► Criminalizes anyone who assists young people in prostitution — a young person under 21 working with a friend could face prosecution as a trafficker and sex offender status for life, for giving her/him something “of value”.
► Does nothing to help genuine victims – no housing, welfare, or other resources are provided to help victims recover and rebuild their lives. Existing laws on rape, kidnapping and exploitation could be used against violent offenders if there was the will to do so.
► Increases law enforcement, which will result in more raids, prosecutions and imprisonment of sex workers. Pushing prostitution underground leaves sex workers more vulnerable to rape and abuse. Victims of violence will be deterred from reporting for fear of arrest, and for those of us who are immigrant, for fear of deportation.
► Exaggerates the extent of child sex trafficking by using phony statistics; mystifies the rape and abduction of children by calling it “commercial sexual exploitation” and “trafficking”.
► Downgrades the most common forms of trafficking –domestic work, sweat shops, agriculture, restaurants — by creating lower penalties for these labor victims.
►Encourages corruption: police and NGOs will get the money collected in fines, giving them a vested interest in more and more arrests. Victims get no direct funds.
► Allows a massive law enforcement intrusion and invasion of privacy of the internet.
► Promotes a moral crusade by misleading the public and mixing up prostitution, which is consenting sex, with trafficking, which is force, coercion and fraud. A similar crusade against Craigslist deprived sex workers of a way to advertise and work independently.
Vote No On Prop 35!
| Co-sponsored by: the US PROStitutes Collective; Erotic Service Providers Union; BAYSWAN (Bay Area Sex Workers Advocacy Network); SWOP/Bay Area Endorsers to date: Women of Color in the Global Women’s Strike; Pier 5 Law Offices; Queer Strike; California Coalition for Women Prisoners; Legal Action for Women |
For info call 415-626-4114; email:againstthecaseact@gmail.com
US PROS Collective 