Conference about developing inclusive communities with sex workers

NEWS RELEASE

We are proud and honoured to have been invited to participate in this ground- breaking conference being put on by the Réseau ACCESS Network in Sudbury, ON.

A special thanks goes out to Tracy Gregory, peer development coordinator with ACCESS who organized this event.

The central themes of the conference are really about developing inclusive communities with sex workers, with major emphasis on advancing the voices and expressed concerns of those who do the work.

This conference highlights practical strategies for peer and community development and for combating stigma.

Central to this is the understanding that each and every citizen, each stakeholder has a role in bringing about needed change.

Sex work is real work and our colleagues require more opportunities and safer spaces to share and explore what that means for them.

More, sex workers are real human beings with diverse insights and plenty of humor to share.

So, let's move past the stereotypes why don't we!?

We are allied activists, sex worker organizations and people with lived experience (hooray for sex workers!) coming together at this conference to make the public aware of our concerns, as well as to share important knowledge regarding the labour and human rights of sex workers.

Together our fight is for the full decriminalization and de-stigmatization of all forms of sex work.

This expertise flows directly from decades of community outreach and public education and major campaigns for policy reform. Change is here and we are leading it!

Considering the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on the Bedford, Lebovitch, Scott v. Canada case and the changing social and legal landscape to come, it is quite timely that we are gathering to educate on the importance of sex worker rights in Canada.

Nothing about us without us! In particular, this conference gives us a valuable opportunity to continue to engage in important discussions in the Northern context where dialogue and community organizing around sex worker issues has proven quite challenging.

Whatever the challenges, we can do it!

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