S.W.I.R.L. - Audio Links

Below are links to not-for-profit podcasts and webcasts that feature community-building and/or informational audio and video works by current or former sex workers and their advocates. (SWIRL does not provide links to commercial sites or other work that does not fit within our submission guidelines.)

SWOP EAST: From 2007 to 2009 SWOP East, in conjunction with Talk Radio XXBN, interviewed many of the individuals instrumental in the movement for positive and constructive social change for sex workers. Now you can hear these many diverse advocates for human rights, their positions, the views, their work. All on the SWOP East website: http://swopeast.org/101s/137/

THE SEX WORKERS PROJECT: One important aspect of the Sex Workers Project mission is advocating for sex workers' rights. Learning about the lives and needs of sex workers directly from sex workers is integral to their mission. They meet sex workers through outreach on the street and in other venues. In 2007 they recorded a series of interviews with street-based sex worker talking about the issues that affect their lives, including violence, the police, employment opportunities and heath issues. To listen go here: Interviews with street-based sex workers, conducted in 2007.

INTERNATIONAL SEX WORKER FOUNDATION FOR ART, CULTURE AND EDUCATION (ISWFACE): The San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival (May 30-June 6, 2009) is a project of ISWFACE http://www.iswface.org. To listen to a public service announcement about this event with original music by Mariko Passion, go to: http://www.sexworkerfest.com/PSASexWorkerFest2009.mp3. For more information about the festival go to: http://www.sexworkerfest.com. Many events during the festival are by donation or on a sliding scale, and some are free.

SEX WORK AWARENESS: New York-based advocacy organization Sex Work Awareness recently implemented its first day-long Speak Up media training workshop, which took place at the Harm Reduction Coalition in mid-April. At the end of the day, the workshop participants made a public service announcement video entitled "I Am A Sex Worker." Go here to view the video: http://blip.tv/file/2049608

REBLAW 2009 PANEL: Sex Sells, But Should We Sell Sex?: Sienna Baskin and Andrea Ritchie (Director) of the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center, Maxine Doogan of the Erotic Service Providers Union, and Veronica Monet (Sex Educator, Author, and Radio Show Host) discuss the need for legal change to best protect the human rights and dignity of sex workers as well as the public. This panel was held at the Fifteenth Annual Rebellious Lawyering Conference (RebLaw) at Yale Law School in New Haven, CT in February 2009. Video of the panel may be viewed at the following links:
Intro/Andrea Ritchie: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=981238232521148406
Sienna Baskin: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3545322101606755784
Maxine Doogan: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=273769478079225849
Veronica Monet: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7229065565718626187
Q/A: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7104170043784367974

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF SEX WORKERS IN EUROPE: In October 2005 at the European Conference on Sex Work, Human Rights, Labour and Migration in Brussels, Belgium, the "Sex Workers In Europe Manifesto" was elaborated and endorsed by 120 sex workers from 26 countries. To listen to excerpts from this manifesto, click on this link: http://www.sexworkeurope.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=201
To download a PDF of the entire manifesto, click on this link: http://www.sexworkeurope.org/resources4sw/documents/Manifesto_booklet_colour.pdf

THE EROTIC SERVICE PROVIDERS UNION: On August 14, 2008 the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee heard testimony by supporters of Proposition K, a local ballot measure that was before San Francisco voters in Fall 2008 to decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco. This video of the testimony features short speeches by many well-known sex worker rights activists from the Bay Area, including Maxine Doogan, Robyn Few and Carol Leigh. To watch this video click here: Video of San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee on August 14, 2008 hearing testimony by supporters of Proposition K.