As the Fifth Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers draws near I’ve been wondering how to mark the event on my blog.

I think one of the key issues is sex worker solidarity. In addition to violence against sex workers, many people judge us, disrespect us and pass laws to harm us. (See Please help with bad TVPRA issue by writing a letter for a recent example) If we do not help each other who will? It’s important for sex workers to support each other across different fields of work. The more we stick together the stronger we become.

In my new series I will be highlighting sex workers from varied backgrounds. What kind of work are they doing? Are they active in sex worker activism? What do they do to promote solidarity with fellow workers? What more do they think should be done?

If you’re a sex worker and would like to be interviewed (just a few questions, via email) write me at radicalvixenatgmaildotcom If you have a blog or some other online project I will highlight it in my post.

Note: Though I’m using the Women On The Rise poster for my Sex Worker Solidarity pic this series is by no means limited to female sex workers. If you’re a male sex worker please get in touch as well.

Posted by Vixen as PSO Confessions, Interviews, Sex Workers at 4:49 PM CST

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I first heard of the DC Madam case in March of this year. Her client list seemed so tantalizing. Which hypocritical politicians would be exposed? Which moral majority leaders would be shown to love the very “sins” they preached against? I’ll admit when the phone records became freely available I got myself a copy. Am I searching them? Yes, but I haven’t found anything. What I did find is a story that got more troubling the more I investigated.

How would the mainstream media portray her and to an extent, the adult industry? I wanted to see coverage treating sex workers as just that-workers. I wanted to hear discussion of how politicians impose anti-sex politics on the world yet are clients themselves. I wanted to read articles about how the government seizes people’s homes and savings before even trying them in court.

However I didn’t read that type of coverage in the mainstream press. I’m disappointed with ABC and others like them. This situation has so many angles begging to be explored. A responsible media would see this and report these angles to the public.

The more I learned about Ms. Palfrey’s case the more interested I became. Yes, that juicy client list still intrigues me but there is a more sinister angle. The actions of the government in this case are very disturbing-the way the government spied on her, watched her money transactions via methods meant to watch terrorists and seized her assets.

I asked Ms. Palfrey for an interview. To my utter delight she granted my request. We talked for over an hour and I have transcribed our conversation. I also have made it available as an mp3 file.

I found Ms. Palfrey to be an excellent interviewee. She worked around my schedule and answered all of my questions. She was well spoken, compelling and feisty. She’s a fighter and is not backing down. As I said in the interview if more people stood up to the government this country wouldn’t be in the state that it is in now. It is my hope this interview inspires people to learn more about Ms. Palfrey’s situation, sex workers rights and the many troubling aspects of our political judicial system. For more information on Ms. Palfrey you can visit her website here.

Since this post is rather long I’ve created this excerpt. To listen to the interview or to read the transcript click here.

Posted by Vixen as Interviews at 8:20 PM CDT

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