Dec. 17th International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

Thank you for producing such a beautiful memorial and for reminding us of the needs of sex workers at risk from violence and abuse. I support your memorial day and we'll be marking it in the UK with a mention on BBC Radio 5. Dr Petra Boynton, London, UK http://www.drpetra.co.uk

Petra Boynton
Dr
University College London
p.boynton @ pcps.ucl.ac.uk

The boys and girls, men and women, fags and dykes, and all those who have ever loved any sex workers will unite in silence to demonstrate solidarity Wednesday 17th of December @ 6:00pm. We will meet at Fifes resort.

I am angry! I am a woman daughter, wife, mother and friend and I AM ANGRY! I am angry that so many woman can be killed and no one pay attention. I am angry that any woman's pain is minimized because of others view of her. I am angry that the life of any woman is trivialized for any reason. All woman are life givers and life bringers... sex workers are not an exception and I am angry that anyone can forget this fact. I am a woman and I am angry!

Respectfully submitted in memorial to the victims of the Green River Killer who were all important and should be remembered, not because they died but because they lived!

Whoa! I Just reread the page. I thought the tribute/memorial was just the posting of the victims photo's.I didn't realise that there will be events in San Fran and Berkley. This is great news. I was beginning to think people didn't care. People need to speak out against violence against ALL women..regardless of the victims line of work. Sentencing of Ridgway will be on the 18th of December and the Media will once again remind us that the victims were "just prostitutes". I wish there was a memorial here in the Seattle area..you would think?! By the way...Opal's picture is the 5th one.

On July 30 1998, I lost my friend and fellow performer, Robert Tiny Gibson. Robert was a drag queen who also turned an occasional trick in drag. He was stabbed 25 times after performing oral sex with a client, John Wilson. Mr. Wilson is serving 16 years to life for the murder of my beautiful friend Tiny. Mr. Wilson claims that he became enraged when he found out that Robert was really a man. Apparently Mr. Wilson feels that his mistaken identity somehow justified his senseless murder. Tiny was a wonderful, warm compassionate talented performer and he is still missed by all of us. God Bless the souls of these people who are taken savagely and selfishly.

candyekane
musician/ sex work activist

Thank you very much for this tribute. My sister Opal (victim #4) is still very much missed by her family.

Garrett Mills
Bellevue, WA

To minimize the importance of the lives of these women because of their chosen work is to condone violence in its most brutal forms. The loss of these lives is incalculable, not just to those who loved or knew them, but to us all. I applaud SWOP's work and hope that everyone reading this site will feel, as I do, that a donation to SWOP is very worthwhile.

Lady Ravenia
Web Mistress

"I am deeply saddened by the murders of the Seattle area sex workers, and appalled that they continued for so long. It's important to show that we care, and to insist on safer working conditions for the vulnerable sex workers out there today. Please join us on Dec. 17, and participate however you can. Together we can help stop more of these horrible hate crimes."

Dr. Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D. - Prostitute turned sexologist.
(Drsprinkle@anniesprinkle.org)

"I mourn the loss the loss of these beautiful, valuable women. I hope that their deaths can help to save the lives of other women by calling our attention to the dangerous hypocrisy we nurture in our culture regarding the worth of women's lives. Prostitutes, sex workers, hustlers and escorts are human beings. If society asks them to live in secrecy and shame, if their work is criminalized, they will be looked upon as less than human and thus targeted for violence and hatred. The green river murders are the sad progeny of this truth. No one deserves this brutality."

"As founder of COYOTE/Seattle and a professional sex worker for more than 20 years, I observed the Green River Killer's unabated rampage starting in the early '80s. It was quite obvious even then that if Ridgway's victims had been cute college co-eds, like Bundy's victims, as opposed to marginalized and criminalized sex workers, local law enforcement would have exercised far more effort in bringing him to justice. It is even more inexcusable that they cut a deal to spare his life to simply save the county the expense of a trial that would exposed the deplorable lack of effort exerted during the decades that Ridgway murdered and terrorized sex workers. It is time for sex workers, our friends and families, to stand up and demand not only decriminalization of sex work but equal protection under the law."
Catherine La Croix,
Founder, COYOTE/Seattle
Professional dominatrix and
former courtesan and madam
catherine.la.croix@comcast.net

"Violence against prostitutes is violence against women. Women who are wives, mothers, sisters, daughters. Do we countenance attacks upon them, our wives, mothers, sisters, daughters? We do not. Profession should not overshadow person. The rights of women (and men) who choose to become professional sex workers, who engage in consensual, commercial concupiscence, who exercise self-determination over their own bodies, hearts and minds must be protected and respected."

It
is unconscionable to think that Americans would continue to back laws
that would allow murderers to violate prostitutes in this way. Sex
workers should not continue to be treated as second-class citizens.
Unequal protection under the law allows people to think and operate
like the Green River killer. It is time for these laws to
change.
Robyn Few, executive director of SWOP-USA.

"The murder of prostitutes is an outrage against ALL women, not just sex workers. And the attitudes that make it OK to harm, rape or murder a prostitute are the same attitudes that make it OK to harm, rape or murder ANY woman IF she steps out of line. It is time that women of ALL professions and persuasions work together to decriminalize prostitution. Only then will life be safer and saner for ALL women."

"This website, memorial and subsequent activities are a tremendously important step in demonstrating that sex workers are not second class citizens who somehow deserved to be harmed and killed by a sadist predator. The victims of the Green River Killer were preyed upon by a sadist because he knew they were vulnerable. That society tends to blame the women in prostitution, that criminalization denies resources which may have protected these women. Women who are someone's sister, mother, daughter, niece etc. What these women experienced was horrible and should never have happened. A crime of this nature should never have happened. I believe this memorial and subsequent events are a major step in ending violence against sex workers, in breaking the myths that create the dynamics which allowed a predator like Ridgway to operate. My deepest sympathy goes out to the victims of Gary Ridgway and their loved ones. As an activist, I can only hope to honor their memory by working to change society so that this never happens again. On the days that I wonder whether continuing as an activist is worthwhile, this memorial reminds me of how important the work of all activists are so that this sort of tragedy never happens again."

In The Press:

International Day to
End Violence Against Sex Workers

Green River Memorial:

Sponsors: