SAFE SEX Workers Study Act Deep Dive Interview – wtih Zola & Mariah of Sex Workers Project

This week, on Old Pro News, we have an extra long interview with Zola Z. Bruce and Mariah Grant from the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City. We discussed the Safe Sex Workers Study Act, FOSTA-SESTA, OnlyFans, and many other topics related to tech freedom.

For more resources on this episode, visit our website:

https://oldprosonline.org/oldpronews-008

Bios

Zola Z. Bruce MSSW is a social worker, activist and artist who focuses on helping people to create the life they want in all aspects of their career. Originally from Dallas, TX, they moved to New York to attend Sarah Lawrence College to study psychology and sculpture, in addition they did a semester abroad with The School for International Training in Kingston, Jamaica where they studied Gender and Development. Zola received their Masters of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in 2001. Afterwards they worked for 12 years in youth development with organizations including the Center for Family Life, McBurney YMCA, and the LGBTQ Center focusing on creating therapeutic art programs for youth and families. Internationally they started a nonprofit, Unified for Global Healing, where they developed grassroots community health initiatives in Haiti, Ghana, and India using the arts to communicate beyond language, class, and cultural barriers. Combining their experiences in art, activism, sex work and social work, Zola currently works as Director of Communications at the Sex Workers Project of The Urban Justice Center (SWP) and started a documentary series for and by sex workers, recently on display at The Museum of Sex. Alongside their work with SWP they continue to create, consult, speak at activist events, teach as an Adjunct Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is a BDSM instructor and Vice President for KinkOut (KO).

Mariah Grant (she/her) is the Director of Research and Advocacy with the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center (SWP). She is a human rights and migration specialist with a focus on migrant and sex workers' rights, freedom of movement, and labor exploitation. In her role with SWP, she oversees policy advocacy and development of original research, including ongoing studies on law enforcement violence against sex workers. She has worked throughout the US and internationally on improving anti-trafficking policies to ensure better human rights protections for migrants and sex workers.

The Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City are a national organization that defends the human rights of sex workers by destigmatizing and decriminalizing people in the sex trades through free legal services, education, research, and policy advocacy.

https://twitter.com/UJCSexWorkers

https://www.instagram.com/sexworkersproject/

SAFE SEX WORKER STUDY ACT LINKS

Report produced by Hacking//Hustling, authors: Kendra Albert, Elizabeth Brundige, and Lorelei Lee

https://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/hrlr/fosta-in-legal-context/

https://survivorsagainstsesta.org/

https://make-the-switch.org/commercial-sex-online/

https://make-the-switch.org/the-safe-sex-worker-study-act/

Op-Ed by Fight for the Future Director Evan Greer https://www.thedailybeast.com/want-to-fix-big-tech-stop-ignoring-sex-workers

SWP Statements on SSWSA

https://swp.urbanjustice.org/news-room/resources/

Senate Bill:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3758

House Bill:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6928

EARN IT ACT

https://surviveearnit.com/

Call your Reps and Senators!

https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/sesta-fosta-anniversary/

Request meetings with your Reps and Senators – and other critical members of Congress – like members of the committees the bill has been referred to:

https://www.house.gov/representatives

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?OrderBy=state&Sort=ASC

Subscription to a database with contact information

Request to Join: https://make-the-switch.org/join-the-network-subgroup/

Please fill out this form to join the Sex Worker Subgroup of the Federal LGBTQPLHIV Criminal Justice Working Group. Joining the network means being added to the listserv and access to a database of resources for activists and allies, as well as an invite to the monthly working group call.

This group supports the decriminalization of sex work, transparency and accountability in state action, and uplifting the leadership of impacted people.

Donate to organizations working on this issue, including the Sex Workers Project:

https://swp.urbanjustice.org/donate-2/