Jan 29, 2012
It was a whirlwind year here at Maggie's: Toronto Sex Workers Action Project. We're looking back at all the ways we pushed forward our ability to live and work with safety and dignity individually and as a community. Here are a few of our highlights...we hope you'll continue to support our work in 2012!
-as a direct response to the exclusion Indigenous sex workers face (including from cultural ceremonies), members of the Aboriginal Sex Workers Education and Outreach Project hosted art-making, drum-making, writing and talking circles led by Aboriginal sex workers. In consultation with Elders, ASWEOP members created medicine bundles for Indigenous street workers containing sweet grass, sage, cedar, safer crack and injection kits.
-in March Maggie's hosted "What Works For Sex Workers", a day-long forum for decision-makers in the Violence Against Women sector on improving sex worker-inclusive policies and practices.
-also in March we hosted a free Sex Workers Soiree featuring films by sex workers in honour of International Sex Workers Rights Day
-The "RealWork Group" (a current-worker-only group hosted by Maggie's) continued to meet regularly to share skills and information between sex workers both in and outside of Maggie's
-in June we joined POWER of Ottawa to argue in favour of decriminalization of sex work in the Ontario Court of Appeal. (we will hearing the results of that sometime in 2012)
-in July we opened up a new social space for street-based sex workers called Maggie's Lounge. Collectively, members of both the Lounge and ASWEOP created the zine "17 Reasons" in which sex workers with street experience respond to International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers--which we launched on Dec 17!
-In October we held our smashing 25th anniversary party at Filmore's, capped off by the surprise honour of being awarded the Talon D'or (Golden Heel) Award by our sisters at Stella in Montreal
-in November we hosted internationally renowned sex workers rights advocate and author Laura Agustin on "Sex At The Margins: Migration, Labour Markets & The Rescue Industry" to a standing room only audience
-also in November we began conducting trainings on the experiences of youth in sex work, informed by the experiences of former youth sex workers themselves
-all year long we developed resources by and for sex working communities. e.g. we created the city's only resource on how to navigate Toronto stripping/massage/bodyrub licenses, we updated resources for new workers, we completed a document for migrant sex workers planning to work in Toronto and worked with the Asian Community AIDS Service on developing a manual for outreach workers to migrant Asian sex workers
-we created the city's only list of sex worker competent therapists, counselors and social workers (contact us to be added)
-We marched in May Day, Toronto Pride, conducted workshops and in-service trainings to agencies across GTA, spoke at the U of T Law Society, George Brown College, The Native Women's Resource Centre of Toronto for Int'l AIDS Day, Sisters in Spirit Vigil, "Sex work and Indigenous Communities" panel in Ottawa and to countless media outlets and agencies serving sex workers across the GTA.
-In addition to all this we, provided direct support, advocacy, safer working and drug-using supplies, HIV-prevention resources and community to sex workers across Toronto
We're looking forward to 2012 with so many upcoming workshops, events, trainings and more as we build our strength together. Please support our work! We are a small organization and your one-time or monthly donations *directly* support us in providng education, advocacy, HIV-prevention and support to assist sex workers to live and work with safety and dignity. Maggie's is a registered charity and your donation is 100% tax deductible.
Donate here: www.maggiestoronto.ca/donate or call 416-964-0150
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