The 3rd of March is International Sex Worker Rights Day. The day originated in 2001 when over 25,000 sex workers gathered in India for a sex worker festival. The organizers, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a Calcutta based group whose membership consists of somewhere upwards of 50,000 sex workers and members of their communities. Sex worker groups across the world have subsequently celebrated 3 March as International Sex Workers’ Rights Day.

Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (2002): “We felt strongly that that we should have a day what need to be observed by the sex workers community globally. Keeping in view the large mobilization of all types of global sexworkers [Female,Male,Transgender], we proposed to observe 3rd March as THE SEX WORKERS RIGHTS DAY.

Knowing the usual response of international bodies and views of academicians and intellectuals of the 1st world [many of them consider that sex workers of third world are different from 1st world and can't take their decision] a call coming from a third world country would be more appropriate at this juncture, we believe. It will be a great pleasure to us if all of you observe the day in your own countries too…We need your inspiration and support to turn our dreams into reality.

In 2009, sex workers from around the globe met gruesome deaths and endured unspeakable violence.  Some died at the hands of a solitary perpetrator; others were victims of serial “prostitute killers.” While some of these horrific stories received international media attention Boston, Grand Rapids, Albuquerque, Tijuana, Hong Kong, Moscow, Great Britain, Cape Town, New Zealand, other cases received little more than a perfunctory investigation.  Many cases remain unresolved, sometimes forever.

Today we are here for Marcia Powell, who was incarcerated for solicitation of oral sex and sentenced to over two years in prison. On May 19, 2009 Marcia was placed in an outdoor cage without shade, food or water at Perryville prison. Four hours later she was found, collapsed, in 107 degree heat, and died on May 20th in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Marcia was the victim of dual forms of injustice, as a sex worker and as a prisoner. Sex Workers Outreach Project and other organizations are fundamentally opposed to criminalization of sex work. The prohibition of this work results in selective prosecution that puts the most vulnerable in our society at the mercy of a system that robs them of their basic respect and dignity. For decades efforts to curb sex work have not only failed to reduce incidences of prostitution, but they have corrupted our justice system resulting in selective enforcement, racial profiling and inhumane treatment of those who don’t have the financial resources to fight back. Violence against sex workers is epidemic and rarely taken seriously. The criminalization of prostitution legitimizes this abuse so that sex workers are the targets of violent crime with little recourse.

Women prisoners are also the victims of an unjust system, facing extreme medical neglect, sexual harassment and abuse. The women’s prison population in the United States has grown 800% in the past three decades, twice the rate of the male prison population. 2/3 of women in prison were incarcerated for non-violent offenses. (Institute on Women and Criminal Justice). As the death of Marcia Powell in the care of the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) shows, prison sentences can include the most extreme form of neglect and abuse.

We are here for Marcia and other prisoners, and sex workers, as we call for respect for human rights. As a result of an internal investigation, 16 people were disciplined.  An investigation is currently underway to determine whether or not criminal charges should be filed in her death.

“It’s not enough to change a few people and policies. There is a culture embedded in the ADC that is pervasive throughout the prison system which reflects a  disregard for the fundamental human rights of prisoners. There are exception to that and the prisoners know who they are,” says Peggy Plews of Arizona Prison Watch.

No critical analysis of the institutional culture that contributed to this abuse has been been me public, but that analysis is essential to ending state violence.

In response to the death of Marcia Powell while in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections, we demand the following:

1. The Arizona Department of Corrections has an influential role in shaping policy. We ask that leadership be provided by the ADOC in addressing reforms such as sentencing reform, early release, restorative justice, community support through harm reduction, and re-entry programs to stop the revolving door.

2. A analysis of violence against sex workers (both inside and outside the Arizona prison system) should be conducted and a plan should be developed for reducing violence against sex workers in Arizona.

- An analysis of violence against sex workers (including male and trans workers) should include victimization while in state custody, police brutality, and domestic and occupational violence.

- Efforts to reform the prisons must go deeper than investigations into individual responsibility for Marcia’s Powell’s death. An analysis of how the culture of the correctional system employees/officers contributes to violence against prisoners is crucial.

3. A community organized process for oversight in the prisons should be recognized which includes the voices of prisoners and their families.

4. Grievance policies should be reviewed and strengthened.

5. Cages should never be used to hold prisoners or to address overcrowding, which is the current practice.  Overcrowding must be addressed through reducing incarceration and recidivism rates.

6. Allocate sufficient resources to address the special needs of prisoners with psychiatric and physical disabilities, including education about complications of medications.

7. May 20th should be observed each year in memory of Marcia Powell and other prisoners who died in state custody.  On that day ADC should prepare a report addressed to prisoners, families and community-based oversight groups on  human rights violations that have occured over the past year and actions ADC has taken in response. The report should also include the Department’s plan for the upcoming year to improve respect for human rights.

Sex workers around the United States are shocked to see this criminalization result in a death sentence for a prostitution crime. This is one of many cases in which we observe conditions that are abusive, degrading and dangerous ranging from rape and other violence, to extreme medical neglect. These conditions violate the human rights of all persons deprived of their liberty to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) should be applied to all individuals.

In the wealthiest country in the world, where tax payers spend billions on the prison system, it is horrific that this justice system has led to a death sentence for someone arrested for prostitution.  It’s been over 60 years since the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has been adopted. The Arizona Department of Corrections has been woefully negligent, in following the human rights protocol, which Eleanor Roosevelt, along with so many others, have developed. In less than a decade we’ve almost doubled the amount spent on our prisons in Arizona, and the Arizona Department of Corrections fails even the most basic requirement, to keep prisoners safe.

We ask that the Arizona Department of Corrections look at the 30 articles in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and review the treatment of individuals in the prison system in the light of these principles. Every ADC employee/correctional officer should have training in human and prisoners’ rights principles and practices. ADC should provide leadership which demonstrates a respect for human rights.

We look forward to the day when prisons are no longer used to address our most pressing social problems. As social justice activists we challenge the discrimination which leads to criminalization and incarcerations. We promote human rights for all, as well as specific law reform. Recently enacted by the Arizona legislature, felony charges should be rescinded for prostitution charges. Although the ADC does not have jurisdiction over many aspects of these injustices, ADC does have great deal of influence in many of these matters and ADC is also directly responsible for how prisoners are treated within this system. Sex Worker Outreach Project, in tandem with Arizona Prison Watch and Friends of Marcia Powell expects that the ADC establish real justice in the death of Marcia Powell.

SWOP-USA
Arizona Prison Watch
Friends of Marcia Powell

What:

Sex Worker’s and allies are coming together in front of the AZ Department of Corrections on December 18th, as part of International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers, an annual event to call attention to violence committed against sex workers all over the globe.  Marcia Powell was a prisoner of the State of Arizona who collapsed and died from heatstroke last May after being locked in an outdoor cage and ignored for four hours in 107 degree heat.

You are invited to join us in Tucson, Arizona on December 17, 2009 (performance art/public installation and a candelight vigil) and in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2009 (protest rally on the steps of the Arizona Department of Corrections).

Bring red umbrellas, to stand in solidarity! Signs are welcome.
Sex Worker Rights are Human Rights!

For more information: visit: www.swopusa.org/dec17 or call 877-776-2004 x 2.

– Please forward far and wide!

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.·:*¨¨*:·.   .·:*¨¨*:·.   .·:*¨¨*:·.
Tara Birl
Sex Workers Outreach Project
Board Member
877-776-2004
912 Cole St. #202, San Francisco, CA 94117
24/7 support & referral hotline: 877-776-2004×1

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.     El Presidio Park, 160 West Alameda Street, Tucson, AZ.   Performance art/art installation with the theme, “No Human Involved.”  The central image will be a physical representation of the Perryville Prison which will honor the Marcia Powell tragedy, a performance piece/die-in and live  music.

6:30 p.m. -  7:30 p.m.  El Tiradito Shrine, 354 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ.  IDEVASW Remembrance Memorial.   El Tiradito Shrine is a national historic site tucked away in the old downtown barrio (neighborhood).  Often called the “wishing shrine,” the story associated with it involves broken hearts, crimes of passion, and a lover’s triangle.  It’s the only shrine in the United States dedicated to a “sinner” and sex workers in Tucson have long held this place dear to our hearts.   We’ll have some music, poetry, a remembrance circle where we light candles on the big 100-candle shrine as we speak the names of fallen sex workers, and a few other things to make this event special and somber.  Refreshments.

December 18, 2009

(Pending)  Protest Rally in front of the Arizona Department of Corrections office, downtown Phoenix.  Details forthcoming – volunteers needed to organize this event!

Open Invitation Letter to IDEVASW 2009 – Please circulate on your listservs and blogs!

If you’re interested in attending a meeting of SWOP-Tucson, we periodically have meetings open to the public.   If you identify as a sex worker and are interesting in joining SWOP, you’re invited to our regular  meeting held on the first Wednesday of each month.  There is a screening process we use to ensure the safety and privacy of our members.

Contact info@swop-tucson.org for more information!

We are well underway to planning all the details for the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers event which will be hosted by SWOP-Tucson this December 17th at Perrryville Prison (near Phoenix, Arizona) and Tucson, Arizona. Please stay tuned for more details, which will appear on the Dec. 17th Event page. In the meantime, if you’d like to volunteer to help us out, please email info@swop-tucson.org.