New York, NY— On Saturday June 2, sex workers and allies will host mass demonstrations for International Whores’ Day (IWD) in New York, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco/Oakland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle and more.

For a comprehensive list of events happening nationally, including locations and times, visit: https://survivorsagainstsesta.org/iwd-events-in-your-city/

“[International Whores’ Day] commemorates the 1975 occupation of Saint-Nizier Church in Lyon, France by more than a hundred sex working people who were protesting police terror and brutality,” said Red, an organizer for the New York City IWD demonstrations.

“The police most often target immigrant, undocumented, POC, trans, gnc and cash poor workers. Our actions will lift up the ongoing struggles within these intersecting communities for self-determination, respect and liberation,” Red added.

This year’s International Whores’ Day comes on the heels of the recently adopted legislation, FOSTA (HR 1865).

Congress recently passed FOSTA (HR 1865), a bill which expanded criminal and civil liability around sex trade. Previous coverage via YNOT described FOSTA as “…a controversial bill which its supporters say is designed to clarify that section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) ‘does not grant immunity to websites that facilitate sex trafficking,’ but critics say excessively erodes the protection available to website operators with respect to content posted by third parties.”

Since the bill’s passage, websites utilized by sex workers to find clients, safety and community have shut down. According to event organizers, sex workers have consequently faced increased economic instability and vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking.

“The site closures have thrown our community into crisis,” said Savannah Sly of SWOP Seattle. “It’s driven sex workers onto the streets and forced mothers to choose between keeping the lights on and feeding their kids. Because many sex workers are now back outdoors, they are more exposed to the violent policing that we are protesting.”

Other organizers are joining in IWD demonstrations to protest SESTA-FOSTA.

“As a trafficking survivor, the ramifications of SESTA-FOSTA are unacceptable to me,” said Laura LeMoon, who will be attending the protest in Washington, DC.

“This bill doesn’t help me get access to food and housing and things I actually need to survive. These are the things trafficking survivors are concerned with and nobody is listening to us survivors,” LeMoon added.

Follow the following hashtags on social media for more information and live updates:

#InternationalWhoresDay
#SexWorkersUnite
#EndWhorephobia
#IWD18

For media, contact Lola Balcon at lolabalcon@protonmail.com