Sex workers and sex worker rights activists will speak out against the on-going Super Bowl Raids in Los Angeles, and police harassment of sex workers, at an online panel hosted by the Stop The Raids Committee this Tuesday. The Sex Worker Rights Symposium will breakdown the disinformation that Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is using to justify the raids, as well as detail the history of police brutality and misconduct against sex workers.
“The LASD is using the Super Bowl to launch a violent attack on sex workers, and we will not be silent,” says Maxine Doogan, panel moderator and founder of the sex worker run ESPLER Project. “LASD has sent 300 troops to Inglewood to round up sex workers using the pretense of human trafficking. In reality, it’s the cops who are exploiting us — for headlines.”
Dozens of reports have debunked the Super Bowl sex trafficking myth being employed by the LA Sheriff’s department to justify the annual round-up of sex workers. A 2021 report from UCLA Gould School of Law found that law enforcement raids, sweeps and stings had little or no impact on the fight against trafficking, but resulted in profoundly negative effects on sex workers health and safety.
The panel features speakers and activists across the sex work spectrum, who will speak about their experiences as sex workers dealing with police, the effect of criminalization on sex workers health and safety, and the fight for sex worker decriminalization in California.
Panelists include
- Soma Snakeoil (The Sidewalk Project)
- Antonia Crane (Strippers United)
- Nana Gyamfi (Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders)
- Alex Makulit (US PROStitutes Collective)
- Jerald Moseley (author, Office of the California Attorney General (ret.))
- Celeste Guap (DecrimSWCA)
- Chella (Stop LAPD Spying Coalition)
- Brad Sears (The Williams Institute)
- Kristen DiAngelo (Sex Workers Outreach Project, Sacramento)
Stop The Raids Symposium
Tuesday, February 8
6-8PM PT
For more information on the Super Bowl raids visit StopTheRaids.org or contact Maxine Doogan 415-265-3302 info@esplerp.org
