Woodhulls' Human Rights Commissions

Sex Work and Sex Trafficking have been conflated for decades by prostitution abolitionists and anti porn crusaders who declare that all forms of erotic labor are exploitative. In 2021, there were more than 10000 arrests for prostitution and less than 100 arrests for trafficking related offenses in the United States alone.  Many of these arrests were under the guise of "saving victims" but ended up creating more harm than good.  We must reverse the narratives that paint sex workers as hapless victims without any agency or bodily autonomy.  Police focus on ending human trafficking by arresting sex workers and their clients is a gross violation of human rights and creates a cycle of poverty, discrimination and homelessness.  We want to end the policing of sex workers and their clients  and we will do this by

1. Organizing Human Rights Commission hearings that allow a wide variety of voices to openly discuss the need and the method to reduce or eliminate the over policing of adult consensual sex work.

2. Providing current and accurate data to demonstrate the harms of criminalization and the effect it has had on our community

3. Publishing reports on each HRC for the general public

Our solution will inform and educate the general public, policy makers and legislators about the nuanced issues sex workers face.  The general public and legislators rarely hear our stories because we are drowned out by anti-trafficking rhetoric that is largely false and misleading.  

This unique project will provide opportunity and access for our community to speak in their own voice and share their lived experience and it will allow voters to make decisions based in fact and not from "what they read on google".

Through this provision of education and information, we believe we will be able to win ballot measure initiatives, influence policy makers and legislators  to get helpful legislation passed at the state and federal levels that will not only provide better policies for adult consensual sex workers but also provide mechanisms to assist trafficking victims and survivors and effectively removes law enforcement from the equation.

The initial launch of the Human Rights Commission took place in Portland Oregon on July 15th, 2021 and it was a huge success. It was attended by 70 people and streamed live online. The final report is completed and we have  an event in Los Angeles on February 11, 2022, a few days before the Super Bowl.  We are expecting at least 300 people to attend.

We have a hybrid Panel Discussion taking place on December 2nd, hosted by Johns Hopkins University, where we will have a Moderator discussing with 4  panelists "Life After Decrim" to let people know that this isn't the end - but only the beginning of our lives under a human rights framework.

Future events include Freedom Fest in July of 2022 in Las Vegas and at the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Summit in Washington DC in August of 2022.