Stefanie Smith is running for Congress and if you’re in the Churbana area seriously check her out: she’s an out former sex worker with great politics. You can read an interview with her in the next issue of @workingitzine, out this Saturday and online next Monday.
“The Jeffery Epstein memes are not improving the lives of survivors. In fact, seeing so many memes has actually had a really detrimental impact on my mental health this week. I’ve seen so few people post about the issues that actually impact survivors and workers. Did you know that this summer, Trump’s then-labor secretary, the man who got Epstein his plea deal in Florida, proposed 80% cuts to programs combatting child sex trafficking? The Trump administration did cut the funds for trafficking survivors to have their criminal records cleared. This makes it so the survivors often have to be put in sex offender registries, and frequently cannot find housing and jobs as a result of their criminal records. This often leads to people returning to street-based work, with or without the presence of a trafficker or pimp, because they have no other options. And then they face increased policing and even more abuse from law enforcement. In October of this year, the Trump administration decided to either postpone or cancel (differing reports from DOJ and HUD) $13.5 million dollars in grants meant to ensure trafficking victims get housing.
And since my posts with photos seem to get more attention, here I am at 15 years old, homeless, sitting in the booth at Baker’s Square, smiling for the moment, but actually trying to figure out who I was going to have to sleep with to get shelter for the night and enough cash to sit at Baker’s Square for hours on end the next night. If I had been caught, my entire life would have likely been ruined and I would have suffered immense abuse in the criminal justice system, foster system, or jail. And I realize a lot of people don’t want to conflate sex trafficking and sex work (all minors are considered legally trafficked regardless if there is a trafficker and this obfuscates the root causes of underage sex work. Spoiler alert: it’s poverty), but I want it to be known that even at 15, I knew I was safer on the streets than I was at home, with a relative, in foster home, shelter, or juvenile detention. I had agency. I chose the safest option available to me, most people usually do. #SupportSurvivors #SupportWorkers #ResourcesNotArrests #HousingIsAHumanRight”
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