Eros, SWOP Partner To Oppose Violence Against Sex Workers

NEW YORK CITY—Eros.com, which styles itself the world's largest adult entertainer directory, announced it is supporting International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and called on others in the industry to do the same. To mark the day, Eros will help sponsor events throughout the country on December 17, as well as donate a portion of its income to SWOP, the Sex Workers' Outreach Project. "Adult entertainers deserve the right to work with the same safety and dignity as other professionals in our society," said Stormi Mountain, a spokesperson for Eros.com and long-time advocate for adult entertainers. "We hope that by partnering with SWOP and other organizations, we can help raise awareness about hate crimes within both the community and among the general public." In addition to helping to finance Day of Remembrance events, Eros will donate to SWOP 10 percent of its December 17 ad revenue in markets where SWOP has a significant presence. Additionally, entertainers who purchase advertising on Eros will receive special promotional rates on certain services. Eros will also help publicize the events on its own sites, and via social media. Kate D’Adamo, Community Organizer for SWOP said most of the Eros donations will go to help local chapters throw larger, better-funded events for the Day, as well as to support professionals in the adult industry. "We're grateful to Eros for generously helping to support our efforts on December 17,” said D’Adamo. “This is such an important day for us.” "We're a national network of 14 different local chapters that span the country, from LA and San Francisco to New York," D'Adamo continued. "Every chapter is really going to celebrate the day in their own way. Here in New York, tomorrow, we're going to be hosting a public memorial, where every year, the organization collects the names of people in the sex industry who've passed away, by reaching out to other community groups, consulting the news, contacting other harm reduction organizations and things like that. So we've pulled together that list, and in New York tomorrow, we're going to be hosting a public vigil where we have an art installation which is commemorating the people themselves, but also bringing together different facets of the community to talk about stories of violence, and girls talking about community resilience. And we really look at this as an opportunity to build community and to resist and acknowledge the violence that happens in our community. In conjunction with that, here in New York yesterday, we just did a full day of workshops on self-care and building resistance and creating community resilience." Events will be held in nearly two dozen cities nationally and internationally, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle and London. A list of the various cities and the events that will be held there can be found here. For example, in Los Angeles, there will be a public vigil in Plummer Park from 4-6 p.m., while in San Francisco, there will be an evening of remembrance and activism at the Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission Street. This past Saturday, SWOP Las Vegas hosted a candlelight vigil commemoration and "speak-out" at the Erotic Heritage Museum, followed by a march on the Las Vegas Strip which began at about 6:30 p.m. December 17 was first observed in 2003, as a commemoration of the capture of serial killer Gary Ridgeway, known as the Green River Killer, and a memorial for his 71 victims. In his confession, Ridgeway said he chose sex workers because the crimes were unlikely to be reported, and he believed he could “kill as many of them as [he] wanted without getting caught.” For more about the Day of Remembrance, click here. To find out more about Eros, click here. Pictured: Scenes from previous International Days to End Violence Against Sex Workers.