The Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP) is fighting the state of California for our human rights, and we need your help.
International organizations including Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, the Lancet, Human Rights Watch, and the UN Global Commission on HIV and the Law have called for the decriminalization of sex work.
Please sign this petition to urge Gov. Brown to meet with sex workers to discuss decriminalization.
Sex workers report that they face more threats from law enforcement than from clients. Police often threaten sex workers or even rape them in exchange for not sending them to jail. And the statute is used in a discriminatory manner against women, people of color, and LGBTQ people.
Our court case,
ESPLERP v Gascon,
argues that California's statute banning prostitution, 647(b), is unconstitutional. That case is now in the process of appeal in the Ninth Circuit. Thirty-three organizations, including the ACLU, Lambda Legal and the Free Speech Coalition,
have filed amicus briefs in support.
ESPLERP v Gascon is crowdfunded by individuals making small contributions, but our opponent (the State of California) has very deep pockets, essentially using our taxpayer dollars to deny us our rights. **Please help us cover our legal fees by donating at http://www.litigatetoemancipate.com/** Even $5 can help!
Amnesty International's stance is that decriminalization is the only approach that protects sex workers’ human rights, and that all other approaches, such as criminalizing sex workers, criminalizing clients, or criminalizing those associated with sex workers (like other sex workers, friends, family, landlords), all make sex workers less safe, abridge their human rights, and provide impunity for abusers.
A legal case could take years to make its way through the courts. We want Gov. Jerry Brown to meet with us to discuss decriminalization and its benefits. Please sign this petition to urge Gov. Brown to meet with sex workers!
