Last week, a West Virginian sex worker known only by her first name — Heather — opened the door of her home to find a man pointing a gun at her head. "Live or die?" he asked. The man was Neal Falls, a john she'd met on the classifieds website Backpage.com. She grabbed a nearby rake and, when Falls let go of his gun to stop her, Heather picked it up and shot her attacker in the head, killing him instantly. Falls is now being investigated in connection with the unsolved murders of at least nine women across three states, but Heather's troubles aren't over.
After the murder was reported, someone with the Facebook page Heather the Hometown Hero set up a fundraiser in Heather's name under the guise of benefitting her, but quickly began bullying the young woman into quitting the sex industry, and publicly shaming Heather and her supporters by calling them "hookers" and "bitches," equating prostitution with drug use.
Now her fellow sex workers have started a real crowdfunding campaign for Heather and are using the publicity of her story to point out that even those purporting to help sex workers often exploit them further.
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Meg Vallee Munoz, a former sex worker and co-founder of Abeni, an organization that offers individuals with experiences in the sex trades practical services and holistic support, is the spokeswoman for the new campaign. "My sense is that the person who founded the first campaign may have initially done so with good intentions," says Munoz. "Unfortunately, his desire to control her decisions and the outcome superseded that of his concern."
Heather's story is evidence that individuals with experiences in the industry are better equipped to provide one another services and support. "Without understanding where people have been or what their needs are," Munoz says, "you cannot truly support our agenda."
Last week, Amnesty International drafted a proposal in favor of the decriminalization of prostitution, which found criminalization to be one of the major factors contributing to the abuse, oppression, and stigmatization of both voluntary sex workers and victims of sex trafficking. It calls for countries not to criminally penalize any person — adult or minor — for selling his or her own sexual services, and says that governments have an obligation to offer support services to anyone who wants to leave the sex industry.
The proposal was met with protest by a group of feminists like Gloria Steinem and celebrities including Lena Dunham, Anne Hathaway, and Kate Winslet. "Amnesty's reputation in upholding human rights for every individual would be severely and irreparably tarnished if it adopts a policy that sides with buyers of sex, pimps and other exploiters rather than with the exploited," the celebrities wrote in a letter.
Sex workers fired back with a letter of their own, begging Amnesty International to show courage and support the draft policy on decriminalization in spite of the backlash. By blocking initiatives toward decriminalization, sex workers say, these well-meaning feminists ignore the very real reasons why people enter the high-risk yet profitable sex industry. Individuals typically become sex workers out of economic necessity — something wealthy actresses may not understand. In the case of transgender sex workers in particular, participation in the sex trade can be the result of employment discrimination.
Speaking for themselves, sex workers describe outsiders' involvement in sex work politics as "dehumanizing." Similarly, after surviving a terrifying attack, Heather risked further trauma and insult from the fraudulent fundraiser claiming to help. The campaign to help Heather is part of a larger movement that insists sex workers be involved in conversations about their own lives. It's imperative, as Munoz said, that "Heather gets to call the shots." This isn't about rescuing anyone, organizers of the crowdsourcing campaign say — it's about offering sex workers practical financial and emotional support, no strings attached.
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