Today, June 2, 2026, on International Whores Day, we, the signatories below, urge public officials in New Jersey to end the criminalization of sex workers’ lives.
We are concerned that sex workers in New Jersey are criminalized for the work they do to put food on the table. We are concerned that arrests and incarceration under anti-prostitution statutes in the state of New Jersey lead to long-lasting and unjust consequences, such as loss of housing and educational opportunities. We are concerned that each year, new legislation is proposed that attempts new ways to harm and/or erase sex workers. We have seen again and again that the criminalization of sex workers’ lives provides opportunities for law enforcement to harass sex workers and violate their rights. The idea that sex work is illegal encourages abusers to perpetrate crimes against sex workers because they (mistakenly) believe that no one cares.
We support sex workers. We acknowledge their role in providing for their families and supporting entire communities. Sex workers are passionate advocates for rights and justice. Sex workers defend public health. Sex workers stand side by side with workers in other professions for the rights of all.
Sex workers are human rights holders.
N’jaila Rhee, Executive Director, New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance, NJ – ” I would like to quote the words of Emi Koyama, ‘The panic over human trafficking surrounding major sporting events dates back to 2006, when an international coalition of groups and individuals led by anti-prostitution scholar Donna Hughes of the University of Rhode Island claimed that ‘an additional 40,000 women, mainly from eastern Europe, are expected to be brought to Germany to meet demand for commercial sex at World Cup games… Various international bodies conducted investigations regarding this claim… There was no evidence that foreign women were trafficked in greater numbers than before. ‘ War on Terror & War on Trafficking: A Sex Worker Activist Confronts the Anti-Trafficking Movement
Erika Smith, Co-Executive Director, Best Practices Policy Project, NJ – “I stand in support of this sign-on petition.”
Gabrielle Monroe, Full Service Sex Worker & sex trafficking survivor, Survivor Siblings, SW Pennsylvania – “Criminalization of sex workers removes valuable survival resources and makes us much more vulnerable to predators and abuses such as sex trafficking, a form of rape.”
Cristine Sardina, Director, Desiree Alliance, National (US)
Mir Reyad, President and Co-Founder, Brave Dimension Global, Bangladesh, – “Solidarity #Action #SOGIESC”
Stephanie Franklin, Executive Director, Masakhane Center, Newark, NJ
Chantel Bravo, Miami
Maxine Doogan, President, Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project, San Francisco, California
Dr. Marjan Wijers, SekwerkExpertise, Netherlands
Samara, Founder, Director & Healing Justice Practitioner, At The Center | National Survivor Network, – “Criminalization doesn’t keep our communities safe. When trafficking and sex work are conflated, it is only harder to report violence and trafficking, and also harder to identify victims. Criminalization also causes survivors who are already navigating too much to also have to deal with the impacts of a criminal record. All workers need dignified work conditions in order to be safe, and criminalization does the exact opposite. All humans deserve safety.”
Matthew Amitrano, Piscataway
Darby Hickey, Washington, D.C.
Rocio Suárez, Coordinadora General, Centro de Apoyo a las Identidades Trans,México, Ciudad de México
Rachel Love Gawases, Executive Director, Equal Rights for All Movement, Namibia, Walvis Bay, – “Stop criminalization of sex workers.”
Rokas Subačius, Soma Teisės Association, Lithuania
Balolabwami Marc, Coordonnateur, Drc Aid, Démocratic Républic of Congo
Darcell Marshall
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