User:Thatwhoiswise/Red Umbrella Project

The Red Umbrella Project is a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of sex workers and strives to empower them by giving them a voice.

History
The Red Umbrella Project was founded in 2010 by writer and activist Audacua Ra y. As a former sex worker, Ray witnessed first-hand the discrimination of sex workers by police and society. Ray envisioned an organization where sex workers could come together to share their stories, advocate for change and help one another. (CITE THIS) She chose the name The Red Umbrella Project because in 2001 during the 49th Venice Biennale of Art in Venice Italy sex workers demonstrated against inhumane work conditions and human right violations by holding up red umbrellas making the red umbrella a symbol of resistance to discrimination.

In 2009 Ray started hosting story-telling events for sex workers at the Happy Ending Lounge in New York Lower East Side. The goal of these workshops and story telling events were to shine light and empower sex workers but it soon became apparent that all these sex workers shared several burdens many identified as trans or queer, there was an alarming rate of HIV/AIDS cases among them , they feared caring condoms do to the criminalization of condoms and most of all they were tossed aside and being mistreated by most of society. When all they were doing is trying to make a living and find economic opportunity.

sex-worker diversion programs
In 2014 a New York City created a series of special courts for sex workers arrested on prostitution-related charges. The new courts, known as Human Trafficking Courts (HTIC) treated all sex workers human trafficking victims and through a variety of bullying tactics forced defendants to for go their constitutional right of a trial by jury and agree to a plea bargain of a sex worker diversion program which consisted of a court mandated treatment program, followed Adjournment for Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD). The Red Umbrella Projects argued that the cities intentions were good and that the new court does help people who are forced into sex work. But the court still treats the sex workers like criminals and makes the assumption that all sex workers are victims of human trafficking and no sex workers does sex work out of their own free will for their personal economic gain. Or because of discrimination within the workforce do to the fact that many sex workers are of color, queer or trans. More so the counseling and assistance offered through the court mandated treatment program provides them with no way of economic opportunity other than sex work. The Red Umbrella Project wants to see the sex-worker diversion program restructured with an emphasis on "economic empowerment through job training an economic opportunities.

HIV/AIDS and Trans Health Disparity
The Red Umbrella Project along with the Nation Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and Best Practices Policy Project (BPPP) published a report that "trans-gender people in the sex trade are twelve times more likely to be living with HIV/Aids then trans-gender people who were never involved in the sex trade and twenty five times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS then the general population". The Red Umbrella Project points to the fear of the condom as being used as evidence of prostitution along with profiling of race and gender by police officers where: “Women and trans people having condoms on them is criminalized, whereas a white cis male having condoms on him is looked at as safe-sex practice.” The Red Umbrella Projects along with other advocacy groups have been able to push for reform in heavily liberal cities such as: New York City, San Fransisco and DC but other more conservative cities such as Phoenix use condoms as evidence as part of their anti-prostitution campaign Project Rose.

The Red Umbrella Diaries
The Red Umbrella Diaries started as a monthly story-telling event at the Happy Ending Lounge in New York Lower East Side that sought to shed the stigma around sex work, make it less isolating and show that it can be both "exploitation" and "empowering" at the same time. The Red Umbrella Diaries was listed by the Village Voice as: The Best Way to Meet Sex Workers for free, and listed as Best of New York Cities Sports and Recreation in 2010. The month event eventually became a documentary produced by Audacia Ray and multi-Emmy Awards-Winning director David Kornfield and funded by the Red Umbrella Project. The documentary featured seven sex workers telling their story about trading money for sex on the streets of New York City. The Red Umbrella Diaries documentary premiered at the Portland Film festival, in Portland Oregon and at the IFC theater in New York City and was a DOC NYC official selection.

Memoir Writing Workshop
In 2012 the Red Umbrella Project started offering memoir writing workshops in New York City. The peer-facilitated workshops are open to all people with experience in the sex trade and allows sex workers a safe space build writing skills and share their stories with others as well as get feedback from their peers. Attendees of the workshop have the option of having their work published on Red Umbrella Project biannual literary journal Prose & Lore as well share their work on stage as part of their Page to Stage workshop. One participant was Nahshon Anderson, who for eight weeks in 2013 work shopped a nonfiction manuscript that went on to win literary awards, launching their literary career.