Yay, we got in the newspaper!

(by the way, I realize the article makes us sound condescending towards the downtown eastside prostitutes- that's the reporter's spin, not ours.
Don't know how much exposure this has gotten in the US, but the downtown eastside streetwalkers were the sole target of our own local psycho, a pig farmer named Robert Pickton who killed up to and around 45 women, though I think he's only being formally charged for 22. Anyways, that's a bit what the fundraising is about- increasing safety and exit opportunities).


STRIPPERS TAKING IT ALL OFF - FOR CHARITY
100% of funds raised during Exotic Embrace stripping event in Port Moody to help prostitutes

By Amy O’Brian
Vancouver Sun

LOWER MAINLAND – We all know that sex sells.

But Annie Temple is stretching that concept to the limit to raise money for a group that provides support for prostitutes.

Temple has recruited a group of strippers with big hearts to dance for an evening and donate all their earnings to PACE, the Prostitution Alternatives Counseling and Education Society which is based in the Downtown Eastside.

It’s an unusual idea, but one that is sure to grab people’s attention and one that Temple believes exhibits a growing camaraderie among sex workers.

“It’s the sex industry banding together to help women in need,” she said.

“[Prostitutes in the Downtown Eastside] are women who didn’t get into the industry by choice necessarily, but by desperate causes, which is different from the women who are getting together to do this event.”

The strippers who are taking it all off for charity on June 13 are “highly intelligent, creative, really strong women,” Temple said.

One of them is Trillium Roberts, who heard about the event through the Vancouver-based Naked Truth website, which provides a forum for strippers to talk about the challenges of the industry and exchange advice.

Roberts said she donates to other charities and volunteered for the fundraiser because prostitution is “close enough to home that it’s relevant to me.”

She noted that most exotic dancers never cross the line into prostitution, but said both professions are part of the same industry, and strippers make a “high enough income” that they can give to those who are struggling.

Marika Sandrelli, a former sex worker and education coordinator at PACE, said most strippers actually don’t make much money, considering the long hours and the grueling nature of the job.

Sandrelli said “anyone in the sex industry deals with hardship” and stigma, and commended the strippers for volunteering their time and skills.

“They deserve a lot of credit and respect for this,” she said. “They acknowledge there are other sex workers out there in a very dangerous environment.”

Sandrelli said it is rare for the different “tiers” of the sex industry to come together, but hopes the fundraiser is the beginning of a new relationship.

“I think it’s exciting and very progressive and a great testament to sex workers supporting other workers who may have more limited opportunities,” she said. “This is the start of a more public, in-your-face relationship of sex workers.”

The money raised from the event will go to PACE’s support services, educational programs and health services, and outreach services for street-level sex workers.

Exotic Embrace for PACE takes place between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m. June 13 at the Moondancer Pub in Port Moody.