Message from the Vixen Collective

Vixen Collective extends thanks to those who attended and supported the Festival of Sex Work; sex workers, allies, supporters and members of the public, and for making the festival the a resounding success this year.

Sex workers and our representative organisations, like Vixen Collective, continue to strive to end stigma and discrimination, for the full decriminalisation of sex work, and for occupation health and safety, human and labour right for sex workers.

We hope to see all those who attended - peers, allies and supporters - at more events and rallies in Victoria, and to keep pursuing these essential goals together. Thank you all for your involvement, friendship and solidarity!

Melbourne 2015 Festival of Sex Work

2015 
FESTIVAL OF SEX WORK 
Melbourne
Fri 7th - Sun 9th August

Organised by the Vixen Collective

Please see our document regarding the Vixen Collective's - 
'Safer Spaces Policy', for the Festival of Sex Work (2015).

--------------------------------

"Vixen Collective regrets that the Festival of Sex Work is this year not able to be held in venues that provide for wheelchair access. Please note however that the Red Umbrella Rally on Sunday the 9th of August is an accessible event and is open to both sex workers and allies". 

--------------------------------

Facebook: www.facebook.com/festivalofsexwork
Twitter: @FoSexWork

--------------------------------

See the ITINERARY & individual event posts - 
for more information on Tickets & Event Booking. 

--------------------------------

FILM NIGHT

Please join us for the Festival of Sex Work Film Night.

Screening a selection of short films made by and featuring sex workers. 

Join us to celebrate and support sex worker film makers and the sex workers 

that feature in these films!

Sat, Aug 8th, 7pm

Courthouse Hotel, Corner Errol & Queensberry St

North Melbourne

PUBLIC Event

Films Screening:

69 Things I Love About Sex Work (Director - Isabel Hosti, Canada, 2006)

Coming Out As A Sex Worker - For Sex Workers & Our Families (Filmmakers - Ryan & Hanako, Australia, 2013)

You're A Winner - Sprinkle Magic (Director - Douglas Brook, Australia, 1996)

Booking With A Worker In A Decriminalised State (Filmmaker - Holly in Griffith, Australia, 2014)

The films '69 Things I Love About Sex Work' and 'You're A Winner' come to us via the San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival.... http://sexworkerfest.com/

The films playing as part of the Festival of Sex Work Film Night contain adult themes and images and as such Vixen Collective recommends this be treated as an R18 event

You can book via the Event Brite link below:

Ticket Purchase - FILM Night

Sex workers are encouraged to book at the 'concession' rate, but Vixen Collective does not wish ticket prices to be a barrier to entry for any peer, so if this is the case, come along on the night and you will be admitted free of charge (Vixen Collective).

Note: the majority of events during the Festival of Sex Work are free of charge, however as an unfunded organisation Vixen Collective is taking this opportunity to raise funds to go some small way towards covering its work in the upcoming year.

Vixen Collective regrets that the Festival of Sex Work is this year not able to be held in venues that provide for wheelchair access.  Please note however that the Red Umbrella Rally on Sunday the 9th of August is an accessible event and is open to both sex workers and allies.

ASK A SEX WORKER A QUESTION - Public Forum

Please join us for the Opening Night Launch 

of the Melbourne, 2015 'Festival of Sex Work'. 

'Art Exhibition Opening'

Friday, August 7th, 6pm

with Debby Doesn't Do It For Free

followed by 

'Ask a Sex Worker a Question'

Friday, August 7th, 7pm

This event is open to the public.

Ticket Purchase information and link below.

Ask a Sex Worker a Question Panelists:

Cam Cox - I started sex working whilst still at high school as a street based sex worker at the Wall in Sydney. I currently sex work, write & lecture on sex worker rights, criminalisation, HIV and biomedical prevention, and was recently appointed CEO of Sex Workers Outreach Project NSW. 

Dallas Taylor - I am a full service sex worker and have worked in brothels, massage parlours, and privately. I'm a trans man who works as female. I've mostly worked in Sydney and Melbourne. 

Lucie Bee - I'm a Mattress Actress, Escort and Sex Geek. Gamer Girl and Marvel Tragic. I've had a knack for chatting with journos lately. I'm loud and unapologetic and pretty fiery when it comes to the Australian Sex and Porn industries. 

Mistress Lux - Current incarnation MzLux Professional Dominatrix. Specialising in humiliation, degradation, psychological torture…. or being a whore in societies war! I don't like vanilla ice cream, sex worker politics and I swear. 

Ryan Cole - I began my sex work career in my hometown of Melbourne at a strip club, but now work privately from home and touring other cities - working from hotels and sometimes from the street. 

You can book via the Event Brite link below:

Sex workers are encouraged to book at the 'concession' rate, but Vixen Collective does not wish ticket prices to be a barrier to entry for any peer, so if this is the case, come along on the night and you will be admitted free of charge (Vixen Collective).

Ticket Purchase - Opening Night

Note: the majority of events during the Festival of Sex Work are free of charge, however as an unfunded organisation Vixen Collective is taking this opportunity to raise funds to go some small way towards covering its work in the upcoming year.

Vixen Collective regrets that the Festival of Sex Work is this year not able to be held in venues that provide for wheelchair access.  Please note however that the Red Umbrella Rally on Sunday the 9th of August is an accessible event and is open to both sex workers and allies.

WORKSHOPS

Sat, August 8th, 11am to 5pm

---------------------------------------

WORKSHOPS:

11am Sex Work & Publishing

12.05pm BDSM Skill Share

2pm BDSM Skill Share (cont) 

3.10pm Anal Play Workshop

4.15pm Dating Dramas

SEX-WORKER ONLY

Please RSVP via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

---------------------------------------

Workshops:

Sex Work and Publishing
Academia, blogs, newsprint, research & beyond.  We have a presence, always pushing back against whorephobia. Come and debrief, let it out, we are the experts, hear us roar!

BDSM Skill Share
Part 1 - What is B&D, S&M, Fetish and Kink.  What is the difference between being a dominant, submissive, slave, kinky play partner and what is required in each of these scenes.  What are client expectations and how to manage yourself and safety when dealing with each of these situations.
Part 2 - Sex worker BDSM Action Kit including: what equipment to have in it based on what your clients are asking for, environment you work in (in a brothel or escorting), confidence, experience and money.

Anal Play Workshop
A skill share on anal play, discussing prostrate massage techniques, a detailed discussion of the different types of orgasms that can achieved through butt play and how to achieve them. How to achieve painless penetration, stressing both the importance of foreplay in this area and of sensitization as well as what to do once you get inside. Also discusses pegging, the use of toys, fisting and some of the dom/sub play that can be incorporated into anal play.

Dating Dramas
A group for people to get together and share our experiences of the difficulties of dating while being a worker, and sharing tips for how to talk to partners about your work/how and where to draw boundaries etc.

---------------------------------------

SEX-WORKER ONLY

Please RSVP via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Media Release - Melbourne 2015 Fesival of Sex Work

Melbourne 2015 Festival of Sex Work

Media Release

Vixen Collective, Victoria's peer only sex worker organisation, is for the third time running the Festival of Sex Work, from Friday August 7th until Sunday August 9th 2015.

The Festival is a celebration of the lives, skills, culture and community of sex workers, and will include a number of different events. Some of these events will be for sex workers only, whilst others will be open to the public.

The Festival of Sex Work is being organised by Vixen Collective, a group run by and for sex workers in Victoria, and the Festival organising committee is 100% comprised of current and former sex workers.

Vixen Collective member, Rahni Bell, says: "It's a chance for sex workers to come together as a community, have some fun, celebrate talents and skill sharing from our colleagues and escape from the stereotypes we, as sex workers, are so often subject to in everyday life"

Despite the fact that Melbourne was the first place in the world to fund a sex worker organisation, the current situation in Victoria is that government funding goes to services that have a vested interest in portraying sex workers as a health issue or as exploited victims in need of rescuing.

Much of the discourse and decision making about sex work in Victoria excludes sex workers. The Festival of Sex Work provides an opportunity for Victorian sex workers to challenge stereotypes and to have their voices heard.

"Sex workers are so often talked about, but not listened to as a community. Sex workers refuse to be silenced and the Festival of Sex Work is a chance for Victorian sex workers to speak up about their own lives and work." Vixen Collective member, Riley Alexander.

The Festival of Sex Work is created solely by the volunteer efforts and resources of sex workers themselves, working with no corporate sponsorship or government funding.

The Festival of Sex Work aims to be a safe space for sex workers and their allies, one that protects the human rights and respects the diverse perspectives and experiences of sex workers.

The public events for the Festival will be held at the Courthouse Hotel in North Melbourne and will include a public 'Ask A Sex Worker A Question' panel, a 'Festival of Sex Work Film Night' (screening films made by and featuring sex workers), and a sex worker Art Exhibition.

For more information please visit our website:


Festival of Sex Work - http://festivalofsexwork.blogspot.com.au/

Vixen Collective - http://vixencollective.blogspot.com.au/

For further media information or interviews, please contact: Jane Green, Media Liaison: 0420 887 845

ITINERARY - Calendar of Festival Events

--------------------------------

"Vixen Collective regrets that the Festival of Sex Work is this year not able to be held in venues that provide for wheelchair access. Please note however that the Red Umbrella Rally on Sunday the 9th of August is an accessible event and is open to both sex workers and allies."

-------------------------------- 

The Festival of Sex Work 
Art Exhibition
August 7-9th

Opening Hours:

August 7th 6pm - 9pm

August 8th 12pm - 9pm

August 9th - 12pm - 3pm

Courthouse Hotel
Corner Errol & Queensberry St,
North Melbourne

This Exhibition is open to the public.

--------------------------------


The Festival of Sex Work 
Opening Night

'Art Exhibition'
Short intro by 'Debby Doesn't Do It For Free'
Friday, August 7th, 6pm
(Before 'Ask a Sex Worker a Question')

'Ask a Sex Worker a Question'
Public Forum & Panel Discussion
Friday, August 7th, 7pm


Ask a Sex Worker a Question Panelists:

Cam Cox, Dallas Taylor, Lucie Bee, Mistress Lux, Ryan Cole 

Courthouse Hotel
Corner Errol & Queensberry St,
North Melbourne

This event is open to the public.

You can book via the Event Brite link below:

Sex workers are encouraged to book at the 'concession' rate, but Vixen Collective does not wish ticket prices to be a barrier to entry for any peer, so if this is the case, come along on the night and you will be admitted free of charge (Vixen Collective).

Opening Night Tickets - Ask a Sex Worker a Question


--------------------------------

Festival of Sex Work 
'WORKSHOPS'
Saturday, August 8th, 11am to 5pm.

Sex-Worker ONLY Event.

RSVP via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

--------------------------------

Festival of Sex Work 
'Film Night'
Saturday, August 8th, 7pm.

This event is open to the public.

Festival of Sex Work Film Night - screening a selection of short films made by and featuring sex workers. Join us to celebrate and support sex worker film makers and the sex workers that feature in these films!

Films Screening:

69 Things I Love About Sex Work (Director - Isabel Hosti, Canada, 2006)

Coming Out As A Sex Worker - For Sex Workers & Our Families (Filmmakers - Ryan & Hanako, Australia, 2013)

You're A Winner - Sprinkle Magic (Director - Douglas Brook, Australia, 1996)

Booking With A Worker In A Decriminalised State (Filmmaker - Holly in Griffith, Australia, 2014)

The Films '69 Things I Love About Sex Work' and 'You're A Winner' 
come to us via the - San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival…
http://sexworkerfest.com/

You can book via the Event Brite link below:

Sex workers are encouraged to book at the 'concession' rate, but Vixen Collective does not wish ticket prices to be a barrier to entry for any peer, so if this is the case, come along on the night and you will be admitted free of charge (Vixen Collective).

Film Night Tickets

The films playing as part of the Festival of Sex Work Film Night contain adult themes and images and as such Vixen Collective recommends this be treated as an R18 event.

--------------------------------

Festival of Sex Work 
'Red Umbrella Rally for Sex Worker Rights'
Sunday, Aug 9th, 12pm.
State Library of Victoria

Friends and Supporters welcome.

You do not have to book for this event.

--------------------------------

Festival of Sex Work 

'Whore's Lunch'
Sunday, Aug 9th, 1.30pm.

Sex-worker ONLY event

RSVP via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

--------------------------------

Festival of Sex Work 
'WHOREDROBE'
A Vixen Collective Fundraiser
Sunday, Aug 9th, 6pm
(Before the 'Performance Night')

Sex-worker ONLY event

RSVP via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

The Vixen Collective is still looking for donations for Whoredrobe. Please email vixen at vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com. Donations can be collected from around Melbourne, Tues to Thurs, or can be dropped off, at the Exhibition throughout the Festival, or during the Workshops.

--------------------------------

Festival of Sex Work 
'Performance Night'
Sunday, Aug 9th, 7pm
(After 'Whoredrobe')

Sex-worker ONLY event

RSVP via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

--------------------------------

"Vixen Collective regrets that the Festival of Sex Work is this year not able to be held in venues that provide for wheelchair access. Please note however that the Red Umbrella Rally on Sunday the 9th of August is an accessible event and is open to both sex workers and allies". 

--------------------------------


Please check back for more updates and information. 

--------------------------------

Updates & Announcements

Melbourne 2015
Festival of Sex Work 

Updates & Announcements:

This page contains information and updates to help you navigate the Melbourne 2015, Festival of Sex Work, August 7-9th. See the Itinerary, for session times, and Ticketing requirements. More information on each event is available under each individual post.

Check our social media accounts, (and like/follow us), for more updates and announcements, on the Melbourne 2015 Festival Of Sex Work -
Facebook: www.facebook.com/festivalofsexwork
Twitter: @FoSexWork

--------------------------------
Listen to Jane Green talking about the Festival of Sex Work on @JOY949's show 'Hide & Seek' tonight at 9pm EST
http://t.co/5KdrkMTYgN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please see our recently uploaded document regarding the Vixen Collective's - 'Safer Spaces Policy', for the Festival of Sex Work (2015).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Vixen Collective is still looking for donations for Whoredrobe!

Collections can be made this week, Tues, 4th - Thurs, 6th August.
Please contact - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com
You can also drop off your donations at the Exhibition or Workshops space, during the Festival of Sex Work (Aug 7-9th).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Booking Information:

Sex-worker ONLY Events: Please RSVP to all the sex-worker ONLY events that you will be attending, via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Public Events: Information on Ticket Purchase information for the public events (Opening Night - Ask a Sex Worker a Question & the Film Night), are available under each event page (and also on the 'Itinerary' page).

"Vixen Collective regrets that the Festival of Sex Work is this year not able to be held in venues that provide for wheelchair access. Please note however that the Red Umbrella Rally on Sunday the 9th of August is an accessible event and is open to both sex workers and allies". 


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Safer Spaces Policy (2015)

Melbourne Festival of Sex Work 
Safer Spaces Policy (2015)

The Melbourne Festival of Sex Work Safer Spaces Policy is about taking a positive, proactive, preventative step towards making spaces safer in our community. We use the word ‘safer’ to acknowledge that no space can be entirely safe for everyone and not everyone experiences spaces in the same way as others.

We want the Melbourne Festival of Sex Work to offer sex worker friendly environments that are welcoming, engaging and supportive: spaces where people take care of one another whilst promoting lively and productive debate. We want people to feel they can be themselves and that different opinions are important and can strengthen our community. We are asking people to be proactive in creating a safer, sex work positive space that is comfortable for everyone attending. We won’t be micro-monitoring behaviour at the Festival, but each event will be facilitated and we expect that everyone attending will respect our safer spaces statement and take responsibility for their behaviour at all times.

Just as we use the word “safer” because no space can be 100% safe for all participants, we also acknowledge that no policy can eliminate 100% of risk and danger for people participating in any event. With that in mind Festival organisers would like to make clear that this policy is a guiding document, one that is live and can be amended as necessary. Festival organisers are open to feedback regarding the Safer Spaces Policy and this can be given by emailing vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Every event is a safer space for all participants.

Being a safer space for participants means a number of things:
1. Event content must not discriminate, exclude or perpetuate stigma against its potential
participants. Each event, its facilitators and participants must avoid making judgements and/or promoting prejudice about race, sex, gender, sexuality, ability, drug use, mode of sex work, legal status, and mental health. If it is necessary to be exempt from this (for example, a workshop’s content may only be relevant for only cisfemale participants), these stipulations and the reasons for them must be made explicit to festival organisers and will be absolutely clear from the beginning in all promotional material.
2. Privacy and confidentiality of participants is paramount. It will be made clear to participants that no personal or identifying details are ever required for participation in a workshop; that no contribution made by participants at a workshop will be shared outside of it unless consent is clearly and explicitly given; and no recording devices (including cameras) will be used during workshops.
3. Event facilitators must be aware that some content may trigger a negative emotional impact on participants. Any planned event content that may be at all traumatic (including discussions of violence,  abuse, suicide) must be made clear to participants prior to the event. It must also be made clear to participants that they can leave the event whenever they want and should debriefing be necessary, festival organisers will arrange this in accordance with our Safer Spaces Policy.

4. The Festival is made up of events that are either sex worker only or open to the public. In terms of ensuring the safety of event participants, public events will be clearly indicated as such. (Further discussion of this below)
5. Festival organisers will ensure that a safer space and debriefers will be made available at all events. Participants will be made aware that their involvement is completely voluntary and the right to exit any event plus access to a debriefer will be upheld.
6. Festival organisers are sex workers. As such we also need to ensure our own safety. While we are responsive to concerns individuals may have regarding the operation of our festival we will not tolerate abuse or harassment of individual Festival organisers or the collective.

This Festival is a celebration of Sex Work.

Events must reflect this. We want the experience sex workers have at the festival to be a positive one. We recognise the diversity of experiences of sex work and festival organisers do not want to make invisible any sex workers experience. However, the festival is a constructive and positive space; it is not the right place for working through people's personal issues; it is not the space to attack or critique any individual sex worker.

Each event must…
1. ...affirm or further the goals of sex worker rights
2. ...contribute to participants understanding of the diversity of sex work
3. ...give priority to focusing on the skills, character and strategies that sex workers use in
combating stigma and discrimination

Sex Worker Only and Public Events
The Festival organisers acknowledge that negotiating safety in a sex worker only space is different to negotiating safety at a public event. The festival organisers value the contribution of sex workers and recognise that particular goals of promoting sex worker rights, health and well being can only occur in sex worker only spaces. However, Festival organisers would also like create opportunities for the general public to engage with the perspectives of sex workers. With this in mind the following guiding principles are adopted by Festival organisers:
1.  The location of sex worker only events will not be publicised in any public document.
2.  All events that are open to the public will be made explicitly clear to all participants.3.  The full details of sex worker only events will only be promoted in forums that are clearly and
explicitly sex worker only networks.4.  No one has the right to compel an individual to produce evidence of their status as a sex
worker. However, Festival organisers recognise the need to engage in strategies that ensure sex worker only events are attended by sex workers only. This will be done through promotional strategies that enable a degree of verification . Festival organisers reserve the right to refuse participants attendance of sex worker only events.

Specific Events:

All workshops during the day and social events during the festival will be sex worker only spaces.

The art exhibition, 'Ask A Sex Worker A Question' night, rally and film nights will be public events. The Safer Spaces Policy will be made available at these events and awareness of this will be stated as part of each events formal process.

No participant is compelled to attend any public event if they do not wish, and participation in thefestivalcanbeentirelyatsexworkeronlyeventsiftheparticipantwishes. Publiceventsare designed to engage our allies and friends as well as the broader public.

The end of Festival party will be an invite only event for those sex workers who have already attended sex worker only events as part of the Festival. Participants are strictly sex workers only.

Examining our own subtle and not-so-subtle prejudices

If we profess to be concerned about issues such as race, gender and sexuality, we need to live our lives in a way that proactively seeks to subvert prejudice and undermine discrimination. This means treating people equally and acknowledging that everyone has something amazing to contribute. It means not being tokenistic.

We may like to think of the Melbourne Festival of Sex Work as an alternative space where people reject the prejudices associated with ‘mainstream’ anti-sex work values. However, sex worker communities can often carry the same prejudices as the so-called mainstream and we all need to address this. We are part of this broader society. All of us have to challenge our own internalised sex worker stigma. By participating in making the Festival a safer space, we can all learn about how to overcome this stigma.

People attending the Melbourne Festival of Sex Work are asked to be aware of their language and behaviour and to think about whether it might be offensive to others. The Festival is no space for violence, sexual assault, touching people without their consent, being intolerant of someone’s religious beliefs or lack thereof, being creepy, sleazy, racist, ageist, sexist, heterosexist, homophobic, transphobic, cissexist, ableist, classist, fat shaming, sex negative, slut shaming, victim blaming or any other behaviour or language that may perpetuate oppression. Please also consider whether anxiety, new environments, being surrounded by new people, drugs, alcohol, etc could blur your ability to gauge how your behaviour is affecting others.

A note to people who aren’t sex workers attending the Melbourne Festival of Sex Work

The Festival strives to create a safer space for sex workers, even at public events. We want people who aren’t sex workers to come along to public events and learn what it takes to support sex workers. The following are some pointers about how to be an ally to our community. Festival organisers would like to acknowledge that these pointers have been adapted from a document originally published by the Sex Worker Outreach Project, Chicago.

1) Don’t assume anything about anyone you may meet at the festival. Don’t assume you know that a person is in the sex industry or that you know their reasons for being there.

2) Be Discreet and Respect Personal Boundaries. If you know a sex worker, it’s OK to engage in dialogue with them in private, but respect their privacy surrounding their work in public settings. Don’t ask personal questions such as “does your family know what you do?” If a sex worker is not “out” to their friends, family, or co-workers, it’s not your place to tell everyone what they do.

3) Don’t Judge. Know your own prejudices and realise that not everyone shares the same opinions as you. Whatever you may think about sex work is irrelevant compared to the actual experiences of the person who works in the industry. It’s not your place to pass judgment on how another person earns the money they need to survive.

4) Watch Your Language. Cracking jokes or using derogatory terms such as “hooker”, “whore”, “slut”, or “ho” is not acceptable. While some sex workers have reclaimed these words and use them among themselves, they are usually used to demean sex workers when spoken by outsiders.

5) Address Your Prejudices. If you have a deep bias or underlying fear that all sex workers are bad people and/or full of diseases, then perhaps these are issues within yourself that you need to address. In fact, the majority of sex workers practice safer sex than those in the general community and get tested regularly.

6) Don’t Play Rescuer. Not all sex workers are trying to get out of the industry or in need of help. Ask them what they need, but not everyone is looking for “Captain Save-A-Ho” or the “Pretty Woman” ending.

7) If you are a client or patron of sex workers, be respectful of boundaries. You’re buying a service, not a person. Don’t ask for real names, call at all hours of the day/night, or think that your favourite sex worker is going to enter into a relationship with you off the clock.

8) Do Your Own Research. Most mainstream media is biased against sex workers and the statistics you read in the news about the sex industry are usually inaccurate. Be critical of what you read or hear and educate yourself on who exactly is transmitting diseases or being trafficked.

9) Respect that Sex Work is Real Work. There’s a set of professional skills involved and it’s not necessarily an industry that everyone can enter into. Don’t tell someone to get a “real job” when they already have one that suits them just fine.

10) Just because someone is a sex worker doesn’t mean they will have sex with you. No matter what area of the sex industry that someone works in, don’t assume that they are promiscuous and willing to have sex with anyone at any time.

11) Be Supportive and Share Resources. If you know of someone who is new to the industry or in an abusive situation with an employer, by all means offer advice and support without being condescending. Despite the situation, calling the police is usually never a good option. Refer someone to their nearest peer sex worker service (this means a service run by and for sex workers).

12) As you learn the above things, stand up for sex workers when conversations happen. Don’t let the stigma, bigotry and shame around sex work continue. Remember it’s important that sex workers be allowed to speak for themselves and for allies to not speak for sex workers but to speak with sex workers.

Realise that sex work transcends ‘visible’ notions of race, gender, class, sexuality, education, and identities; sex workers are your sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, lovers, and friends. Respect them!

Grievance Process

1) If you wish to proceed with a grievance, directly approach the person whose behaviour has caused you to feel unsafe to try to resolve the issue. Please do so while maintaining safer spaces yourself – refer to section above.

AND/OR:

Walk away if you can’t reach a resolution, we don’t endorse individuals aggravating conflicts that exist over differences of opinion. Acknowledge the difference of opinion. Make your opposition known. Find your friends, go to a quiet space and debrief.

2) If unresolved, approach the designated grievance contact/s for the Melbourne Festival of Sex Work Collective (ask any Vixen Collective representative and they will advise who this is).

3) The collective member will ask you if you have approached the person involved already. If you have not, see step one.

4) The collective will meet daily during Festival of Sex Work and will hear complex and unresolved grievances if necessary. This is an absolutely last step and we encourage individuals to take responsibility for their one-on-one conflicts maturely if possible PRIOR to needing the collective to intervene.

5) Excluding people from Festival Events is an absolute final resort and will only be done by consensus decision of the collective

If you decide to confront a person you have a grievance with, or ask a third party to do so on your behalf, or you have been asked to approach a person on behalf of another, please keep in mind that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS regardless of your grievance with another person. At no time are you acting on behalf of the collective.

The Festival Collective recognises that some people have ongoing conflict/grievances which have originated in a space outside of the Festival. It is not the role of the Festival, its organisers or this policy to resolve such conflict. Please inform Festival organisers if you feel this may impact on your ability to feel safe whilst attending the Festival. Please be aware that while we will do our best to provide a safer space for all participants, we cannot necessarily mediate all tensions that are brought to our Festival. Again, Festival organisers would like to reiterate, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS.

Distribution of the policy

We want everyone who attends the Melbourne Festival of Sex Work to be aware of this safer spaces policy. This statement will be on the website, displayed around the venues, distributed to those facilitating workshops and hopefully it will come up in discussions. Feel free to alert your friends to the existence of this policy.

We hope that the very existence of this information will assist in the following ways:

•   As a visible/constant reminder of everyone’s need to take responsibility for their own behaviour
  
•   To keep the issues fresh in everyone’s minds
  
•   As a reminder that words, body language, actions and behaviour affect other people
  and make them feel certain ways – a reminder to be aware of other people’s personal
  boundaries
  
•   To work preventatively
  
•   To follow the Grievance Process
  
•   To take responsibility for your own actions when confronting or addressing a third party
  with whom you have a grievance.
  
  Thank you for taking the time to read this.
  
  Festival organisers would like to acknowledge and thank Camp Betty, the Scarlet Alliance and SWOP-Chicago, whose own safer spaces policies and publications have been influential in the creation of the Melbourne Festival of Sex Work Safer Spaces Policy. 
  
  
  

ART EXHIBITION - Melb 2015 Festival of Sex Work

The Festival of Sex Work 
Art Exhibition
August 7th to 9th

Courthouse Hotel
Corner Errol & Queensberry St
Nth Melbourne

Opening Hours:

August 7th 6pm - 9pm

August 8th 12pm - 9pm

August 9th - 12pm - 3pm

--------------------------------

Opening Night
Ask a Sex Worker a Question

Please join us for the Opening Night Launch of the Festival of Sex Work.
The Art Exhibition launches the Festival, on Fri, Aug 7th, at 6pm,
followed by the 'Ask a Sex Worker a Question' event.
This event is open to the public.

You can book via the Event Brite link below:

Sex workers are encouraged to book at the 'concession' rate, but Vixen Collective does not wish ticket prices to be a barrier to entry for any peer, so if this is the case, come along on the night and you will be admitted free of charge (Vixen Collective).

Opening Night Tickets - Ask a Sex Worker a Question


--------------------------------

WHOREDROBE

FESTIVAL OF SEX WORK - WHOREDROBE

Whoredrobe is one of Vixen's few fundraising events. 

Support your local and only peer-based sex-worker 

organisation in Victoria - Vixen Collective.

Sunday, August 9th, 6pm

(Before the Performances, on our Closing Night)

'Whoredrobe' is a sex-worker ONLY Event. 

Please RSVP or this event, via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

We are still after donations for the Vixen Collective 'Whoredrobe'. Collections can be made Tues - Thurs, or you can drop things off during the first 2 days of the festival at the exhibition, or workshops.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web: www.vixencollective.blogspot.com.au

Email: vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PERFORMANCE NIGHT - Closing Night

PERFORMANCE NIGHT

Sun, Aug 9th, 7pm
Festival of Sex Work - Closing Night

'Sex-Worker ONLY' Event.

Please RSVP via - 
vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------

'WHOREDROBE'

A Vixen Collective Fundraiser

Sun, Aug 9th, 6pm

(Before the Performance night)

'Sex-Worker ONLY' Event.

Please RSVP via - 
vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Festival of Sex Work - Event Flyer

See the Itinerary and individual events for more information.

--------------------------------

WHORE'S LUNCH

WHORE'S LUNCH
Sunday, August 9th, 1.30pm

SEX-WORKER ONLY

Please RSVP via - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

2015 MELBOURNE
FESTIVAL OF SEX WORK
AUGUST 7-9

RED UMBRELLA RALLY

Red Umbrella Rally

Sunday, August 9th, 12pm.

State Library of Victoria

Sex Workers & Allies
Friends & Supporters Welcome

Organised by Vixen Collective

Melbourne 2015 'Festival of Sex Work' 

Please be on time for this rally at 12pm.

Callout for FILM Submissions

Callout for FILM Submissions 

2015

Festival of Sex Work

Melbourne 

The Vixen Collective is looking for films made by, or featuring sex workers, for a 'public screening', at the 2015 Melbourne Festival of Sex Work 'Film Night', Saturday August 8th. Entry is open to current and former sex workers. See Selection Criteria below. 

Email: vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Criteria for Submissions:

1) The current or former sex worker submitting the film to the Festival of Sex Work is the subject of the film themselves, or

2) The current or former sex worker submitting the film has permission to submit the film to the Festival of Sex Work from any and all sex worker participants/contributors (and can provide evidence of such on request).

3) Vixen Collective and the Festival of Sex Work advocate for the:

a) cultural, legal, human, occupational and civil rights of all sex workers

b) full decriminalisation of sex work and will not accept other discriminatory models or legislation that infringe on the rights of sex workers

Any work, or any part of any work submitted that is contrary to these goals may immediately disqualify the work from participation.

4) The current or former sex worker submitting the film is not also an owner or operator of a sex industry business or manager in a sex industry business.

5) Work must be submitted and approved for inclusion in the Festival of Sex Work Film Night by the Vixen Collective.

Callout for 'WHOREDROBE' Donations

WHOREDROBE
CALLOUT FOR DONATIONS
We're asking sex workers to donate any work gear you no longer use
i.e. Dresses, outfits, shoes, etc….
Vixen members can collect donations around Melb.

Please contact Vixen at - vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Callout - Are you a Performer & Sex Worker?

ARE YOU A PERFORMER & SEX WORKER?

THE VIXEN COLLECTIVE 
IS HOSTING A
 PERFORMANCE NIGHT

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9TH
FROM 6PM

PLEASE CONTACT VIXEN AT -
vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Callout for WORKSHOPS

CALLOUT FOR WORKSHOPS!

2015 FESTIVAL OF SEX WORK
Melbourne
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8TH

PLEASE CONTACT VIXEN AT -
vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com

Callout for ART Submissions

CALLOUT FOR ART SUBMISSIONS!!

2015 FESTIVAL OF SEX WORK
Melbourne
AUGUST 7TH TO 9TH

Please contact Vixen at -
vixencollectivemelbourne@gmail.com