New Orleans retains one of the highest poverty rates (23.4%) in the state of Louisiana, which ranks the second worst in the nation on poverty indices. Marginalized women in the target groups typically face severe financial challenges, few economic opportunities, and no safety net.  Best efforts to live on a budget and save are undermined by financial emergencies that break budgets and, in some cases force people to be at the mercy of ruthless predatory lenders.  Through investment in programs that foster life skills, self-efficacy, and financial knowledge and understanding, we hope to reduce these vulnerabilities.

This project provides a unique opportunity for women of color, and other target populations in New Orleans, whom have been affected by or previously engaged in the street economy.  It aims to further individual skills and personal ability/self-efficacy to generate income independently while also creating a community of peer social and economic support.  Furthermore, this will enable those persons to make empowered choices about their health, communities, and personal/economic livelihoods.

In 2012, WWAV is bringing our work to improve the health of women through advocacy statewide with the Louisiana Women’s Advocacy Alliance (LWAA). LWAA is the natural extension of the advocacy foundation built through our internationally renowned NO Justice project.  Working with women and advocates across the state, we will expand a base of support to target Louisiana policies that continue to hinder the health and human rights of women in the state.

One of WWAV’s core guiding principles is that people should not be criminalized for what they do with their own bodies and should be empowered to prevent disease and improve their overall well being in any way that is available, particularly if it is evidence based.  The women we work with often turn to sex work as a way to support substance use and have few options once involved in the criminal justice system to do anything different. WWAV’s success has come largely from a high impact service/advocacy model.  This model allows us to mobilize the communities affected most by social determinants of health, particularly policy, that are normally excluded from decision-making processes.

LWAA’s work will center around three interconnected objectives:

1. Policy analysis. Louisiana has consistently lagged behind other parts of the country in providing Harm Reduction services including syringe exchange programs and gender based modalities that take into account the specific needs of women, including their involvement in sex work. Through LWAA, we will detail specific policies affecting women, including those involved in sex work, craft rights-based policy recommendations at the local and state level.
2. Education and mobilization. The sustainability of social change is rooted in the involvement of the people.  We begin by meeting people where they are and providing services and referrals to address the immediate needs such as food, clothing, shelter and healthcare, that prevent community members from engaging in advocacy activities. WWAV is very visible in Louisiana communities with a presence at health fairs, neighborhood meetings and events conducted by other partners as well as at WWAV offices where we conduct outreach to community members, advocacy trainings and story circles. These activities will continue as an integral part of LWAA.
3. Alliance development. LWAA was launched in partnership with 10 core alliance partners, consisting of individual community members and organizations. Together, we share resources with other organizations engaged in social justice movements, service delivery and advocacy activities. By recruiting individuals as key alliance members, we further ensure the involvement of those most affected by harmful policies.

What is Krewe du Vieux? The Krewe du Vieux is a New Orleans Mardi Gras or Carnival krewe, originally and more fully known as the Krewe du Vieux Carre (“Vieux Carre” being another term for the city’s French Quarter). It is one of the earliest parades of the New Orleans Carnival calendar, and is noted for wild satirical and adult themes, as well as for showcasing some of the best Brass and Jazz Bands in New Orleans.  For more information, visit the Krewe du Vieux website.

Born and raised in New Orleans, she has worked in local, regional and national organizations; but her heart’s work is rooted in the US South, especially the kind of organizing that happens around kitchen tables in the Deep South and Appalachia.

WWAV is truly blessed to be one of the organizations that Wendi shares her gifts with.  We are proud to be hosting weekly story circles starting in 2012!

We will be discussing sex work in the South, human rights & sex work, the negative public health & criminal justice effects of criminalization of condoms, advocacy for sex worker related issues, risk reduction for sex workers, drug use & sex work, bad date reporting and more!

Please let us know if you have any questions.

What’s wrong with Drug Testing for TANF?

• Drug-testing is extremely cost-ineffective.
• Drug-testing identifies drug usage—not abuse.  They rarely detect strong substances that leave the system quickly, such as cocaine and methamphetamines.
• Drug use among welfare recipients has been proven to be the same as among the general public.
• Who gets hurt if welfare is denied or mothers are deterred from applying at all due to drug testing?  Their children. This leads to a continued cycle of disadvantage, struggle, and poverty.

Where should our tax dollars go instead?

Each NEGATIVE test kit costs $42 of tax payer money. This money could better be used on addiction treatment, counseling, and other effective community-based services.

What should we do about it?

Let your officials and representatives know that you OPPOSE mandatory drug testing for TANF recipients!

Want to know more?

Download our Drug Testing and TANF factsheet!

On August 5, 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton informed governors that ICE would terminate all agreements with states to implement its controversial fingerprint-sharing “Secure Communities” (S-Comm) program, despite previously saying that states and counties could opt-out or modify that agreement. This announcement came as a result of powerful community mobilization throughout the country to challenge S-Comm and expose the harmful consequences of police/ICE collaboration.

LGBTQ immigrants–particularly LGBTQ youth of color, low-income LGBTQ people, and LGBTQ survivors of violence–are disproportionately impacted by S-Comm and all “ICE ACCESS” programs, a set of thirteen federal programs that create partnership between federal law enforcement and local, state, and tribal police and courts.

Because of widespread police profiling, selective enforcement, and poverty, LGBTQ immigrants come into high rates of contact with law enforcement, leading to a greater risk for deportation, now made even greater by programs such as S-Comm. Unfortunately, these programs are only the first steps in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) biometric-sharing “Next Generation Identification” (NGI), a massive searchable database of palm print, fingerprint, and iris scans as well as scar, mark, tattoo, and facial recognition that will be accessible across federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.

As LGBTQ leaders, activists, and community members, we call on President Obama to take decisive action to eliminate these destructive programs that target and have severe consequences for LGBTQ people, low-income people, immigrants, people of color, survivors of violence, and young people.

How S-Comm Harms LGBTQ Communities:

• Police/ICE collaboration further endangers LGBTQ communities and all communities with less access to resources. All immigrants in this country struggle to find safe and secure housing, healthcare, employment, and education while living in fear of deportation. Immigrants who are LGBTQ are particularly vulnerable to detention and deportation because they are more likely to come into contact with law enforcement through police profiling and discriminatory enforcement of minor offenses, as well as through false or dual arrest when they attempt to survive or flee violence. Officials often use excessive force and coercion against LGBTQ people at the scene of arrest, including threats of deportation. Once in jail, prison, or immigration detention, LGBTQ people experience rampant and sometimes fatal sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, mirroring the abuse many face from partners, employers, and neighbors outside.




• Police/ICE collaboration programs scapegoat LGBTQ immigrant communities and all marginalized groups of people by labeling them as “criminals.” LGBTQ communities like all marginalized communities face higher rates of poverty, violence, and unemployment. By labeling these communities “criminals,” S-Comm and other similar programs undermine the ability of communities and policymakers to create long-term solutions to these critical issues.

• Deporting and increasing surveillance of people does not create safety. Removing people from their homes and communities breaks apart biological and chosen family, drains resources, and creates a culture of fear. In addition to anticipating anti-LGBTQ bias, the fear of being referred to ICE can discourage LGBTQ immigrants from accessing supportive services. Many LGBTQ people face strained relationships with their biological families, and depend on others in their community for support. S-Comm and other similar programs tear at the fabric of these life-saving networks. True safety comes from whole, fully-resourced communities where everyone has the support they need to thrive.

• Complex problems require complex solutions. Programs like S-Comm distort and exacerbate the real problems communities face. For example, LGBTQ people often immigrate to the U.S. because of persecution and discrimination in their countries of origin. Upon finding similar discrimination in this country, LGBTQ people often turn to criminalized and underground economies to survive or are profiled or subjected to selective enforcement for minor offenses based on their sexual or gender non-conformity, leading to criminal charges and a greater risk of deportation under S-Comm and other similar programs. Instead of punishing people for their survival, we would be wise to address the underlying lack of economic and educational opportunity, destructive economic policies, and intergenerational legacies of trauma and bias that truly jeopardize our communities.

For these reasons and more, we invite LGBTQ leaders, organizations, and elected officials to join in this critical opportunity to defend the dignity and well-being of our most vulnerable community members and urge President Obama to immediately eliminate S-Comm and all police/ICE collaboration. Click here to endorse this statement.

Please see the 2010 National Report on Anti-LGBT Hate Violence for stories and statistics documenting LGBTQ interactions with law enforcement. If you or someone you know would like to share your experience being impacted by S-Comm or challenging the program, please email lgbt_scomm@streetwiseandsafe.org.

GROWING LIST OF ENDORSERS:

3rd Space, Phoenix, AZ
Ali Forney Center, New York, NY
API Equality – Northern California, San Francisco, CA
Audre Lorde Project, New York, NY
Best Practices Policy Project, Washington, DC
Black and Pink, National Office in Boston, MA
Black and Proud, Baton Rouge, LA
Brown Boi Project, Oakland, CA
Capital City Alliance, Baton Rouge, LA
Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), New York, NY
COLAGE, National Office in San Francisco, CA
Colorado Anti-Violence Program (CAVP), Denver, CO
Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington, DC
Community United Against Violence (CUAV), San Francisco, CA
Different Avenues, Washington D.C.
El/La Program Para TransLatinas, San Francisco, CA
Equality Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA
Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY), New York, NY
Gay-Straight Alliance Network, San Francisco, CA
Gendercast, Seattle, WA
GetEQUAL, National
Gender JUST, Chicago, IL
GRIOT Circle Inc., Brooklyn, NY
Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, San Francisco, CA
HAVOQ/San Francisco Pride at Work, San Francisco, CA
Latino Commission on AIDS, New York, NY
Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center (LYRIC), San Francisco, CA
The LGBTQ Project of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Louisiana Trans Advocates, Baton Rouge, LA
Make the Road New York, New York City & Suffolk County
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), Boston, MA
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), National Office in San Francisco, CA
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), National Office in New York, NY
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Office in Washington D.C.
The Network/La Red, Boston, MA
One Colorado, Colorado State
Our Family Coalition, San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Our4Immigration, National Based in San Francisco, CA
OUTlaw of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Peter Cicchino Youth Project, New York, NY
Positive Force, Washington, DC
Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), San Francisco, CA
Queers for Economic Justice, New York, NY
Sex Workers Action New York (SWANK), New York, NY
Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) NYC, New York, NY
Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center, New York, NY
Southerners On New Ground (SONG), Southern Regional
Spectrum LGBT Center, Marin County, CA
Streetwise & Safe (SAS), New York, NY
Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP), New York, NY
Transformative Alliances LLC, Denver, CO
Transgender, Gender Variant, & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), San Francisco, CA
Transgender Individuals Living Their Truth, Inc. (TILTT), Atlanta, GA
Transgender Law Center (TLC), Statewide Office in San Francisco, CA
Trikone Northwest, Seattle, WA
Trinity Place Shelter, New York, NY
Women With a Vision, Inc., New Orleans, LA
Women’s Health and Justice Initiative, New Orleans, LA
Women Organizing Women of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Women With a Vision, Inc., New Orleans, LA

Click here to endorse this statement.

What About Syringe Decriminalization? from North Carolina Harm Reduction on Vimeo.

CONTACT: Deon Haywood (504) 931-7944; Jen Nessel (212) 614-6449, jnessel@ccrjustice.org; David Lerner (212) 260-5000, dlerner@riptideonline.com

New Orleans Groups Applaud Change in “Scarlet Letter” Law, Urge Removal of All Individuals Convicted of Solicitation of Crime Against Nature Law from Sex Offender Registry

June 29, 2011, New Orleans – Late last night, legislation eliminating the mandatory sex offender registration requirement for individuals convicted of Louisiana’s Solicitation of a Crime Against Nature (SCAN) statute was signed into law. This change equalizes penalties for individuals charged with solicitation of oral and anal sex under the 205-year-old law with those faced by individuals charged under the state’s prostitution statute. Community group Women with a Vision, along with its allies, have long advocated for changes to what they call an unjust and discriminatory law and say they welcome the amendment. The groups also commend Representative Marchand Stiaes, who sponsored the original bill, for her leadership in bringing about the elimination of the harsh penalties associated with a SCAN conviction. Deon Haywood, executive director of Women with a Vision, will be available for interviews today.

“For over two decades now, people – largely low-income women of color, including transgender women – have been branded with this scarlet letter simply because they were convicted under this archaic, discriminatory law,” said Deon Haywood, executive director of Women with a Vision. “For the women I work with, and for LGBT young people, this has created an almost insurmountable barrier to much-needed housing, employment, treatment, and services.  At long last, the legislature has equalized penalties for the two offenses going forward.  But we will continue to fight for justice for all those still living under the penalties of the past. There is still serious work to be done.”

In Louisiana, allegations of solicitation of oral or anal sex in exchange for compensation can be prosecuted either under the SCAN statute or under the prostitution statute. Though the conduct alleged is identical, for decades a SCAN conviction has resulted in harsher sentences and higher fines – as well as mandatory registration as a sex offender for periods of 15 years to life. The new law equalizes the penalties for SCAN and prostitution going forward, though not retroactively.

The changes to the law do not offer relief to the hundreds of people currently on the registry solely because they were prosecuted under SCAN, a statute that experts say expresses particular moral distaste for sex acts that are historically associated with homosexuality.

“We welcome this change in the law, which finally brings Louisiana in line with every other state in the country,” said Davida Finger, Assistant Clinical Professor at Loyola. “But the injustice still persists. Almost 40 percent of registered sex offenders in New Orleans are on the registry because of a SCAN conviction. They too should receive the benefit of this change in the law and be removed from the sex offender registry.”

In February, the Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP filed a federal civil rights law suit, Doe v. Jindal, on behalf of nine plaintiffs, challenging the disparate punishment meted out under the SCAN statute. The plaintiffs in the case, who have old SCAN convictions, will continue to be required to register as sex offenders for 15 years to life.

“We hope the State of Louisiana will do what is just and extend this much-needed reform to people who are already on the sex offender registry because of one of these convictions,” said Bill Quigley, Clinical Director of Loyola Law Clinic and Associate Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Not only have they been punished enough, but the legislature has clearly recognized that penalties under this law were irrational and excessive.”

“The grassroots and national leadership of Women with a Vision in tirelessly raising this issue for the past three years is nothing short of heroic,” said Andrea Ritchie, co-counsel in Doe v. Jindal, police misconduct attorney and expert on U.S. policing of women and LGBT people. “This victory is a product of collaboration between community groups, legal advocacy organizations and legislators seeking justice on behalf of the women and LGBT youth suffering from the discriminatory effects of SCAN – it is clear that community organizing can make real change.”

The mission of Women with a Vision is to improve the lives of marginalized women, their families, and communities by addressing the social conditions that hinder their health and well-being. We accomplish this through relentless advocacy, health education, supportive services, and community-based participatory research. Visit http://wwav-no.org/.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. Visit www.CCRjustice.org and follow @theCCR.

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June 17 will mark forty years since President Richard Nixon, citing drug abuse as “public enemy No. 1”, officially declared a “war on drugs.” A trillion dollars and millions of ruined lives later, the war on drugs remains an abject failure.

Drug policy reform advocates all across the country will mark this auspicious date with a day of action to raise awareness about the failure of drug prohibition and call for an exit strategy to the failed war on drugs.

To commemorate the 40^th anniversary, drug policy reform organizations will hold a national day of action. Events will be held in 15 states, and in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans. The day of action will be highlighted with a large-scale event with elected officials in Washington, DC.

A Second Line parade surrounding drug policy initiatives and community issues will epitomize the funeral for Nixon’s War on Drugs and provide a launching point for future community action and dialogue concerning this issue.

“The past 40 years of the war on drugs have had a profound effect on families in African American communities nationwide, significantly affecting Louisiana as we have the highest incarceration rate in the country. Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging than the drug itself. We need policies that move away from the current criminal justice system by attending to drug overdose and addiction, through harm reduction and health promotion.”
-Deon Haywood

What: “No More War on Drugs”

When: June 17, 2011 @ 3pm

Who: Women With A Vision, Inc.

Where:-Parade begins at the Three-Star Barber Shop at Felicity and Clara
-Proceeds down Clara to MLK Ave
-Right at MLK to Simon Boulevard/ LaSalle
-Right on Louisiana to Clara
-Right on Clara into Harmony Oaks
-End at Harmony Oaks Community Center where a “War on Drugs” forum will take place.

“Some anniversaries provide an occasion for celebration, others a time for reflection, still others a time for action, said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Forty years after President Nixon declared his war on drugs, we’re seizing upon this anniversary to prompt both reflection and action. And we’re asking everyone who harbors reservations about the war on drugs — to join us in this enterprise.

Second Line Parades are vibrant community events distinct to New Orleans which exemplify the unification and artistic/social expression of the community and its values.

Other Day of Action events include:

• Chicago – Hundreds of Chicagoans will gather at the State of Illinois James R Thompson Center to rally against drug policies that have led to injustices such as extreme racial disparity in Illinois’s prisons and jails

• Los Angeles – Grass root organizations and students, including Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Pico Youth and Family Center, Mother United to End the War on Drugs, All of Us or None, Homies Unidos and other criminal justice organizations, will stage a Day of Action to call for Community Solutions to end the 40 year war on drugs and mass incarceration. Also, the William C. Velasquez Institute will host a forum in Los Angeles with top Latino leaders to discuss the impact of the drug war on Latino communities.

• New York – Advocates, community leaders and elected officials will attend a forum and silent vigil at the Harlem State Office Building to highlight the impacts of the drug war on NY communities.  The event will be organized by  Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH)

• Washington, DC- Law enforcement officials, leaders from the African American Community and religious leaders will hold a forum at the National Press Club to denounce current drug war policies. Leaders will call for a new direction and open conversation on the issue of drug prohibition.

Deon Haywood, WWAV's Executive Director, with Bill Quigley of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Davida Finger of the Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Today, the Louisiana Senate voted UNANIMOUSLY in support of our bill to remove Solicitation of a Crime Against Nature (SCAN) from the sex offender registry and make the penalties the same as prostitution.

Next stop is the governor’s office!  We will be leaning on all of our local and national allies to ensure that Governor Jindal follows the House and Senate’s lead in signing this important step towards healing and justice for the women of Louisiana into law.

For more information on the bill, please see this article in the Times-Picayune: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/those_convicted_of_soliciting.html

For more information on SCAN, please check out our policy brief at: http://wwav-no.org/a-modern-day-scarlet-letter-%E2%80%93-crime-against-nature-factsheet

Stay tuned for information on how you can lend your support.  For now, please help us spread the word.  This is an incredible day for the women of Louisiana and all who are joined in our collective struggles for reproductive and transformative justice!

Deon Haywood, WWAV's Executive Director, with Bill Quigley of the Center for Constitutional Rights after yesterday's legislative victory in the Louisiana House

Just two years ago, we launched the NO Justice Project to challenge the use of Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature statute for prosecuting women engaged in sex work.

Today we gained our first major legislative victory:  House Bill 141 (by Rep. Charmaine Marchand Stiaes) passed with only three dissenting votes!  This bill seeks to remove Solicitation of a Crime Against Nature (SCAN) from the sex offender registry and make the penalties the same as prostitution. Next we are on to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Rep. Stiaes is hoping to have our bill heard there as early as next week.

This is a huge step in our struggle for healing and justice with the women of Louisiana.

In Louisiana, women engaged in sex work are increasingly being charged under the felony-level SCAN statute. A SCAN conviction mandates 15-year registration as a sex offender.  Along with having to send out cards to local schools and agencies whenever they move, anyone with a SCAN charge also faces a minimum $2,000 fine, with threat of incarceration for failure to pay.

At present, 97% of women registered as sex offenders in Orleans Parish are mandated to do so because of a SCAN conviction.

This law completely disconnects our women from what remains of a social safety net, making it impossible for them to recognize and develop their goals, dreams and desires.  That is why our women are calling it ‘NO JUSTICE.’  And it is their words that we have taken as our organizing call.

For more information on House Bill 141, please see this article in the Times-Picayune: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/those_convicted_of_soliciting.html

We will continue to keep you updated in our work to bring justice to the women of Louisiana.

The training will include background information on the human rights framework, a human rights approach to advocacy, and discussion of specific policies and laws that affect women living with HIV in your community and ways to advocate for change.

There will be a maximum of 20 people. We would like HIV+ women advocates but also those who work for/with HIV positive women.  Participants should have some advocacy experience.  This is an intermediate training not Advocacy 101.

Click here to download the registration form!

This is a huge step in our struggle for healing and justice with the women of NOLA.

In New Orleans, women engaged in sex work are increasingly being charged under the felony-level SCAN statute. A SCAN conviction mandates 15-year registration as a sex offender.  Along with having to send out cards to all the local schools and agencies wherever they move, anyone with a SCAN charge also faces a minimum $2,000 fine, with threat of incarceration for failure to pay.

At present, 97% of women registered as sex offenders are mandated to do so because of a SCAN conviction.

This law completely disconnects our women from what remains of a social safety net, making it impossible for them to recognize and develop their goals, dreams and desires.  That is why our women are calling it ‘NO JUSTICE.’  And it is their words that we take as our organizing call.

For more information on SCAN, please check out our policy brief.

Love to all who have helped us come this far!

For tickets, please contact Crescent Lotus at (504) 382-5199 or www.crescentlotus.com.  Tickets can also be purchased at the door, Bybos Restaurant (3218 Magazine Street – upstairs).  Doors open at 6:30pm!

Click here to take survey! We estimate that it will take you approximately 10 minutes to complete the survey. We would appreciate your response by March 9,2011.

Your input is very important to us and will be kept strictly confidential (used only for the purposes of this project). If you have any questions please call our office at 504.301.0428 or email Shaquita Borden, Program Development Director, at shaquita@wwav-no.org.

*If you experience technical difficulties accessing or submitting the survey please contact Shaquita Borden for assistance.

Attorneys, Advocates Say Antiquated Law Unfairly Brands Poor Women and LGBT People with Scarlet Letter, Disproportionately Affects African Americans

February 16, 2011 – Today, attorneys filed a federal civil rights suit in New Orleans on behalf of nine anonymous plaintiffs convicted under Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature law and forced to register as sex offenders as a result. The case challenges the continuing use of Louisiana’s 206 year-old Crime Against Nature statute to brand people who solicit oral and anal sex as sex offenders, while a conviction under Louisiana’s prostitution statute triggers no such requirement. The case was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Andrea J. Ritchie, Esq., and the Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in the United States District Court Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans. The groups held a press conference with allied organizations at the New Orleans federal courthouse and a telephone press briefing this morning.

Said CCR Attorney Alexis Agathocleous, “A Crime Against Nature by Solicitation conviction involves acts that are historically associated with homosexuality and gets you branded as a sex offender simply because of disapproval of those acts. This archaic law is being used to mark people with a modern-day scarlet letter without any justification. Our clients pose no threat to anyone. None of them has ever been convicted of a sex offense involving children, violence, or force. Their inclusion on the sex offender registry violates basic constitutional equal protection principles and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

In Louisiana, people accused of soliciting sex for a fee can be criminally charged in two ways: either under the prostitution statute, or under the solicitation provision of the Crime Against Nature statute.  This statute, adopted in 1805, outlaws “unnatural carnal copulation,” which has been defined by Louisiana courts as oral and anal (but not vaginal) sex – sex acts historically associated with homosexuality. A prostitution conviction is a misdemeanor, but a Crime Against Nature conviction subjects people to far harsher penalties. Most significantly, individuals convicted of a Crime Against Nature are forced to register as sex offenders for 15 years. Multiple convictions require them to register for life.

Said co-counsel Andrea Ritchie, co-author of the just-published book, Queer Injustice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States, “Police and prosecutors have complete discretion and are given no guidance whatsoever as to when and who to charge with a Crime Against Nature, and when and who to charge with prostitution. This leaves the door wide open to discriminatory enforcement targeting poor Black women, transgender women, and gay men for a charge that carries much harsher penalties. That decision can change the entire course of a person’s life.” Added Ritchie, “The trend around the country is to recognize and address the high levels of violence and poverty experienced by people in the sex industry. This law runs completely counter to that trend and further victimizes people, rather than providing them with much-needed services.”

Seventy-five percent of the people registered as a sex offender as a result of a Crime Against Nature conviction are women, and 80 percent of them are African American. They all must carry a state driver’s license or non-driver’s identification document emblazoned with the words SEX OFFENDER in bright orange capital letters.  They must disclose the fact that they are registered as a sex offender to neighbors, landlords, employers, schools, parks, community centers, and churches. Their names, addresses, and photographs appear on the internet.  They are required to mail postcards notifying every person in their neighborhood.

Said one plaintiff, “When you mail those cards it’s so humiliating, people kill you for that. I fear for my safety.”

The plaintiffs in the case chose to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

Said a mother of three who was convicted under the statute in the 90’s, “Because my picture and address are up on the internet with my charge, a guy once came by my house looking for sex.”

Many of the plaintiffs have been unable to secure work or housing as a result of their registration as sex offenders. Several have been barred from homeless shelters. One had rocks thrown at her by neighbors. And another has been refused residential substance abuse treatment because providers will not accept sex offenders at their facilities.

Said Deon Haywood, Executive Director of the New Orleans-based organization, Women With a Vision, “I work with the people directly affected by this statute every day: the toll it takes is devastating. Many of these women are survivors of rape and domestic violence themselves, many have struggled with addiction and poverty, yet they are being treated as predators.What this law does is completely disconnect them from our community and from what remains of a social safety net, making it impossible for them to recognize and develop their goals and dreams.”

Said co-counsel Prof. Davida Finger of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, “This case is so important for Louisiana—we’re out of step with the rest of the country and it’s time to end this practice that has such terrible consequences.”

The nine plaintiffs in the case are not alone.  Almost 40 percent of registered sex offenders in Orleans Parish are on the registry solely as a result of a conviction of Crime Against Nature by Solicitation.  The lawsuit argues that being forced to register as a sex offender because of a Crime Against Nature conviction – the only offense requiring registration that includes no element of force, coercion, lack of consent, use of a weapon, or the involvement of a minor – serves no legitimate purpose. As such, say attorneys, it is unjustifiable and unconstitutional.

For more information about the Doe v. Jindal, please visit the case page here: www.ccrjustice.org/crime-against-nature.

To read a policy brief on the Crime Against Nature by Solicitation law, visit the website of Women With A Vision’s http://wwav-no.org.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. Visit www.ccrjustice.org

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Queer (In)Justice, a new book just released by Beacon Press, is a searing examination of queer experiences – as criminal defendants, prisoners, and survivors of violent crimes. Tracing stories from the streets to the bench to behind prison bars, the authors prove that the policing of sex and gender both bolsters and reinforces racial and gender inequalities.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucW1sZ0J078

WWAV’s Executive Director, Deon Haywood, was recognized in TheBody.com 2010 HIV/AIDS Community Spotlight:

“One of the main takeaways from Transforming the National AIDS Response: Advancing Women’s Leadership and Participation was that there is amazing work being led by women, yet so many of these women go unrecognized. Deon Haywood is one of those women.

“Haywood runs Women With a Vision, Inc., (WWAV) in New Orleans, La. WWAV was co-founded by Haywood’s mother and several other black women in 1991 as a social service organization “to promote wellness and disease prevention for women and their families living at or below the poverty line.” It was created as a response to the non-existence of HIV prevention resources for women who were the most at risk: poor women, sex workers, women with substance abuse issues and transgender women…”

Read more…

In honor of International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, Women With A Vision, Inc. celebrated the hard earned achievements of our members harmed by Louisiana’s Solicitation of Crime Against Nature statue.

Over the past year we have been working diligently in addressing the needs of women impacted by this statue—mobilizing resources and opportunities to better serve their needs, advocating for the decriminalization of sex work, and educating social service advocates and policy makers on its negative impacts. Unconstitutional laws and statues, such as SCAN, increase violence against women and exacerbate structural factors of criminalization, poverty, economic discrimination, HIV vulnerability, and the poor availability of drug treatment care.

As we continue to fight for the human rights protection of street-based sex workers and their families, we took time out over the holiday season to celebrate the accomplishments of our members who have overcome many obstacles as they work to rebuild their lives.

At Women With A Vision, we believe that community health begins with women’s wellness. Through education, advocacy and support, we work alongside women to address the social conditions that hinder their health and well-being, proving that Wellness Works!

This report found that sex workers in the United States, especially those from communities of color and low-income LGBT communities, are subject to police harassment, extortion and false arrest. Policing also undermines sex workers ability to protect their sexual health because condoms and other safe sex equipment are used as evidence against them. In some parts of the United States people detained for violating anti-prostitution laws are subjected to mandatory testing and face much more serious penalities if they are found to be HIV positive.

A significant rights violation is the placement of sex workers in some jurisdictions like New Orleans on “sex offender registry” lists that limits where they can live, work, and more. We at Women With A Vision are proud to be part of this important policy campaign.

Read the full report.

At the 8th Annual Harm Reduction Conference November 18-21, Women With A Vision helped to lead the focus on the criminalization of sex worker’s lives and communities. From our morning plenary session to our closing day workshop, all of us at Women With A Vision were excited to connect and strategize with our allies in the national and global harm reduction movement!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUqG_xZ3B6s

With speakers throughout the day, a meet and greet mixer, pajama party, and worship service, the women of New Orleans gathered like never before.  Stay tuned for next years conference and enjoy the moments we captured from this year.

There are five components to our program: self care, empowerment model, harm reduction, social justice, and popular education.

All of our activits are FREE. We receive fuind gfrom private contributions and foundation source to make it possible fo offer services completely free of charge.

Most of our activities are held at 1515 Salcedo.  Contact us to find out about our next event.

Women With A Vision is a  Louisiana Medicaid Program Certified Application Center.  We regularly accept applications for women, children, and senior citizens on the following schedule:

Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays

Between 10:00am & 5:00pm

Tuesdays & Thursdays

Between 10:00am & 7:00pm

Please contact our office at 504.301.0428 and our staff will be happy to schedule an appointment for you on the second and third Saturday of every month.

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