RAISING AWARENESS: A coalition of sex workers held an eye-opening party in Ta-an Forest Park last night to help change perceptions of their shadowy industryThe International Sex Workers' Cultural Festival invited 13 visitors involved in the sex industries of six countries to perform yesterday at an evening party in Taipei's Ta-an Forest Park, a popular destination for area residents.The Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters, formed by a number of activists promoting the decriminalization of prostitution and sex workers' rights, held the outdoor event in the hopes of helping Taipei's inhabitants to understand the opinions and life experiences of sex workers."Selling one's body for money should not be stigmatized ? Reporters sell their writing, scholars sell their brains. It's all the same."  The party began with a saxophone melody performed by Rosinha Sambo, a Swedish sex worker who brought up her two children and raised funds for homeless youth through her strip dancing. A former licensed prostitute in Taipei later followed Sambo's performance with a Taiwanese folk song about budding flowers suffering in the rain. The party also included erotic dance, sex video displays and presentations of songs promoting sex workers' rights. "The night party is colorful dynamite that ignites alternative thinking about prostitutes. Sex workers are more than what the stigma surrounding them would have -- pathetic people who can only hide in the dark," said CSWS Chairwoman Chou Chia-chuo. The collective chose to hold the event in the upper class neighborhood park because they hoped more middle-class people would participate in the event and gain a real understanding of prostitutes' lives."It is a symbolic gesture to break existing social mores that place sex workers at the bottom of society," the collective said in a statement. The festival includes a series of symposiums and film exhibitions regarding the industry.Taipei's remaining legal brothels were recently closed following the expiration of a grace period imposed after Taipei's former mayor Chen Shui-bian decided to end legalized prostitution in the city.  Activists say that comprehensive policy making regarding the decriminalization of prostitution is vital because those who involve themselves in the sex industry are risking increased exploitation without the legal protection of their rights. In addition, underground sex workers are often subject to unsafe sex practices out off fear that their clients might disclose their activities to the police."Selling one's body for money should not be stigmatized ? Reporters sell their writing, scholars sell their brains. It's all the same, "said Chou."Outlaw poverty, not prostitution," said Carol Leigh, a US sex worker and advocate for prostitutes' rights since the 1970s. She said prostitution should be treated as nothing more than a job.Source:  http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/04/08/story/0000080832 Excerpts of articles with full credit, being shared under the Fair Use provision of the U.S. Copyright laws and International treaties for educational purposes and not for any financial gain