Sex workers
learn about
their jobs
BY LISA LEFF
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO –

It’s higher
education of the horizontal
variety.
About 25 sex workers went
to a college of sorts, sitting
through lectures on effective
marketing, stress reduction
and condom-application
skills.
“We are still illegal,” instructor
Kimberlee Cline said
before her 20-minute demonstration.
“If we want to be
treated as business professionals,
we need to act ethically
within the industry.”
Other cities, including
Tucson, Ariz., Portland, Ore.,
Montreal and Taipei, Taiwan,
have similar events.
Presented in conjunction
with the San Francisco Sex
Worker Film and Arts Festival,
the class Wednesday at an
erotic art gallery was billed as
a way for working girls and
guys to polish their skills in a
supportive atmosphere.
It was the first time the
biennial festival, begun in
1999 to showcase films about
and by sex workers, included
a session devoted to how to
maintain a satisfying career.
“My own personal experience
has been negative and
positive, as with any job,”
said Kymberly Cutter, 36, a
mother of two from Tucson
who returned to prostitution
two years ago to boost her
income and regards it as part
of a journey in “personal selfdiscovery.”
Her children, ages
7 and 9, know what she does
for a living, she said.
Participants who stuck
it out for the whole day received
diplomas certifying
them as G.S.W. — graduates
in sex work.