I am a sex worker.

There's absolutely no doubt that sex work can be vile, cruel, and exploitative. Many women (and men) have ended up sex workers due to desperation, threats of violence, addiction, and lack of money, opportunity, and status. One needs to look no farther than the Downtown Eastside, as posted earlier this week. However, there are those who have chosen to pursue sex work of their own volition. And, despite all the stereotypes, they're much like everybody else. Historically, their voices have rarely been heard, but that's changing.

If the women in the DTES represent one end of the spectrum, women like these would represent the other end of that spectrum.

A public service announcement produced by the Red Umbrella Project at our annual Speak Up! Media Training for sex workers. Learn more about our trainings, plus our storytelling series and podcast at redumbrellaproject.org