xv-report-pages-final

FIFTEEN YEAR REPORT
1372 Mission Street
San Francisco, California 94103
www.stjamesinfirmary.org
Board of Directors
Naomi Akers, Treasurer
Johanna Breyer, Secretary
Patsy Chan, Chair
Margo St. James, Director Emeritus &
Founder
Carol Stuart, Diretor Emeritus & Founder
Staff
Stephany Ashley, Executive Director
Dr. Pratima Gupta, Medical Director
Charles Cloniger, MS, FNP,
Clinical Direcor
Mae-Mae Taylor, CFO
Liz Faber, FNP, Medical Provider
Cyd Nova, Programs Director
Daniel Wilson, Community Harm
Reduction Representative
Sunday Service,
Administrative Assistant
Sam Formo, NEX Coordinator
Dee Michel, Harm Reduction Services
Coordinator
Mia Tu Mutch, Outreach Coordinator
Anita O’Shea, Registration Coordinator
Kalash Ka, Billing Coordinator
Celestina Pearl, Triage Provider
Vadan Ritter, Massage and
Acupuncture Practitioner
Jessi Ross, Outreach Worker & Harm
Reduction Counselor
Nikki Witt, Harm Reduction Counselor
Carmen Alicia, Phlebotomist
Patricia Neutall, Phlebotomist
Marion Marion, Phlebotomist
Report design by Rachel Schreiber
Letter from the Executive Director
Fifteen years ago, a group of sex workers
and their allies had a radical yet simple idea
that would have manifold reverberations
throughout political and healthcare
landscapes. Rather than being the subjects
of public health scrutiny and pathology,
they posited: what if sex workers were to be
the determiners of their own needs, and the
agents of their own health and wellness? The
idea was born out of a long and varied history
of sex workers being treated as victims,
pariahs, and problems in need of solving
from a moral and criminal framework.
The catalyst for the idea occurred when a
sex worker called COYOTE (Call Off Your
Old Tired Ethics) from jail, having had her
blood forcibly drawn by the SFDPH STD
Prevention & Control unit. Led by Margo St.
James, the resulting collaboration between
COYOTE, the Exotic Dancers Alliance, City
Clinic (SFDPH STD Prevention & Control),
and UCSF, would birth the first Peer-Based
Occupational Health & Safety Clinic for the
sex worker community.
Fifteen years later, the St. James Infirmary
has become an internationally recognized
model for community-based healthcare,
a leader in the global fight for sex worker
rights, a hub of community organizing
and advocacy, and a center of research and
education for the general population. We’ve
taught in universities and lectured to law
enforcement, presented at conferences around
the world, launched a ground breaking media
campaign, and published three books. We’ve
collaborated with dozens of organizations and
won some hard fought policy victories.
23,000 clinic visits later, we still serve as
the primary care provider of choice to many
of our original community members while
new community members come through
our doors each week. We still provide
gender-affirming informed-consent hormone
replacement therapy under the supportive
guidance of Chuck Cloniger. We still provide
acupuncture and massage through our
holistic services program. We still provide
condoms, clean socks, syringes, and referrals
to sex workers on the streets of the Mission,
Tenderloin, and Polk. We still provide peer
counseling, where sex workers can talk to
other sex workers about whatever is going
on in their lives. We still provide dinner and
a movie, and community gathering space.
We still cultivate a space of learning from
one another, developing skills together, and
creating jobs as service providers to one
another. And we still do it all for free.
In honor of our 15-year anniversary, I hope
you will enjoy the following report on
our work. When you finish it, I hope you
will imagine what we can do in the next
fifteen. The history of the sex worker rights
movement and the St. James Infirmary is
a rich one. With the continued support of
people like you, our momentum will gain in
the quest for liberation from poverty, stigma,
criminalization and harm, and towards rights,
respect, and wellness.
In community,
Stephany Ashley
Executive Director
1999
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2006
2007
Naomi Akers elected to the Global Working Group
on Sex Work and HIV Policy to revise the UNAIDS
“Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work.”
After 8 years of service, founding Medical
Director Dr. Deb Cohen steps down; Dr. Pratima
Gupta steps into role of Medical Director.
Naomi and sex worker activist KittenINFINITE speak to
former President of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe at
the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC.
Sex Worker Health, San Francisco
Style published in Sexually
Transmitted Infections Online.
Summer: SJI formally launces its
Needle Exchange.
SJI gets its own clinic space at
1372 Mission Street.
SJI celebrates its 4th anniversary.
In addition to her suce$$ful hu$tle, Naomi
brought us great political savvy, vision and
guidance. In her time as ED, she published
a health assessment of San Francisco Exotic
Dancers, founded the RenegadeCast, which
utilized social media as a health promotion
tool for sex workers, and spearheaded the
publication of the third edition of our
Occupational Health & Safety Handbook.
She served on the Sex Worker Global Working
Group of UNAIDS, where she addressed the
White House on International AIDS Day
recommending meaningful participation
of sex workers in research, program
planning/evaluation, and policy work; the
decriminalization of sex workers; and the
removal of the anti-prostitution pledge
required for countries and agencies receiving
US HIV prevention funding (PEPFAR).
Johanna Breyer resigns after 7 years of service
as the founding Executive Director. Longtime
community member, volunteer and coordinator
Naomi Akers becomes Executive Director.
For the past seven
years the St. James
Infirmary had our
very own Saint for an
Executive Director (ED).
“Saint Ho’s Up,” as
officially ordained by
the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence, also known
as Commissioner Akers,
led us through the good
times and the hard
times, and made SJI
what it is today. Naomi came to SJI in 1999
as a community member, and soon began
volunteering, serving food and doing street
outreach. Soon thereafter she became the
Outreach Coordinator before landing in her
leadership role as ED.
SJI publishes is first edition of the
Occupational Health & Safety Handbook.
June 4th: Led by Margo St. James, Carol Stuart, COYOTE, Exotic Dancers Alliance,
City Clinic (SFDPH STD Prevention & Control), and UCSF, the St. James Infirmary opens
its doors as the first ever Occupational Health & Safety Clinic by and for sex workers.
Tribute to Naomi Akers
2009
XV YEARS OF COMMUNITY
COLLABORATION
American College of Traditional Chinese
Medicine, City Clinic (SFDPH STD
Prevention & Control), Desiree Alliance,
DOPE (Drug Overdose Prevention &
Education) Project, Glide,
Harm Reduction Coalition, Human
Rights Watch, Immune Enhancement
Naomi Akers with former SJI Administrative
Assistant Malcolm Hamilton.
Project, Mission Neighborhood Resource
Naomi led us to recent victory in ending
the practice of police confiscation and use
of condoms as evidence of prostitution.
She currently serves as a San Francisco
Entertainment Commissioner, with the
appropriately assigned badge number 415.
While we are lessened by Naomi’s departure
from the position of ED, we are thrilled to
have our own personal Saint now serving on
our Board of Directors.
Center “Ladies Night,” National
Reproductive Justice Network, New Leaf,
Positive Directions, + SHE,
San Francisco AIDS Foundation,
San Francisco Sex Worker Film Festival,
Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP),
TGIJP (Transgender, Gender-variant &
Intersex Justice Project), TRANS Thrive,
2009
2010
2011
“Not all sex workers need to be saved.
I’m a sex worker and I love my job.”
Sex work is real work.
2012
2012
2012
2013
2014
June 5: SJI celebrates its 15th Anniversary
with the party to end all parties: XV.
October: Naomi Akers resigns as ED, to continue
her incredible work on the Board of Directors. Former
Programs Director Stephany Ashley is hired as ED.
April: SJI continues the fight to end the use of
condoms as evidence of prostitution and WINS!
UNAIDS globally launches the revised
“Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work” that
included four annex papers written by the
Global Working Group.
June: Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of
UNAIDS, visits SJI.
January: SJI provides consultation to the
World Health Organization in Switzerland.
SJI launches its first media campaign “Someone
You Know is a Sex Worker,” generating great buzz
in the news.
SJI publishes its third and most comprehensive
edition of the Occupational Health & Safety
Handbook.
STRIDE Program begins offering appointment based
transgender primary care, including peer-based
informed consent hormone replacement therapy.
UCSF, Walden House
2014
XV Years By the Numbers
23,228
Clinic visits.
3,500
Unique clinic participants.
+3,000
Transgender Health Visits.
+11,000
Hot meals served.
+5,000
Acupuncture & massage treatments.
1,000
Unique sex workers receiving healthcare services each year.
70%
Participants had never discussed sex work history in a healthcare setting prior to SJI.
65%
Participants who’ve self-identified as LGBT.
XV Years of…
Physical exams, evaluation & treatment of acute and chronic medical conditions such as
asthma, skin conditions, respiratory infections, abdominal pain, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, anemia.Reproductive healthcare, gynecological & urological care. Pap smears,
breast exams, colposcopies, testicular exams, & prescriptions. Contraceptive counseling,
free birth control, emergency contraception, IUDs & Depo-Provera. Peer and mental health
counseling. Wound & abscess care, vaccines & flu shots. Confidential counseling and
testing for HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, hepatitis C & syphilis. Onsite treatment for
gonorrhea, chlamydia, & syphilis. HIV & STI testing and counseling at Nob Hill Theatre,
Eros, Ladies Night, 6th Street Syringe Exchange, Occupy SF, & Project Homeless Connect.
Free meal night for LGBT homeless youth. Outreach and volunteer work at Folsom Street
13
Muni buses displaying de-stigmatizing messages about sex workers.
$18,000
Tuition assistance distributed.
~500
Healthcare professionals, students, and service providers trained by SJI each year.
9,182
Cute outfits acquired from our clothing closet.
+30,000
HIV tests.
+30,000
Outreach contacts made on the streets and in venues where sex workers work.
621,814
Syringes distributed. Fair, Dore Alley Street Fair, Castro Street Fair, Transgender Health Fair. Peer counseling,
risk reduction counseling & psychotherapy. Syringe access & disposal, overdose prevention
training, Narcan distribution, satellite syringe exchange. Outreach to massage parlors, strip
clubs, internet providers, street workers & SROs. Trainings & support groups offered onsite
& at SF County Jail including legal advocacy, drugs & their effect on the body, self care &
burnout prevention, sex work & the internet, know your rights, work smarter not harder, harm
reduction during the holidays, violence prevention. Peer-based, informed-consent hormone
replacement therapy and transgender healthcare services. Acupuncture, acupressure, craniosacral therapy, reiki, Swedish and deep tissue massage, trigger point therapy and Zen shiatsu.
Community based research. Cultural competency training for service providers and healthcare
professionals. Anti-stigma media campaigns. Publication of three editions of the Occupational
Health & Safety Handbook. Political advocacy, community organizing and education.
XV Years of Culture Change
“Someone You Know is a Sex Worker”
In keeping with our philosophy that social stigma contributes negatively to the health and
wellness of sex workers, SJI launched a media campaign in collaboration with Rachel Schreiber
and Barbara DeGenevieve. The campaign included ads on Muni buses that ran in October of
2012, and a series of posters and postcards. The goals of the campaign were to illustrate that sex
workers are valued members of the community, that sex workers rights are human rights, that
sex work is real work, deserving of labor rights. The campaign led to SJI being invited to consult
the World Health Organization, in developing International guidelines on reducing violence
against sex workers in the context of HIV.
Occupational Health
& Safety Handbook
No Condoms as Evidence
In many cities across the US,
possession of condoms is used as
evidence against sex workers to justify
arrest for prostitution. The routine
use of condoms as a tool to violate our
basic human right to protect ourselves
from HIV and sexually transmitted
infections, as well as prevent
unwanted pregnancies, is unjust and
counter to sound public health. Prior
to 2013, San Francisco was one of
the many cities using condoms as
evidence of prostitution and related
charges. For nearly 7 years, the St.
James Infirmary urged City Officials
to cease this practice. As a result
of a collaboration between Human
Rights Watch, the Human Rights
Commission, and the SF AIDS Office,
in April 2013 the SFPD and the DA
agreed to not use condoms as evidence
of soliciting or loitering in prostitution
related cases. This is a huge victory for
our community. In an effort to
disseminate knowledge
and resources within
our community, SJI
continues to publish
the only Occupational
Health & Safety
Handbook for sex
workers. The 3rd edition
of the handbook
contains 300 pages of
information on harm
reduction, health, safety
and legal rights, along
with information on
720 local, national and
international resources relevant to the lives
of sex workers. The book is distributed to sex
workers during outreach, and is available for
free download on our website. Health care
professionals, professors, and social workers
have heralded it as a uniquely valuable
resource in understanding the health needs of
sex workers.
December 17th
ence
l
o
i
v
End
st
again kers
r
sex wo
Each year on December 17th,
SJI participates in events held
to commemorate International
Day to End Violence Against
Sex Workers. The red umbrella,
the international symbol of sex
worker activism and solidarity,
is used during these events. In
San Francisco, SJI community
members join the international
sex worker community in
INTERNATIONAL DAY
holding a vigil to remember
TO END VIOLENCE
the sex workers who have lost
AGAINST SEX WORKERS
their lives to violence and to
speak out against this volence. The names
of sex workers who have died are shared
throughout the community and read during
this vigil. These vigils serve to remind us of
our fallen friends and to remind the world
around us that we are human and that we
deserve protection, justice, and rights.
DECEMBER 17
XV Years of Gratitutde to:
b Agrimony Photography b Naomi Akers b Gina Alexander
b Katrina Anderson b Laurel Anderson b Robert Anderson
TAP Communications b Michael De Luna b Darcie Jean
M. DeBolt-McNeal b Deviant Nation b Amol N. Doshi
b Stephanie Anderson b Wyndi Anderson b Elizabeth
Andrews b Anonymous Donors b Antler b Erin Archer
b Raquel D. Arias MD b Autodesk b Ricardo Avila b Glenn
b Kimeron Duff b Gene Duffy b Kellene Eagen b Susan
Englander b Zoe & Michael Erwin b Mark Espinosa b Beth
Backes b Shannon Badiee b Paul Barber b Carolyn
Barkin Elis b Nena Barnhart b H. Bauer b Scott & Nadine
Baugh b Illanna Bavli b Mariah Bear b Bear Entertainment
Distributing Inc.b Bears Of San Francisco b Libby Benedict
b Darren Benston b Skytrinia Berkeley b John Berry
Everhart b Factory Video Production b Patrick Farley
b Feminists For Free Expression Inc. b Lyn Fischer b Zeph
Fishlyn b David Flaig b Flying Bear Media Inc. b Conrad
& Maureen Fong b Ford Foundation b Frank Strona
b Free Speech Coalition b Andrew Freeman Fried b Mark
WM Garrity b Josie Gay b Guy Gayle b Maryl Gearhart
b Beth Irael Medical Center b Tehmina
Bhure b Eli Bishop b Jane Blakemore
b David Gerard b Alex Gerber b Allison
Gervais b Dan Girellini b GiveForward
b Sylvia G. Blayse b Blue Shield
b Molly Bode b Dean Bodnar b Amy
Borden b Eric Boucher b Rhab Boughn
b Global Impact / Yahoo b Ann Glucroft
b GoddessUnbound b Tumeka Godwin
b William Bradburd b Brass Liberation
b Deborah Gold b Golden Girl Press LLC
b Lucy Goldmen b Good Search b Teri
Orchestra
b
R o n
Goodson
b Google
Braverman
b Te r r a n c e
Matching
Nancy
Gifts Program
b Robert
Brennand
b
P a u l
G o t c h
b Nicole E.
Brenner MD
b Stivaletta
G r a c e
b Ti f f a n y
and
B r e t t
b Donald
b Johanna Breyer b Robert
Breyer
Brixey b Sarah Bromberg b Eric
Bruckner b Terry Brumbaugh b R.
G r a h a m
b Henry
Grajeda b Gina Grant b Charmaine
Grays b Christina Green b Sofia
Greenberg b Brawner Greer b
b Colleen Buggs b Vern
Bullough b John Burton b Jonathan
F. Bushnell b California Family Health
F. Brawnmeer & Susan Greer b Pratima
Gupta b The Soper-Gupta Family
b Kelly Gutierrez b Daisy Ha b Jae Koo
Buchner
Council Inc. b Greg Callahan b Mahealani Campbell
b Richard Carlie and Joe Gonzales b Carol Leigh
Productions b Joseph Carouba b Jeremy Carroll b William
+ Kee W. Ha b Susan Hada b Kent Hall b John Hammond
b Joseph Hansen b S. Hanson b Hard French & Queen
Rachel b Andrew Harker b Stuart Harrington b Katherine
A. Caston III b Cedars Sinai Medical Center b Celeste &
Danielle b Sarah j Chadderdon b Patsy Chan b Wendy
Chapkis b Charles Schwab Foundation Employee Matching
Heater b Jessica Higgins b Michael Hill b Spiros Hinze
b Yvette Hirth b Hot Desert Knights Inc. b House of Babes
b I Wicked Love b Imperial Council Of San Francisco
Gifts Program b Melinda Chateauvert b Sophe Chumley
b Teresa Chung b Debra Cleaver b Charles Cloniger
b Kelly and John Close b CNE Media b Camilla Colby
b Nils Coleman b Eric Columbus b Community Thrift
b Liz Coplen b Dennis Coronel b Nikolas Coukouma
b James Cowling b craigslist b craigslist Charitable
Fund b Elizabeth Crittenden b Joanne Csete b William
A. Cummings b Richard Cunningham b Jessica Dacher
b Gislin Dagnelie b Chris Daly b Allen Davenport
b Joseph David b Maryanne Dawicki b Sandra Dawson,
Inc. b Virginia Ingham b Daniel Ingwersen b Nancy
Ingwersen b Innovate LLC b J.H. Williams b Jacquelance
INC b James S. Davis Trust b Linda Jansen b Beth
Jasniewicz b John T. Llamas Construction b Sarah
Johnson b Justice Now b Tom W. Juzbasic b Kaiser
Permanente Community Giving Campaign b Kaleidoscopic
Concepts b Kenneth Kay b Brendan Kelly b Barclay
Kenyon b Carl Khrebiel b Jeffrey Klausner b Joshua
Kline b Margaret Knowles b Tomi Knutson b Gabriel
Kramer b John Kraus b Lawrence Kreiger b Gary Kremen
b Eric R. Kuecherer b Jon Kuroda b Bonnie L de Bonis
b Ben and Robert Lai b Tessa LaLonde b Christopher Lane
Richards b Bella Robinson b Sam Rosenthal b Maryam
Rostami b Marguerite Rubenstein b Ginny M Ruth b Lady
b Jacob Laurent b Stella Lawson b Heather Lee b Jezebel
Lee b Matthew Leffel b Mitchell Lester b Ashley Marie
Lettice b Alan Leung b K. Levy b LFA Group b Serpent
Jean S. b S.F.B.S.C. Management LLC b Ronald Schmidt
b Fred Schoellkopf b Sarah Schoellkopf b Emily-Rose
Scholvin b Rachel Schreiber & David Gissen b Andie
Libertine b Robert Lieber b Rob Liptak b Luke Littell
b Local Independent Charities of America b Gloria Lockett
Schwanz b Sam Scott b Tara Seawright b Joey Sequeira
b Seventh Generation b SF AIDS Office b Kimberly Sherrill
b Jonathan Loh b Celecia Loke b Lovings.com b Luggage
Store Annex b Melissa Lujan b Sadie Lune b Lusty Lady
b Jennifer Luxenburg b Billy Bruce Maddox b Mark Maire
b Samantha Majic b Maria Makela b Savi Malik b Carolyn
b Ships In The Night b Cory Silverberg b Ricky Sinz
b Slippery Vixen b Alex Smith b Bryan Smith b Heather
Mann b James Mar b Mary Marchett b Landa Marraccini
b Larry Marschall b Ronni Marshall b Edward Martin
b Jim Matheson b Jason Maxwell b Edwin McCauley
b Patrick McClellon b James McCormick b Christopher
McNeil b Karen Meckstroth b Ashley Meece b Molly
Smith b Social And Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc.
b Society of Janus b Lars Thomas Soensteby b Specs
Bar b Jon Spinner b Annie Sprinkle b Marian Spurgeon
b Margaret St. James b Calvin Stanford b Shelby Starkey
b Helena Stoddard b Carol Stuart b Stacy Swimme
b Alexander Szeto b Eric Terrell b Anne Thalheimer b The
Artie Fund/Mitchell Brothers b The Bone Palace b The
“St. James is a wonderful place: a hot meal, non-judgmental counseling,
acupuncture, massage, and psychiatric care, not to mention some of the
best preventative health care I have ever had. St. James, you make me feel
all warm and fuzzy inside, like there is love enough for everyone in the
world.” —Participant, 2008
Merryman b Marcel Miranda b Luke Miratrix b Carol G.
Mishell b Shiela Mitchell b Nicola Miziolek b Johanna
Mock b Simon Modery b Milly Mohr b Tim Molinare
b Lady Jean Moondance b Rusty Mae Moore b Alicia
Morris b Kevin Mosley b Museum of The African Diaspora
b Jill Nagle b Network for Good b Jim Newberry b John
Newport b Joyce Newstat b Peter Nicoll b Johnnie
Children’s Place b The Exiles b The Imperial Council of San
Francisco Inc. b The Institute of Advanced Study of Human
Sexuality b The Matching Gifts Center b The Sisters Of
Perpetual Indulgence Inc. b The Steamworks (DBA) Great
Works Inc. b Third Wave Foundation b Hale Thompson
b Steven Tierney b Karla Tillers b Brian Tingle b Titan Media
b Dennie Tompers b Powell Tori b Michael Torres b Gary
Norway b Hilary O’Connell b Robin Ogilvie b John Osborne
b Dean Ouellette b Pacific International Marketing and
Tregoning b William Trupek b Laura Turiano b Robert
Turnbull b Benjamin K. Urish b V. Valdivia b Brad Vanderbilt
Promotions b Melissa Palguta b Paradise Spa b Celia
Paris b Laddawan Passar Kaner b Ruby Pearl b Peet’s
Coffee and Tea b Tara Perkins b Tatjana Persch b Barbara
b Paul Vanotti b David Vasquez b Manuel Vasquez
b Kimberly Vaughn b Terry Veevers b Sasha Vodnik b Les
Petterson b Daniel Douglas Phillips b Michael Phillips
b Poems Book Group From Redbook b Point Defiance
AIDS Project b Dianne Pontius b Erin Marie Pray
b Theodore Pride b Alyssa Prinz b Joelle Puccio b Sara
Pulis b Qualcomm b Seeley Quest b Rodolfo Quintero
b Bahman Rabil b Raging Stallion Studios b Rainbow
Grocery Cooperative b W Preston Raisin b Felix Ramirex
Vogel b Kyla Wagener b Christopher Waldapfel b Gregory
Walker b Deborah Wallach b Jeff Walsh b Ralph Walton
b Ian Washer b Erica Weinstein b Victor Weissner
b Tammy Wells b Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign
b Kristina Wertz b Michael Wheeler b Patricia Whelehan
b Elizabeth White b Larissa White b Anna Wijnen
b J.H. Williams b Stewart Winogra b Alan Winslow
b Henry and Susan Reents b Claudius Reich b Shelly
Resnick b Sharon Reynolds b Rhab Boughn b Lani
b Tanya Wischerath b Kristin M. Wofford b Kirsten
Wolfe b Jessica Wray b Wendy Wright-Williams
b Rheena Yangson b Kathleen Zaretsky b Jerry Zientara
Riccobuono b Jennifer Rich b Wolfe Richard b Daly
b Michael Zimmerman b Amelie Zurn
I
SF