The first International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was organized a decade ago by the Sex Workers Outreach Project in San Francisco to memorialize the people murdered by serial killer Gary Ridgway. Ridgway captured the attitude that cultivates violence towards sex workers: “I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.”

At the annual event, which takes place on December 17th, sex workers create a space that challenges this assumption by demonstrating that we have a caring community. Red Umbrella Project collaborates with other local organizations, like Sex Workers Outreach Project New York, to honor the lives our community has lost.