Recent releases, and resources for media, sex workers, and allies.

Sex Worker 2026 Super Bowl Push Back

Dispatches from Whore Nation: Baddies organize a rally ahead of the super bowl to disrupt and debunk propaganda about sex workers and to stop the raids – Antonia Crane Jan 30, 2026

Sex Workers call out Santa Clara County Supervisors for self-perpetuating anti-trafficking scam.

Press release: End The Anti-Trafficking Super Bowl Scam

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Feb. 2, 2026

Media Contacts

Sex Workers Rally to Protest Superbowl Spending on Anti-Trafficking Scams

Santa Clara, California – Sex workers and advocates will be rallying on Monday, February 2nd from 3:00 to
5:00 PM at the San Jose Convention Center. We object to the huge spending on “anti-trafficking operations”
around Super Bowl LX, being held Sunday, February 8th at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara. Dozens of law
enforcement agencies, including ICE, are coming together for these operations. Is this push really about
anti-trafficking or is it a pretext for a crackdown to arrest and deport immigrants?
“It feels like Groundhog Day,” said Soma Snakeoil, Executive Director of The Sidewalk Project:
“Every year the same fake stories about sex trafficking at the Super Bowl resurface. There’s not a shred of
evidence to support an increase in sex trafficking at the Super Bowl. A simple web search or checking
Snopes.com would show this is false. Even the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women has debunked it.
Historically, these operations target sex workers for arrest and few, if any, victims of trafficking are actually
found. Most of those arrested are Black, Latinx and other women of color. Sex worker criminalization and
deportation does not increase safety for anyone.”

So why does this urban myth keep coming back – year after year? The simple answer – it delivers money
for law enforcement and scam “anti trafficking” non-profits. For example, the Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors recently approved $27,456 in overtime funding for Human Trafficking operations for Superbowl
LX based on an average overtime rate of $156 per hour while state and federal budgets for survivor services
have been drastically cut. This illustrates their priorities: money for law enforcement, nothing for survivors.

“Why doesn’t the government start properly funding social safety nets, permanent housing, and robust
physical and mental health care,” says Soma Snakeoil.

“If they really care about victims, the state and counties should provide a Guaranteed Care Income,” said
Rachel West of US PROStitutes Collective. Most sex workers are mothers. The Guaranteed Care Income
San Francisco pilot was a groundbreaking one-year program that provided $2,000 in monthly unconditional
cash payments to ten low-income single mothers. This initiative was the first of its kind to explicitly recognize
and compensate for the caregiving work of mothers, affirming that raising children is vital work that deserves
payment. The participants faced severe economic hardships, including housing instability and little or no
income. Many of these women were at high risk of criminalization or losing their children to the child welfare
system, and some were active in sex work. Coordinated by In Defense of Prostitute Women’s Safety
(IDPWS) and partner organizations, the pilot demonstrated that increasing financial security for low-income
mothers reduced the systemic challenges of poverty and child removal.

The rally is being called by the Stop the Raid Committee, which campaigns for the decriminalization of sex
work. ###

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MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1.23.2026
Contact:
Maxine Doogan
415-265-3302
stoptheraidsusa@gmail.com

California Sex Workers Rally To Push Back On Superbowl Human Trafficking Myth

SAN JOSE— The stoptheraids.org is a coalition of sex workers who are rallying at the San Jose Convention Center on Monday, February 2, 2026 from 3-5pm ahead of Superbowl LV to tell the media and the fans alike that large sporting events like Superbowls and World Cups do not cause forced labor in the sex industry.

Every year, law enforcement and grifter nonprofits haul out the disproven myth that forced labor in the sex industry increases during large sporting events. They then use that manufactured lie to justify making arrests to ‘rescue victims’. Despite the spin by law enforcement, all the data shows that almost all of these arrests are for prostitution (a misdemeanor) and that these operations hardly ever find actual victims. They are consensual sex workers.  Essentially that means that arresting us for prostitution in ‘human trafficking operations’ is simply a scam to pad their numbers.

This year is of particular concern because the head of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem has vowed to be at this year’s Superbowl to enforce her harmful and draconian immigration laws. And we can certainly expect that ICE, in combination with local law enforcement, will run prostitution stings to sweep up deportation targets that disproportionately impact our immigrant community.

This will be in combination with the newly enacted AB 379, which re-criminalizes ‘loitering with intent to purchase a commercial sex act’. Sadly, Governor Newsom signed AB 379 into law last year, and it gives law enforcement wide latitude to arrest anyone they claim to be ‘loitering for sex’ which includes stepping outside of a strip club or walking in front of an adult venue.  

We want to give journalists and members of the public a chance to talk with us and learn the truth about these bad laws that spread lies and target our community.

Come stand with us and/or drive around the block and honk your support.

WHAT:            Rally To Push Back On Superbowl Human Trafficking Myth

WHEN:            3pm to 5pm, Monday February 2nd, 2026

WHERE:         San Jose McEnery Convention Center 150 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95113

WHO:  Sex worker and harm reduction organizations including the Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP), The Sidewalk Project, USPROSTitutes Collective, Strippers United, Stripper Worker Center, Stoptheraids.org

Media Advisory PDF

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5th, 2025
Contact: Maxine Doogan 415-265-3302

Press Conference 12:30-1pm N Street between 12th and 13th Sacramento, CA
Press Conference Follows a Rally of California Sex Workers and Harm Reduction Groups

Outraged Over Re-Criminalization of Loitering With Intent

Sacramento, California – California Sex Workers and Harm Reduction Groups are holding a
Press Conference 12:30pm on Tuesday 6th May on N Street between 12th and 13th Street on
the Capitol building grounds to protest Assembly Bill 63 (AB 63) and Assembly Bill 379 (AB
379), which propose to recriminalize “loitering with the intent to commit prostitution”.
Both bills are full of (intentionally?) vague and subjective language. ‘Intent’ is a dangerously
vague standard that will be used as an evidence-free justification to harass, detain, or arrest
people.
AB 379 adds the offence of ‘loitering with intent to commit a commercial sex act’ to target
people perceived to be clients of sex workers for arrest who are walking into legal businesses
like strip clubs. But how can a police officer decide intent when someone is just entering a legal
business?
AB 63 adds that ‘Law enforcement shall not make an arrest pursuant to this section against an
individual solely based on their perceived gender identity or sexual orientation’. Again, how can
a police officer determine someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation when they are just
walking along the street?
Both bills are almost certainly violations of the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which
protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures.
“Supporters of the new bills repeat the same old trope – that police need this ‘crucial tool to
combat human trafficking’”, said Maxine Doogan of the Erotic Service Providers Legal
Education and Research Project (ESPLERP). “But there is absolutely no evidence that the
repeal of the earlier loitering law facilitated forced labor in the sex trade and there’s no evidence
that prostitution has increased since the repeal.”
An earlier anti-loitering law (Section 653.22 of the California Penal Code), also known as the
‘walking while trans’ law, was repealed in 2022 (the repeal went into effect at the beginning of
2023). That repeal was a response to widespread abuse by law enforcement, like similarly

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controversial “stop and frisk” legislation, who used it to profile and target Black and brown trans
folks.
“We are outraged that LAPD recently murdered one of our members, a trans woman of color,
when she called 911 for help while being held hostage and trafficked. She was placed under
arrest after they shot her, and died in custody,” said Soma Snakeoil of The Sidewalk Project.
“Despite policymaker and federalized task force grandstanding, the reality is, this is the law
enforcement approach to survivors and sex workers. The bad bills coming out of Sacramento
this year are a reflection of that same violence. Sex workers and survivors will never be safe
until full decriminalization of adult consensual pleasure.”
Sex workers activists have long demanded a complete repeal of California’s anti prostitution
legislation.
Please join us at the Press Conference to talk with us and learn the truth about these bad bills.
WHAT: Press Conference Against Re-Criminalizing Loitering With Intent to Commit

Prostitution

WHEN: 12:30 to 1pm, Tuesday, May 6, 2025
WHERE: N Street (12th & 13th) California State Capitol building, Sacramento, CA 95814
WHO: Sex worker and harm reduction organizations including the Erotic Service
Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP), The Sidewalk
Project, USPROSTitutes Collective, Strippers United, Stripper Worker Center,
Stoptheraids.org, DecrimSexWorkCA

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 28, 2025

Contact: Maxine Doogan  stoptheraidsusa(AT)gmail.com

Sex Workers, Call Foul on Media Junket Who Perpetuate Super Bowl Sex Myth

Media Release PDF

News agencies should beware of false claims made by law enforcement and nonprofits alike  during prostitution raids

“We may have had certain precincts that were going gangbusters looking for prostitutes, but they were picking up your everyday street prostitutes. They didn’t notice any sort of glitch in the number of prostitution arrests leading up to the Super Bowl.” — Phoenix police Sergeant Tommy Thompson, following the 2008 Bowl, quoted in the Phoenix New Times

New Orleans — Super Bowl LIX law enforcement, NOG’s and for profit corporations have joined forces using myths of forced labor in the sex trade as cover for harassment and arrest of sex workers. The Stop the Raids Committee 2025 calls for the halt of harmful prostitution arrests and street sweeps under the guise of stopping sex trafficking, and advises the news media to beware the claims made by law enforcement and nonprofits who justify them. 

Every year, law enforcement backed by their government funded nonprofits use long debunked claims of sex trafficking at the Super Bowl to justify mass arrests of sex workers and clients. During these periods, police often use entrapment (even posing as children), or use misleading titles like “Human Trafficking Operation” to hide the fact that few if any arrests involve trafficking, in an effort to secure positive press coverage and more funding for themselves.

These raids are violent and dangerous. Sex workers, like other members of the public in New Orleans, have just gone through a traumatic experience of being in close proximity to a terrorist attack whose effects on their economy are still being felt. Now they are being further targeted by federal, state and do-gooder non profiteers’ false and misleading information and the prostitution sting operations that will further disrupt their stability

Additionally this year immigrant community members are in fear for their lives with no way to gain citizenship to avoid being deported.  These prostitution raids, done under the guise of rescuing victims will most certainly result in the violent xenophobic deportation process of women who are just trying to support themselves and their families. We demand these dangerous and damaging raids by law enforcement be stopped! Adults should have the right to not have their private, consensual sexual activities criminalized.

The Stop The Raids Committee educates about the truth behind the Superbowl myth. We welcome the chance to talk with the media about the truth behind the raids.

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Get Informed 2023 F1 & 2024 Super Bowl LVIII Las Vegas