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Harmony Dust | |
|---|---|
 Harmony Dust | |
| Born | 1976 |
| Other names | Harmony Grillo |
| Occupation(s) | Activist, author |
| Notable work | Scars & Stilettos: The Transformation of an Exotic Dancer |
| Website | harmonygrillo iamatreasure |
Harmony Star Dust Grillo (born 1 January 1976) is an American social activist for women who have worked in the sex industry and victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. [1] [2] [3]
Harmony was raised in Venice, California where she experienced a childhood filled with trauma and abuse. She and her younger brother were left by their mother at the age of 13 and 8 respectively. They spent the summer fending for themselves before she became involved with an older boy in her neighborhood. This young man essentially became her pimp when she entered the sex industry as an exotic dancer at the age of 19, using the stage name Monique. [4] [5] She quit when she became a Christian in 1998.
In 2000, Dust graduated magna cum laude from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. While working towards a master's degree in Social Welfare, she founded Treasures Out of Darkness, an outreach program which distributed gift bags with support information to Los Angeles area strippers. She later changed the name to Treasures Ministries, a Christian outreach and support group for women working in the sex industry. After graduating, Dust worked for the Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) and was a member of the National Association of Social Workers. In 2007, she received the Dorothy F. Kirby Outstanding Youth Social Worker Award from the California chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. [6] She received both mayoral and Congressional recognition for her work in 2018. A flag was flown in her honor over the United States Capitol on May 19, 2018. [7]
In 2010, Dust published her memoir Scars & Stilettos: The Transformation of an Exotic Dancer. The second edition was released in 2018. She was featured in Glamour magazine and seen on The Tyra Banks Show and Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew . In 2005 Treasures began training others to replicate the Treasures model of outreach and care. In 2011, Treasures Ministries partnered with Craig Gross of xxxchurch.com to create The Strip Church Network. They have since parted ways and Dust and her team continue to train other leaders around the globe as a part of the Treasures Network. As of 2018, they have trained outreaches in over 120 cities on 6 continents. [8]
In May 2021 Dust gave a TEDx talk entitled "The Oldest Oppression in the Book" which addressed issues around prostitution and the movement to decriminalize it. [9] The talk was given without an audience present because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In October of that year TED decided to no longer list the video on their website and Youtube channel citing that the video "falls outside the content guidelines TED gives TEDx organizers around political agendas." Dust herself claims that the unlisting is because the content of her talk does not match TED's political views. [10] She re-published the talk on her own Youtube channel under the title "Should Prostitution Be Legal?" [11]
Dust married hip hop singer Pigeon John (formerly John Dunkin) in 2002. They divorced in 2010, [12] and have one daughter together. She married Christopher Justin Grillo on March 14, 2015; [13] [14] they had a son in January 2018. Dust and Grillo divorced in 2022.
A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.
A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at private events.
A lap dance is a type of erotic dance performance offered in some strip clubs in which the dancer typically has body contact with a seated patron. Lap dancing is different from table dancing, in which the dancer is close to a seated patron, but without body contact. Variant terms include couch dance, which is a lap dance where the customer is seated on a couch.
A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other erotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, and can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style. American-style strip clubs began to appear outside North America after World War II, arriving in Asia in the late 1980s and Europe in 1978, where they competed against the local English and French styles of striptease and erotic performances.
Juanita Dale Slusher, better known by her stage name Candy Barr, was an American stripper, burlesque dancer, actress, and adult model in men's magazines of the mid-20th century.
Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network (BAYSWAN) is a non-profit organization in the San Francisco Bay Area which works to improve working conditions, increase benefits, and eliminate discrimination on behalf of individuals working within both legal and criminalized adult entertainment industries. The organization provides advice and information to social service, policy reformers, media outlets, politicians, including the San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution and Commission on the Status of Women (COSW), and law enforcement agencies dealing with sex workers.
A webcam model is a video performer who streams on the Internet with a live webcam broadcast. A webcam model often performs erotic acts online, such as stripping, masturbation, or sex acts in exchange for money, goods, or attention. They may also sell videos of their performances. Once viewed as a small niche in the world of adult entertainment, camming became "the engine of the porn industry," according to Alec Helmy, the publisher of XBIZ, a sex-trade industry journal.
Sex workers' rights encompass a variety of aims being pursued globally by individuals and organizations that specifically involve the human, health, and labor rights of sex workers and their clients. The goals of these movements are diverse, but generally aim to legalize or decriminalize sex work, as well as to destigmatize it, regulate it and ensure fair treatment before legal and cultural forces on a local and international level for all persons in the sex industry.
Robyn Few was an American sex workers' rights activist who worked for the decriminalization of prostitution, against violence targeted at sex workers, and, generally, for the improvement of sex workers' working conditions. A former prostitute, she founded and directed the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOP-USA), and helped organize the annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA (SWOP-USA) is a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. SWOP might be considered a constructive program by nonviolent scholars and activists, as it attempts to create more imaginative and just communities, especially considering its focus on equality and education through advocacy. The organization was founded by Robyn Few on August 13, 2003, and their first major action was to organize the first annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers with the Green River Memorial for the victims of Gary Ridgway, the "Green River Killer".
The Sexual Freedom Awards is an annual British event that honours achievement in the sexuality and erotica industries worldwide.
The legal status of striptease varies considerably among different countries and the various jurisdictions of the United States. Striptease is considered a form of public nudity and subject to changing legal and cultural attitudes on moral and decency grounds. Some countries do not have any restrictions on performances of striptease. In some countries, public nudity is outlawed directly, while in other countries it may be suppressed or regulated indirectly through devices such as restrictions on venues through planning laws, or licensing regulations, or liquor licensing and other restrictions.
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Jo Weldon, commonly known as Jo Boobs or Jo Boobs Weldon, is a performer, author, activist, and educator based in New York City. Weldon's body of work centers around stripping and striptease. She established and runs The New York School of Burlesque and wrote The Burlesque Handbook. She is an advocate for sex-worker rights and freedom of sexual expression.
A feminist stripper is a professional exotic dancer who does not conform to the stereotypes associated with exotic dancers, and instead identifies positively with the identity of stripper. Feminist strippers are sex-positive feminists who view their profession as a choice and a career field. Feminist strippers interact with their profession in a positive manner and view it as a female-centric form of power by asserting their autonomy and by making informed decisions in regard to the regulation of their bodies.
JC's Girls is an evangelical Christian women's organization in the United States whose members evangelize to female workers in the sex industry. The organization supports women wishing to leave the industry, but does not try to persuade them to do so. The group does not focus upon conversion but rather on communicating its message that Christians exist who are not judging female sex workers and are willing to accept them. The organization also helps both women and men seeking to overcome pornography addiction.
Matilda "Red" Bickers is an American artist, writer, and sex worker rights activist. She has written for the now-defunct $pread, Tits and Sass, and the Red Umbrella Project.
Prostitution in Guam is illegal but is practised covertly, especially in massage parlours. Although massage parlours are sometimes raided, generally the authorities turn a blind eye.
Anne Arnold Madden is an American biologist, inventor, and science communicator who advocates for finding "microbial solutions to human problems."
Liv Osthus, better known by her stage name Viva Las Vegas, is a writer, musician, actress, activist, and, for more than 25 years, stripper. She has written for the The Village Voice, The New York Times Magazine, and other national and regional publications, and published two books about her experiences on stage. Her story inspired both a feature-length documentary, Thank You for Supporting the Arts, and a one act opera, Vivas's Holiday.