Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics

COYOTE RI MISSION STATEMENT

Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics Rhode Island (COYOTE RI) is a feminist, sex worker-led organization dedicated to advancing the human rights of women, girls, trans, and intersex individuals within the sex industry. We prioritize the voices and leadership of those most marginalized, including street-based sex workers, youth (18-26), LGBTQ+ individuals, sex workers of color, trans women, and migrant sex workers facing intersecting oppressions such as language barriers, precarious citizenship status, and systemic racism, as well as incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls.

We work to dismantle the structural injustices that fuel criminalization and stigma, advocating for policy changes that promote health, safety, and autonomy. Our mission is to build a powerful, inclusive movement that challenges power structures and creates lasting, fundamental change. By fostering community, providing safe spaces, and amplifying under-addressed issues, we empower our constituents to exercise their agency and reclaim their rights. We are committed to building local, regional, and national leadership, ensuring that those directly impacted by criminalization are at the forefront of the fight for sex workers’ human, health, labor, and civil rights. We aim to create a world where all sex workers are treated with dignity and respect, and where their rights are fully recognized and protected.

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OUR HISTORY

Indoor sex work was decriminalized in Rhode Island in 1979 due to Margo St.James filing a class action suit to challenge the state’s prostitution laws and the case was dismissed after a federal judge revised Rhode Island prostitution laws.

In 2009, Rhode Island criminalized all prostitution. In response, we called back into action the Rhode Island Chapter of Coyote  (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics).

While we oppose society’s Moral Witch Hunt against us and laws that criminalize us, we are aware that sex workers must live in the real world. At it’s best, that world disrespects and ostracizes us; at it’s worst, it seeks to exploit and even harm us.

The Rhode Island chapter of Coyote is here to offer a safe harbor from that world.
We believe adult providers can make the best choices for themselves without interference from law enforcement on the one hand nor do-gooders who want to “help” us against our will on the other hand.

If you need resources and support you will find that here. If you choose to leave this business, we seek to provide you information on the best resources that can assist your transition to another lifestyle. We respect each provider’s right to choose for themselves.

We vehemently oppose all forms of human trafficking . The victims of these crimes deserve our compassion and support; those who exploit others in such a manner deserve severe punishment.

We advocate for laws that make sense to protect our youth rather than continuing the Moral Witch Hunt against consenting adults.

Our goal is to decriminalize sex work, by initiating harm reduction models,  advocating for the health and safety of sex workers and to support sex workers and trafficking survivors who are in crisis.