Sex Worker Profiles-Amanda Brooks

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Amanda Brooks was one of several sex workers that I'd known online, but had never met in person before Desiree. Amanda is a pretty public figure in terms of sex worker activists. She wrote The Internet Escort's Handbook, is a member of SWOP-EAST, and has appeared on Fox News and Bill O' Reilly.

Amanda gave a really interesting presentation at the conference on protecting your personal privacy when working in the sex industry. I suppose I'm not as paranoid as most people, but I do admit that I felt a little guilty and nervous about not going to all the lengths that Amanda suggested to hide my identity from other people. Everything from how to pay for purchases online without exposing your personal information to completely creating a new identity for yourself was covered. It was a lot of information to swallow, and some of it very complicated, but she knows her shit.

Recently Amanda has been working at the Nevada brothel of a woman named Bella who attended the Desiree conference. Though Bella has run her brothel, Bella's, for over twenty years, she was completely unaware of the sex worker rights movement until someone told her about the conference a few weeks beforehand. While it was a big step for Bella to attend and soak in the new community she (seemed) to embrace, she apparently hasn't taken back much of that to her brothel, where the workers work in pretty harsh conditions. Amanda's been blogging about her experiences there. It's a fascinating read. And the reason why many of us support decriminalization, not legalization.

I was able to pin Amanda down for an interview on the last day of the conference, after we were cleared out of the conference space. It was a little windy and noisy out, so the audio is a little iffy, but it's still clear enough to hear.