COYOTE Rhode Island records (Ms.2019.019)

Biographical/Historical Note

Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE) is a national grassroots social justice network founded by Margo St. James in San Francisco, California, in 1973. It is dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities. COYOTE focuses on ending violence and stigma through education, community building, and advocacy. COYOTE looks to improve the lives of sex workers, end the criminalization of sex work, and erase the stigma associated with sex work. COYOTE Rhode Island was founded by Bella Robinson in 2009 and is the only state chapter of this nationwide organization.

COYOTE-RI stands in solidarity with many social justice movements including Black Lives Matter, disability rights, criminal justice reform, the undocumented, the homeless, gender equality and the LGBTQ movement, and the rights of the working class. COYOTE-RI recognizes that many people choose to do sex work due to limited options in other sectors, often due to marginalization and discrimination along the lines of race, gender, ability, sexuality, and immigration status, and that those who do choose to engage with the sex industry should not be further criminalized. As an organization, COYOTE-RI has existed to support sex workers in crisis, serve as an advocate for sex workers in the political sector, and provide education on the reality of sex workers and how best to be an ally to sex workers in the New England area.

Bella Robinson is a sex worker's rights activist who has worked in the sex industry for over thirty years. As the director of COYOTE-RI, Robinson looks to build and strengthen support networks for sex workers in Rhode Island and she works in close collaboration with activists nationwide. She is a strong proponent of centering the voices of sex workers in policies that affect their population. In the late 90's she was incarcerated for five years at Lowell Correctional Institute in Florida, and during incarceration experienced sexual assault at the hands of the state. It is with this perspective that she advocates for sex worker rights as a solution to policies that seek carceral redress for sex trafficking crimes.

From 2012 to 2018, Robinson also served as a board member and secretary of The Erotic Service Providers Union Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP), a diverse community-based erotic service provider-led group that seeks to empower the erotic community and advances sexual privacy rights through legal advocacy, education, and research. Additionally, Robinson is on the advisory committee of the Sex Worker Outreach Project Behind Bars (SWOP Behind Bars), an organization that supports incarcerated sex workers. With SWOP Behind bars, Robinson works to send over 1,000 incarcerated sex workers a newsletter every month. Incarcerated sex workers are also supported through pen pal programs, a book program and 6 paralegal correspondence courses every year. SWOP Behind Bars and COYOTE also act as case managers to help those being released to access reentry services.

In 2013, Robinson was featured in the award-winning film "American Courtesans" as Gina Robinson. In 2014, Robinson began a collaboration with Elena Shih, Assistant Professor of American and Ethnic Studies and a fellow at the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, human trafficking research cluster, at Brown University. Together Robinson and Shih host speakers, events, and course lectures, which look at justice for the poor, issues of the carceral state, understanding and critiquing human trafficking, harm reduction, and sex work as a profession. In 2017, COYOTE-RI developed the Impact Survey with assistance from Shih and the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University. The survey asked sex workers who advertised their services on Back Page 145 questions about the impact of anti-trafficking legislation on their lives and work. Original printed survey data is available for research in the Special Collections Reading Room of the John Hay Library. The digital survey data is restricted.

Robinson plans to continue donating her personal papers to the Pembroke Center Archives at Brown University in the future. She currently resides in Rhode Island and has one daughter. See also: This interview with Bella Robinson and Naomi Blech of StoryCorps regarding myths around sex work, Robinson's personal experience as a sex worker, and Bella's advocacy fighting for decriminalization of sex work.