We have been busy this month making a lot of updates, improvements and new developments for you, working to make your experience on the platform better than ever.

New on the site this month

• Improved onboarding wait time - Are you waiting to have your profile go live on our platform, or have friends who are waiting to get on the site? Here’s some great news! Our Customer Support team has been working hard on our queues and as a result we’ve been able to reduce our new user onboarding time from 45 business days down to just 14 business days! In addition, profile re-reviews should now be processed in 3 business days - this means you’ll be able to get your profile online faster.
• Invoices Now Available to Providers - Many of you have wanted a way to download invoices/receipts for a long time and now you can get to them easily from your Tryst.link account! To download an invoice, log in and go to the Transactions page (click the TLC icon in the pill at the top of the page) then click All Orders in the top summary area.
• Research Program Opt-In - Thanks to everyone who opted in to our research program! Everything you share helps us make the platform just right for you. If you missed out, don’t worry, we will open it back up periodically, keep an eye out for a dashboard notice. 
• We're currently running a donation matching promotion with SWOP-USA! - For the next month, we'll be giving providers an extra 50% on top of our regular donation-matching rate for any donations made to SWOP-USA. So, for example, if you donate $100 to SWOP-USA, you'll get 150TLC! Head over to our donation matching page for more info and read the article here. 

Other improvements

• Actionable Warnings Now More Visible - A warning will no longer disappear from the dashboard when it expires, ensuring the user can still see what they need to do and allow them to submit for review
• Some of you sent us feedback that the way approximate heights are displayed in search was a little confusing. We’ve updated these labels to make them clearer. Please keep sending us your thoughts and suggestions, as these kinds of tweaks can make our site better and better. 

In the community

There's always a lot going on in our amazing community! Here are some of the latest events, news, and resources for workers.

Are you involved in an event? Do you have some news to share? Are you aware of an industry initiative that deserves a shout-out? Let us know!

• Working Guys: A Transmasculine Sex Worker Anthology Kickstarter - donate here.
• European Sex Workers Rights Alliance - Sex Work & Tech Tarot Cards - free pdf download available here.
• Sexquisite - Sexquisite x Riot Bristol Pride Afterparty at The Loco Klub - Saturday 13th July, 9pm  - book here.
• Gender Campus - Call For Papers - Due 15th of May - more details here. 
• SWOP NSW - Indie Worker Drop In - 14th of May 2pm-4pm at SWOP NSW 7/110 Botany Rd, Sydney, NSW, Australia - further details can be found here.
• Vixen Grill & Chill - Monthly Event by and for Street based Workers in Victoria, 16th of May 8am-5pm - further details can be found here.
• Where is the Sex in Sex Work History? Accessing sexual practices through histories of sex work and prostitution - Call for papers, deadline 5 July 2024 for Workshop at Freie Universität Berlin, 10-11 November 2024 - more info here.
• Pride In Protest - Fundraiser Party, Ching-a-Lings, Oxford Street. 8pm 18th of May - tickets available here.
• SWOP NSW - Hookers & Strippers Ball - The Red Rattler, 2nd June - RSVP here.

Recommended reading from the Tryst Team

The Australian government have brought forward the mandatory statutory review of the Online Safety Act by 12 months in order to address a wide range of issues such as age verification, encryption, artificial intelligence, doxxing and extending the powers of the eSafety Commissioner. Originally rushed through Parliament in 2021, we have seen Governments worldwide pushing ineffective and harmful regulations which create serious security and privacy risks that undermine the safety of all internet users, especially sex workers and activists.

The issues paper can be found here.

You can have your say by June 21st 2024 here.

In the United States, Congress is trying to push amendments legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration to include two major children’s online safety and privacy bills, known as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, known as COPPA 2.0. Similar to the Online Safety Act, these laws have widespread implications for Sex Workers but also for young people, with one law maker already saying that KOSA aims to protect kids from “the Transgender”.

KOSA is harmful to the wider population, but will impact the way Sex Workers advertise and organise on the internet. You can take action by sending now by using this form to contact your lawmaker.

• A Cup Of Tea With Miss Modesty Podcast -“Elizabeth Burton is a 73 year old striptease dancer who has lived an amazing, hilarious, outrageous life. Her daughter Libity has been along for the ride. Now it's time to hear their stories in all their unfiltered glory. Get ready to laugh and cry with this mother daughter duo as they talk through life's ups and downs. Tales set in New York's underbelly to the mean streets of Sydney's Surry hills, join these women as they retell their adventures. Most of all feel the love as they talk about each other, family, self love, stripping and the price of eggs.” Listen here.
• The Pussy Parlour With Kitty Velour - "Meow! Welcome to The Pussy Parlour, I am your host Kitty Velour. I am a pole dance artist, glittery showgirl and a pole dance and floorwork instructor. Here at the parlour, I interview new guests each week including pole dancers, strippers, showgirls, sex workers and cabaret creatures of all kinds! My aim is to demystify and destigmatise our work as performers both on the stage and online. I am passionate about capturing the stories and experiences of all the colourful people I meet in my job, specifically those who work in the realms of the erotic. This is a sex-positive, and body positive space!" Listen here.

In the media

See below for the latest industry news pieces and mentions in the media (aggregated during the last 30 days). Industry news and mentions in the media- articles aggregated from the web in the last 30 days.

• ‘Sex work finally decriminalised in Queensland’ -  Jordan Hirst, for ‘Q News’
• ‘Belgian sex workers to get health insurance, pensions and maternity leave in world first’ - James Crisp, for ‘The Telegraph’
• ‘End all criminalization of sex work, including the “Nordic Model”’ - Princess Harmony, for ‘Workers World’
• ‘'Historic': Belgium first in the world to approve labour law for sex workers’ - Maïthé Chini, for ‘The Brussels Times’
• ‘Banks are closing sex workers’ accounts – but it’ll only push us to take bigger risks’ - Berry Hanna Kraven for ‘The Independent UK’
• ‘SA votes down Nordic model sex work reform by single vote’ - Duncan Evans, for ‘News.com.au’
• ‘Who are sex workers' clients? Probably not who you think’ - Jessie Sage, for ‘Pittsburgh City Paper’ 
• ‘Welcome to the Ancient Roman Festival for Sex Work’ - Sara Mellas, for ‘Atlas Obscura’
• ‘Queenstown's restrictive brothel bylaw could be putting sex workers at risk’ - Kim Bowden, for ‘CRUX’
• ‘Sex workers rally at California Capitol’ - Alan Riquelmy, for ‘Court House News’ 
• ‘Fighting financial discrimination against sex workers will help us all’ - Laura LeMoon, for ‘Mashable’ 
• ‘Sex work is a community like any other’ - Lexci Lust, for ‘The Georgia Straight’ 
• ‘50 Cent's Sex Worker Comments About Diddy Spark Fury’ - By Shannon Power, for ‘Newsweek’
• ‘Queensland parliamentary inquiry backs full sex work decriminalisation reforms’ - Kenji Kato, for ‘ABC News Australia’
• ‘Polerize destigmatizes sex work, empowers performers through NU’s first pole dance show’ - Betsy Lecy, for ‘The Daily Northwestern’
• ‘Sex work decriminalised in Queensland after decades of campaigning’ - Andrew Messenger, for ‘The Guardian’
• ‘Activists highlight benefits of decriminalizing sex work’  - Lu Calzada, for ‘Windy City Times’
• ‘New exhibition spotlights sex work in Estonian art from first half of 1900s’ - ‘ERR News’
• ‘Sex workers denounce UK banks for waging ‘war’ on their jobs’ - Akila Quinio, for ‘Financial Times’
• ‘Why decriminalising sex work is a feminist issue’ - Anna Lyons, for ‘Trinity News’
• ‘Airbnb promises to combat sex work in rentals during Paris Olympics’ - ‘The Straits Times’
• ‘Bill to protect sex workers draws council support in Somerville, following 2019 decriminalization’ - Sean Flannelly, for ‘Cambridge Day’
• ‘Sex Work Finally Decriminalised in QLD After Decades of Campaigning’ - Chloe Sargeant, for ‘Star Observer’

Don’t forget to check back in a month’s time for our next update!

Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!

We started the tryst.link sex worker blog to help amplify those who aren't handed the mic and bring attention to the issues ya'll care about the most. Got a tale to tell? 👇☂️✨