Shalimar Sex Worker Toolkit

The Shalimar Sex Worker Toolkit Series seeks to honor and elevate the story of our fallen sister, Shalimar Seiuli. Shalimar is famously known as the transgender sex worker picked up by actor Eddie Murphy on Santa Monica Boulevard in 1997. Her death a year later was ruled an accident by investigators yet remains a mystery to her friends and community to this day. You can read more about her story in our Fofola le Fala blog.

We created the Shalimar Sex Worker Toolkit Series to provide sex workers in our communities with the tools and resources to keep themselves and others safe. You can read more about Shalimar’s story in our “Fofola le Fala” blog by community writer, Marion Mageo. The Shalimar Sex Worker Toolkitis tailored to the community we love, serve, and come from. It is a labor of love by sex workers for sex workers. It is a collaborative effort pieced together by organizers, community members, and volunteers who are currently and formally sex workers. The toolkit encompasses self-care strategies, resources and stories of Sex Workers that are key factors that they have been able to utilize to thrive and remain safe.

For me…especially what has been happening with trans women around the world. Mainly with trans women of color. Before I go out and engage with clients, I would give out the address, or when I get to my destination. I would share my location to close friends or family members. It is always good to let them know your whereabouts. 

TS Rayne

Some girls might do it by choice and some are doing out of survival. But speaking on my behalf of myself, personally, I did it to survive, and I did it to help people around me and my family. So, with that being said, if you have that feeling of trying to badmouth these types of work. You don’t have the right. Because you haven’t been in my shoes.

TS Puaolena