Happy new year to all you sexy workers out there! New years are perfect times for re/calibrating, and the beginning of a new year is ideal for creating and implementing new goals and new plans — including an emergency plan.
As sex workers, everyday calamities like mislaying your purse or forgetting your keys can have outsized consequences. Cammers can be especially vulnerable to cybercrime and other theft, so it’s imperative to treat our personal information, money and valuables with care.
Some of this advice may seem a bit basic, but in the event of getting robbed or otherwise losing your most essential gear, it’s not uncommon to feel shaken and overwhelmed. The time to think clearly is now in order to keep your vital interests safe.
Emergency Plan
Step One: Locate yourself someplace quiet and imagine that you lost your phone or that it’s run out of juice. Once you were able to borrow someone else’s phone, who is the first person you’d want to call? Who is the second person as a back-up in case your first person is unavailable?
Make sure you have their phone numbers memorized.
Step Two: Grab a piece of paper and a pen, and imagine your phone, keys, purse, wallet and anything else your life would grind to a halt without are lost or stolen.
Note: if typing this information into your computer is easier, take the extra step to print this page out when you’re done. If all your stuff goes missing, you might not have your laptop, either.
Write out any and all:
— Emergency contact phone numbers or email addresses you don’t have memorized
— Websites, user names, passwords and contact phone numbers for your credit and debit cards, insurance card, driver’s license, bus pass, student/military ID, etc.
Step Three: Write out the steps you would take in order if all your vital objects disappeared. This plan doesn’t have to be perfect — it’s just a jumping off point to help get you started:
— Who would you need to notify right away — your partner? Your family? Your housemates? Your landlord?
— Which bank cards and credit cards would you need to call right away to cancel? What could be left to go a few days without reporting?
— How would you go about replacing your phone and its data?
— If you had to change your locks, who in your life would need new keys?
— Are there any other steps you should take to secure your situation in case of emergency?
Writing out these plans might take you anywhere between thirty minutes and an hour. Tuck them away someplace safe, preferably with someone you trust with your life.
Step Four: Be sure to have a spare set of keys for your home, place of work and your car hidden someplace safe that you can access 24/7/365. Be sure to think through scenarios like if your trusty neighbor is away on vacation, or if there was a power outage — can you still get access?
Step Five: Start the New Year out right by ensuring you have high quality passwords for all sites and accounts linked to your finances and business, including your:
— Bank
— Website
— Cloud storage
— Online ads
— Social media accounts
— e-pay apps
— Gift lists
And it goes without saying, your phone should always be set to lock with a password that only you know.
To learn more about high quality passwords, along with what to do in case of a security breach, check out the excellent website HackBlossom.org. They offer extensive practical advice and defense strategies on what to do if you’re being harassed, stalked, surveilled and/or dealing with an abusive domestic partner. They also have terrific advice on what to do if your sexuality is being used against you online.
While it’s great to know this resource is out there, it’s even better to follow their advice on keeping yourself safe BEFORE you need them.
Step Six: Time to perform your annual check on the batteries in your smoke detectors. If you don’t yet have one in your home, installing a combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector is even better.
Hopefully you’ll never need to implement any of these plans and precautions but — believe me — you’ll be glad you took the time to prepare if you ever do. In order to be the very best sex worker you can be, you create your emergency plan today.
Until next time, be sweet to yourself.
Lola D.
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Lola Davina is a longtime veteran of the sex industry and author of Thriving in Sex Work: Sex Work and Money, her followup to the formative Thriving in Sex Work: Heartfelt Advice for Staying Sane in the Sex Industry. You can get the audio version of Sex Work and Money via Awesound here. Contact Davina at Lola.Davina@ynotcam.com and visit her on Twitter at @Lola_Davina.
Image of Lola Davina courtesy Pat Mazzera.
