Purple Rose Campaign
About the Campaign
We launched the Purple Rose Campaign in February 1989 as GABRIELA Network to fight against the sex trafficking of women and children, and the work has evolved since then to include combatting sexual and gender-based violence, sexploitation, and fetishization.
Each year, AF3IRM marks February 14th as Purple Rose Day to renew our commitment to this work and bring awareness to these issues.
Why Purple Rose?
Roses, by nature, were never purple. Purple roses were bred and made exotic by human will. They exist not for their own evolutionary purposes, but for the pleasure and profit of others. Women and child victims of trafficking are no different from the Purple Rose. They are reduced to becoming mere objects of pleasure and sources of profits. Forced by poverty, commodified and enslaved by globalization, women and children have become Purple Roses.
Select Hallmarks of the Purple Rose Campaign
International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA): The campaign won a monumental legislative victory with the inclusion of Mail Order Brides into IMBRA under the definition of trafficked women. This expanded access to resources and immigration rights to these survivors. This was a key victory as mostly women of color, particularly Asian and Pacific Islander women, were being trafficked across borders through the Mail Order Bride system and were historically excluded from many rights and resources in the United States.
#NotYourFetish: The Los Angeles Chapter launched a direct action campaign against the band “Day Above Ground” that had released a sexist, racist video depicting Asian women as sexual objects. Hundreds of women participated in the hashtag campaign to raise awareness around fetishization, the band’s label dropped them as an artist, and the House of Blues released them from using their venue.
Response to Slut Walk: In 2011 in coordination with Black Women’s Blueprint in NY, AF3IRM published a response to the Slut Walk. This statement uplifted transnational, im/migrant, women of color voices in standing firmly against any form of sexual exploitation.
Justice Not Charity: In 2013, in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, AF3IRM announced our Justice Not Charity campaign that sought to work with women and local organizations on the ground to address sexual violence and trafficking after disasters.
Response to Amnesty International: In 2015 Amnesty International passed a policy to work towards legalizing prostitution. AF3IRM responded swiftly with a public commitment to combat the institutionalization of sexual exploitation. See statement here.
#SurvivorsNotCriminals Campaign: In 2018 the LA Chapter launched a local, city campaign to decriminalize prostituted women in massage parlors.