For the artists:

The artists involved in the “Breaking the Silence” will have an opportunity to submit their work free of charge to the larger event in L.A./Hollywood and have their work seen by hundreds of people nationally and internationally.

For the sponsors/funders:

The businesses/organizations who sponsor and/or fund “Breaking the Silence” will be supporting a cause that has gone dormant in the city of Cleveland, but is certainly alive.

"Last year in Cleveland there were more than 2,000 prostitution-related arrests, majority of those arrested were women. It costs tax-payers approximately $1,000 to arrest a prostitute. Upon arrest, these individuals are given a record, whereby decreasing their chances of quitting prostitution and obtaining better, more socially acceptable employment." -personal correspondence, Crime Analysis Department, Cleveland Police, October 2004

In order to protect all sex workers’ lives we must be willing to accept what we cannot change, and provide services to the those who need them instead of giving them criminal records. Society must recognize individual choice and self-determination as an inherent element in every human being.