I have been approached so many times since I opened my DMS to help with various situations in different competitive Smash scenes. And a problematic pattern has arisen that I find to be important to acknowledge: a Thread

At first, I was largely giving my expertise for free. I took two full weeks off from my paid job to lend my knowledge and to create space for victims and survivors. I then was doxed by this community and had to take down a large source of secondary income due to the harassment.

As I became increasingly burned out and distressed over losing a major source of income, several colleagues brought to my attention I was doing a LOT of free labor for this community and I should start charging for my services because that is what they were: Services

I am paid to consult with the Dept of Health. I am paid to teach about topics of abuse and gender dynamics. So why wasn't I asking for payment from this group? So, I began charging an extremely reasonable, sliding scale rate for my consultation fee knowing Smash is grass roots.

In my head, if you can crowd fund to buy weekly spaces, have a spare $5 for an entry fee, etc, you can invest in crowd funding to hiring an expert to consult on your community efforts of keeping everyone safe. Because that's what I am *hearing* people want... to keep folks safe.

But 3 times in the past few days, when I have been approached by both individuals and orgs to do full edits of COC protocols, join all-male panels because no other woman wants too, or consult on the right way to handle an individual situation,I have been ghosted when I bring up $

This is just a friendly reminder that the choice to invest in the safety of your community is up to you. I belong to my own community that values the labor of women and femmes and pays us for it. I know how much these 25 years of education and specialization are valued.

You certainly don't have to work with me, but I want to see this community invest in making itself safer. Hire experts. Hire social workers. Hire folks who actually have these skills in your own community. Pay the women in your own community to talk about their experiences.