Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA (SWOP-USA) is a national

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. SWOP might be considered a

constructive program Constructive Program is a term coined by Mahatma Gandhi to describe one of the two branches of his satyagraha, the other being some form of nonviolent resistance, e.g. civil disobedience. The value of a Constructive Program in the struggle for the i ...

by nonviolent scholars and activists, as it attempts to create more imaginative and just communities, especially considering its focus on equality and education through advocacy. The organization was founded by

Robyn Few Robyn Few (October 7, 1958 – September 13, 2012) was an American sex workers' rights activist who worked for the decriminalization of prostitution, against violence targeted at sex workers, and, generally, for the improvement of sex workers' wo ...

on August 13, 2003, and their first major action was to organize the first annual

International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers is observed annually on December 17 by sex workers, their advocates, friends, families and allies. Originally conceived as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Sea ...

(December 17) with the Green River Memorial for the victims of

Gary Ridgway Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), also known as the Green River Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders. As part of his plea bargain, another conviction was added, brin ...

, the "Green River Killer".

History

The original Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) was founded in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the United States (US) SWOP has developed into the largest sex worker rights organization in the country, with chapters active in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

;

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

;

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

;

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

;

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, California;

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, California;

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California;

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

;

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

;

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington;

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

; and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Activities

In 2004, SWOP spearheaded a voter ballot initiative to decriminalize prostitution in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. Other work focused on amending so-called "protective" legislation, like the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 (and its reauthorization in 2005 with the new "End Demand" provisions), with the goal being to increase its efficacy in protecting

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

victims, while decreasing the number of arrests of independent sex workers who have never been victims of human trafficking. In April 2014, SWOP-Chicago activists attended a rally at the JW Marriott hotel in Chicago, where

Amnesty International USA Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is one of many country sections that make up Amnesty International worldwide. Amnesty International is an organization of more than 7 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, with compl ...

held its Human Rights Conference. The activists addressed a protest by a group that included Attorney General

Lisa Madigan Lisa Murray Madigan (born July 30, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois from 2003 to 2019, being the first woman to hold that position. She is t ...

, former sex workers and others opposed to Amnesty International USA's discussion on the decriminalization of sex work. Donald Bierer, chairman of Amnesty USA's Priority Subcommittee, stated to the media: "We think it's great that people are having that conversation publicly in Chicago. This is what democracy looks like. What we're hearing from both of these groups will inform whatever Amnesty ultimately does and says about the human rights of those who are engaged in sex work." SWOP-Chicago has provided a variety of resources over the years including a monthly sex worker support group, free legal services, a warm line, trainings for providers and social service agencies working, social and community engagement events, street outreach, and sex worker art shows. SWOP Sacramento was established by Kristen DiAngelo and Stacey Swimme on June 27, 2014, and is dedicated to reducing harm, improving healthcare, and upholding both the civil and human rights of sex workers and their communities. Its focus is on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. It addresses the health and well-being of both trafficking victims and those engaged in

survival sex Survival sex is a form of prostitution engaged in by a person because of their extreme need. It describes the practice of people who are homeless or otherwise disadvantaged in society, trading sex for food, a place to sleep, or other basic need ...

. In conjunction with Safer Alternatives through Networking and Education (SANE), SWOP Sacramento conducted a needs assessment of sex workers in Sacramento. It found significant problems with homelessness, trafficking and survival sex by an underserved population. SWOP Sacramento has developed a program called Better Lives through Bundles that raises money to provide basic needs items for sex workers working on the street.
SWOP Pittsburgh (or SWOP PGH)
is the local chapter of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, started in 2018 by Jessie Sage, Moriah Ella Mason, and PJ Sage amid "an increasingly conservative political climate." Mason is a former stripper and currently an artist, massage therapist, and educator. Jessie Sage, formerly a PhD student, grew frustrated with academia and left to become a doula. PJ Sage, Jessie's husband, is currently a professor studying web camming and sex camming. The chapter's aim is to connect sex workers to local social services, and the chapter works with health institutions in Pittsburgh. In 2020, SWOP PGH created Pittsburgh's only mutual aid fund to support sex workers who were impacted by the pandemic. The mutual aid fund continues today. Partners associated with SWOP PGH ar
Western Pennsylvania Diaper BankPlanned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania
an
Allies for Health + Wellbeing
SWOP PGH's mutual aid fund offers grants between $50 and $200, depending on the amount of money available in the chapter at the time. If the chapter is unable to meet the demand of a sex worker, they offer a social media boost of that person's payment app or crowdfunding campaign. Funding occurs in 3-month cycles, and individuals are eligible to receive funding once per cycle. A link to the application for the Sex Worker Mutual Aid Fund i
here
SWOP PGH also offers th
Steel City Sex Worker Resource Guide
which includes local

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

information, resources for various Pittsburgh necessities: food, housing, healthcare (reproductive, LGBTQIA+ services,

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

services, crisis and

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

prevention, mental healthcare providers), accountants, legal aid and jail support, community groups, and massage therapists/ bodyworkers. SWOP PGH has been involved in various advocacy events and in the local Pittsburgh press since its creation. In 2019, the chapter led the charge against

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

's first annua
Hacking4Humanity

hackathon A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of hacking and marathon) is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. Th ...

event, arguing that the event's aim of finding solutions to

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

–including

awareness raising Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...

, perpetrator persecution, and survivor support–would not help trafficking victims. SWOP PGH and hundreds of people from eight other organizations signed a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

, a very low-stakes nonviolent tactic. More recently, SWOP PGH has engaged in community advocacy work, including a clothing swap and day to tell stories to celebrate the most important day for SWOP as a whole,

(December 17th). The chapter has hosted various, support groups, Q&A sessions, and teach-ins in 2022, including one about being a better strip club client and one to educate about legal issues, hosted by a well-known queer Pittsburgh legal aide attorney. Also in 2022, SWOP PGH hosted a child-friendly DIY Valentine card-making workshop, where all community members were invited to create and send Valentine's Day cards to sex workers (including those incarcerated), immigrants, and friends and lovers. Aside from these community-building events, SWOP PGH has also been involved with various legal and political issues in Pittsburgh. In

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia Co ...

, dozens of prostitution arrests and cases in 2017 involved the

weaponization A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

of women's cell phones. Chapter organizer Gabrielle Monroe claimed that phones are vital to the safety of sex workers, and they should not be charged with "possessing instruments of crime" in these scenarios. Similarly, condoms were also being weaponized against sex workers as "instruments of crime," and SWOP PGH along with various partners in the city successfully advocated for the removal of this legal implication. SWOP PGH originally wrote a letter to the Allegheny County District Attorney, Stephen Zappala, Jr., pleading for something to be done.

References

External links

Main SWOP-USA websiteSWOP-Chicago websiteSWOP-New York websiteSWOP-Sacramento websiteSWOP Behind BarsSWOP Pittsburgh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spread Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States Human rights organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 2003 Political advocacy groups in the United States Prostitution in the United States Sex industry in the United States Sex worker organizations in the United States Social justice organizations

History

Activities

See also

References

External links